A distressed dog has been saved from a car in Trowbridge today.
Two members of the public, who were concerned for the welfare of a Bichon Frise, tracked down the owner of a BMW parked outside Pets at Home during the blazing midday sun.
According to the anonymous worried shopper, the small dog looked ‘very distressed’ while it was locked in a car for ‘at least 20 minutes without any windows open’.
Concerned that the dog may not survive the ordeal, she visited each store on Trowbridge Retail Park and ordered them to ‘shout out’ to the owner.
Luckily, the owner was found in TK Maxx, and they seemed ‘inconvenienced’ by the whole incident, gave the dog some water and drove away.
Wiltshire Police were informed about the incident, however, they did not attend.
How to help a dog in a hot car
First, establish the animal’s health/condition. If they’re displaying any signs of heatstroke dial 999 immediately and ask for the police.
If the situation becomes critical for the dog and the police are too far away/unable to attend, many people’s instinct will be to break into the car to free the dog.
If you decide to do this, please be aware that without proper justification, this could be classed as criminal damage and, potentially, you may need to defend your actions in court.
Make sure you tell the police what you intend to do, why, and take images/footage of the dog and the names and numbers of witnesses to the incident.
The law states that you have a lawful excuse to commit damage if you believe that the owner of the property that you damage would consent to the damage if they knew the circumstances (section 5(2)(a) Criminal Damage Act 1971).
