I believe now in Florida a citizen can break a vehicle window in good faith to rescue a dog in distress without fear of criminal charge or civil action under the law. Still trying to find it to post. Don't go breaking windows until I can confirm.

Last year a dog died in a car at the NY State fair.

After the fact, the question was asked if it would have been legal to break a window to rescue the dog. The county DA responded: "There's absolutely no way in the world we'd prosecute someone for trying to save the animal."

The DA, "citing Article 35 of the New York Penal Law" noted that "According to Article 35, conduct that would otherwise be an offense is justifiable and not criminal when the conduct is "necessary as an emergency measure to avoid an imminent public or private injury which is about to occur."

But there is always the civil side of the law.

The guy who killed the dog by leaving the poor creature in the car was prosecuted. He got three years probation.

The extremists in my area worry me. They seem to be looking for dogs and kids in cars so that they can break windows and be heroes. There were several incidents during the early spring when the temps were not extreme, but the media presented them as samaritans. In one case, the owner of the dog had been away from his vehicle for less than 15 minutes.

I transport my dog in a crate in my vehicle. I sometimes have to stop off somewhere. I take every possible precaution to make sure my dog is in good stead. I ventilate the vehicle, park in the shade, and make sure she has water. I make sure she's not left for more than a few minutes, but I fear that some nutjob is going to come along and vandalize my vehicle. Therefore, I also photograph my vehicle before walking away. I will defend myself criminally, and pursue civil action against anyone who damages my property or unlawfully takes my dog.

If I encountered a dog in a vehicle, I would not jump to conclusions. If the situation seemed criminal but the dog was NOT in distress, I would contact proper authorities and stay with the dog until the authorities arrive. If and only if the dog was in distress would I take matters into my own hands.

This reminds me of once I was working at this dog grooming shop and my boss Linda used to bring her Smooth Fox Terriers to work. She would be in a rush in the morning and would leave them in her van until it was convenient to get them out. Well, one day she forgot her dog Parker in the van. It was a hot day in the shade. Luckily my coworker asked where Parker was (thinking he was in a crate inside) and I remember her running outside to retrieve him while Linda JUST KEPT ON GROOMING like oh well I'll let her handle it. I never felt she truly cared for her dogs (emotionally) but that really showed how little she did. She was more worried about people finding out THAN THE DOG!!! If that was my dog I forgot in a hot car I'd have beat my employee out the door. She never stopped grooming, she let her and me cool him down in the tub and luckily he was ok after that...she didn't take him to the vet that I know of. She also left another dog outside in an ex pen at home and was more worried about her husband being mad because it was his dog and he'd find her when he got home from work.

I don't understand the heartless anymore than I understand the extremist that have no sense, not knowing the difference between a dog in danger and one left for 2 minutes at the 711. Can't we just have a balance here???

Now is a good time to educate about signs of heat distress in dogs. We can all talk about it but do we really know what we're looking for? The main indicators I look for are lethargic dogs that are extremely panting and have a spatulate tongue (long and spoon shaped). When you see this you know that the dog is getting very close to overheating.

Thought about this thread last night. I was out at about 3am or so and saw two ACDs left in the cab of a truck. No panting or other signs of distress. One was chilling behind the wheel and the other was standing across the console energetically telling everybody that the truck was HIS. Farm dogs I'm guessing. The windows were cracked but the truck wasn't running.

Acclimatization plays a part too. I know if Tanner was out there in the same conditions he would be panting a mile a minute.

Acclimatization does make a difference that's why we need to know how to read the signs. Some dogs are less tolerant given their specific circumstances and have less time should they get hot.

A big indicator is if the dog is panting uncontrollably. If you whistle, call the dog's name, or offer water and the dog doesn't stop panting for a second or two, it may be overheating.

Poor skin elasticity and slow capillary refill are signs of dehydration, which will compound the effects of high body temperature. You can lift the skin between the shoulder blades and let go. The skin should snap back. If the dog has pale gums, you can press your thumb against the guns and quickly release it. The color should return quickly.

 Quote: David Winners

A big indicator is if the dog is panting uncontrollably. If you whistle, call the dog's name, or offer water and the dog doesn't stop panting for a second or two, it may be overheating.

Poor skin elasticity and slow capillary refill are signs of dehydration, which will compound the effects of high body temperature. You can lift the skin between the shoulder blades and let go. The skin should snap back. If the dog has pale gums, you can press your thumb against the guns and quickly release it. The color should return quickly.

All of these are great IF you can lay hands on the dog. Most are closed up pretty good in the car. Many dogs also are fearful of strangers and will not come when called. On the other hand...if the dog appears to be in distress and is still raising h*ll at you from within the car he might not be in that bad of shape. Further aggravation of the dog by staying near the vehicle may escalate the overheating process. If the dog is lying there and panting heavily, then gives zero reaction whatsover to a stranger from outside the vehicle who is trying to solicit a response, well....it's window smashing time.

I had expected I would actually see more of this down here in the south - I am happy to state that I have never seen a dog left in the car during the summer here. It's sure not that I don't look either, I eyeball every dog noise to see what's talking to me at the supermarket - between October and March seems to be the only time anyone leaves em. +1 for common sense. Now if only I saw fewer untethered dogs in the back of trucks..