Oppressive heat bore down in the parking lot as Charles Huggins left a Las Vegas gym last week. Even with the sun setting it was still over 90 degrees outside, and Huggins noticed something inside a car in the parking lot. An English bulldog sat locked inside, and the car’s windows were rolled up.
The poor dog was panting, fogging the windows with its breath.
Image by KSNV News3 Las Vegas via YouTube video
Cruel Owner Left This Bulldog in the Sweltering Heat
Huggins knew he had to act and he knew the dog’s owners might be working out. He walked back quickly to the gym and asked employees to alert customers about the dog over the loudspeaker; We Love Animals reports. He also recorded the situation on Facebook live and was determined to save this sweet dog no matter what.
“He’s inside the car. It’s 90 degrees out here and somebody left their dog inside the car with all the windows rolled up on both sides,” he says in the video. “Windows rolled up on both sides for this dog to be sitting in there while they are inside working out.”
“This poor animal is in there suffering,” he adds.
Huggins says he waited at least 30 minutes for the dog’s owners to come out. He took the advice of his Facebook friends and called 311 (an emergency number) twice.
Image by KSNV News 3 Las Vegas via YouTube video
The Bulldog Was In Distress
“I waited long enough and I didn’t want to wait any longer cause I saw the dog was actually…when I went back to the car…he was laying on his side,” Huggins says. “It looked like he was really in distress so I decided to go ahead and do something about it.”
So he walked over to a dumpster and picked up a piece of asphalt. As soon as he was back at the car, he smashed a back window.
Huggins Checked On The Bulldog
“I made sure he was okay,” he says. “I reached in and I pet him a little bit. I made sure he was alright. I did have a little water left in my water bottle so I did walk over, poured it in my hand, and gave him some water.”
Nevada’s Good Samaritan law states that a person can smash a window if a child is in a hot car. However, it’s a different story for pets because only first responders and animal control officers are legally allowed to break a window.
Huggins knew this but fortunately realized the dog’s life was in the balance.
The Bulldog’s Cowardly Owner Drove Off Before Police Arrived
But when police did arrive, officer Larry Hadfield decided to see just how high temperatures climb inside a hot car. So he sat in his vehicle but could only stand it for about 10 minutes. The photo below shows just how hot it was inside the car.
Image via KSNB News3 Las Vegas via YouTube video
Hadfield says in most cases a police officer will only cite a person who breaks a window to rescue a dog, but anyone who does this faces a civil lawsuit from the pet’s owner.
This chart gives you even more of an idea of just how hot the inside of your car can become.
If you’re tempted to take your dog out on a hot summer day, please keep this in mind. The video below tells you what to do if you find a pet in a hot car.
Featured image by KSNV 3 Las Vegas via YouTube video
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