Voices

Pet owners and their blinders of entitlement

An increasing number of states and municipalities have passed laws and ordinances protecting pets locked in hot cars. Yet the problem persists, thanks to a culture that values property rights over the rights of our animal companions.

“Get away from my car, you f-ing a-hole! I don't need any information! I love my dogs!” That was the reaction of an elderly woman in Palm Springs, Calif., when offered printed educational information on the risks to her two small dogs that she left alone in her car while she shopped for groceries for over an hour.

“These people are interfering with my right to live my life the way I choose!” So screamed an angry dog owner at Palm Springs law-enforcement officers responding to a panicked crowd of bystanders surrounding the man's vehicle.

A Vermont executive was “enjoying dinner” and “does this all the time” - explanations a Connecticut police officer reported to the press after the man was charged with animal cruelty for leaving his dog unattended with no ventilation or water provided inside his vehicle.

Increasing public awareness of the tragic suffering and death that can result for dogs left unattended in vehicles that heat up quickly has resulted in much-needed policy advances aimed at prevention and rescue.

However, beyond the still-pervasive unfamiliarity among dog owners, as well as the general public, with exactly why dogs are at such high risk when left alone in cars (rapid heat rise inside of cars and unique characteristics of canine physiology), at the root of the problem is a culture that has long valued individual and property rights above compassion and non-human animal life.

This culture is apparent when you consider that only a minority of states have laws and ordinances that even consider the problem.

* * *

According to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University College of Law, 28 states have laws that address various circumstances involving animals left unattended in vehicles. Furthermore, 12 states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin) have recently enacted rescue laws providing authorization for citizens to rescue a visibly distressed animal left unattended in a vehicle.

These laws, each with specific qualifying language, limit civil or criminal liability of rescuers for any damages resulting from the forcible entry into a vehicle. In addition to state laws, many local ordinances are increasingly providing even-stricter measures aimed at animal protection.

This widespread shift in policymaking speaks to the pervasiveness of this tragic, yet largely preventable, problem.

Possibly more problematic is the extent of social attitudes of personal entitlement so evident in every aspect of social life today, as is reflected in the responses of the dog owners I mention above.

* * *

In the case of the elderly woman, sincere concern gently expressed for her two small dogs was met with profanity and rage: She did not need any information, because she loved her dogs.

When informed that Palm Springs police recently reported that a dog had died after being left inside a car on a beautiful day when the outdoor temperature was only 70 degrees Fahrenheit, she responded, “I take good care of my dogs!” before slamming the door (of the car she left her unattended dogs in for over an hour) and driving off.

Her sense of personal entitlement blinded her to realizing that untold numbers of dogs die every year in the U.S. as a result of being left unattended in vehicles - by owners who also love their dogs.

Just months ago at a downtown farmers' market in the California desert, where the ambient temperature was already 90 degrees at 10 a.m., and rising rapidly, a number of people found two Golden Retrievers so heat-distressed and agitated that they were licking the windows of the SUV they were confined in.

Law enforcement responded immediately to several calls, just as the owner returned to his car. Incredulous that people had called the police, he released a rageful tirade against the officers, asserting his rights as a dog owner and his right to live his life as he chose.

Of course, he did not recognize that the city of Palm Springs prohibits leaving any animal unattended in a vehicle for any reason, period, regardless of outdoor temperatures.

This forward-thinking ordinance recognizes that heat is not the only threat to dogs left unattended in vehicles. Left leashed and unattended in a car with the windows left open, Piggy, a puppy in Connecticut, accidentally hung herself while jumping from the open car window while her soon-to-be devastated owners lunched nearby.

Personal entitlement turned to blatant arrogance when Michel Guite, president and CEO of VTel, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty in Connecticut in July.

The Valley News reported that according to Stamford, Conn., police, the dog was found confined in Guite's SUV while he dined in a restaurant. Police reported that the windows were rolled up tight and the dog had been left with no water, both of which meet the state's legal definitions of animal cruelty. The temperature was 75 degrees and the humidity at 91 percent, according to Stamford police.

Guite disputes his dog was in danger, calling his cruelty charge “an unfortunate misunderstanding” and “a well-intentioned small error.”

In press reports, he suggested that several police officers and firefighters dispatched to assess the situation simply didn't realize that “It isn't true that all closed vehicles are necessarily dangerously hot,” as he was parked in a municipal parking garage where direct sunlight was not a factor.

Now he intends to help fix this “narrow small gap” in their training by taking his position to the state Legislature and head of public safety in Stamford to consider, possibly in part because he said, “traveling without the dog isn't an option.”

* * *

Of course, Guite's sense of personal entitlement and the misguided technocratic bit of advice he's taking to state and city policy makers flies directly in the face of endless news reports of dogs suffering and/or dying in cars every year in the U.S. - reports that provide the basis for recent legislative initiatives addressing animal safety.

Additionally, individual arguments - rooted in a sense of self-entitlement that argue exemption from personal accountability when choosing to leave a dog unattended in a vehicle - ignore virtually every national and state animal protection organization's expertise and advice on the matter.

Not the least of these is the American Veterinary Medical Association, which has created a campaign aimed at dog owners: “If you love us, leave us at home.”

The heart of this advisory is reflected in the Palm Springs ordinance that prohibits leaving a dog unattended in a car regardless of weather considerations. That ordinance also considers time, efficiency, and other public costs associated with dispatching public-service personnel when a dog has been left unattended in a car.

Laws aimed at protecting animals from human error, or folly, can best reach their intended goals if they are based on authoritative evidence of the risks associated with leaving dogs unattended in vehicles.

Consistent enforcement of such laws is key to mitigating the individual sense of entitlement that attempts to justify exclusion from personal accountability.

Subscribe to the newsletter for weekly updates