Kevin,

Well done, sir. Since my mother is an AKC judge and an internationally known breeder for over forty years, I've been around dogs since I was very young. I'd like to strangle some of these irresponsible *idiots* who treat their pets in this manner.

However, while you did exactly the right thing for exactly the right reason, sometimes even doing things right isn't enough for some people. We travel with our "child in a fur suit" whenever possible. When we stop and leave the car unattended for any length of time longer than five minutes, and the weather's potentially dangerous (either hot OR cold), I have a second key (that stays in the car in a hidden spot) which I take with me when we're gone so that we can lock the car and leave it running.

Believe it or not, I've been interrogated several times by supposed "animal lovers" as to why I would **mistreat** my animal by "leaving it tied up in a running car for an hour, unable to move" (she sits in her own seat in our van, with her own padded seat belt and harness, on her own seat cover, can move around in a limited area, has toys and water available while we're gone, and I usually leave the radio playing).

My answer to them usually consists of letting them meet her, showing them all that we've done, and then sounds something like "This 'poor mistreated animal', as you call her, gets better treatment than LOTS of children I know personally. When are you going to start doing something about them?"

That usually shuts up the supposed "animal lover".

Regardless, and back on topic, thanks for caring. Most wouldn't.


>Gwen and I went to Red Lobster for dinner late this afternoon - it was about 4:30, it was sunny and humid and close to 90 on the inside. We were previously at the movies, and when we came out of the theater, the temperature inside my car was 100.
>
>We got to the restaurant and I noticed that the car beside me had a Chihuahua inside. The car window was cracked, and the engine wasn't runnning. We both felt sorry for the dog (and wanted to strangle the owner), so I wrote down the license plate, and went into the restaurant and asked the manager if he could do something. Well, fortunately, the restaurant manager was a dog owner and was furious, so he tracked down the family. Needless to say, the couple who had the dog wound up getting the rest of their dinner "to go". (or if you want a bad pun, they got "doggie bags"). We saw them when the left, but they didn't make eye contact with us, so I'm guessing they didn't know that we were the ones.
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>Stupid owners...hopefully in a future life, someone glues fur all over them and sticks them in a hot car for an hour.