Yesterday we dialed 911 in a parking lot [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

We were coming out of the store about 1 P.M. yesterday. As Marta was getting into the car, the car on her side was getting out of theirs. Marta noticed there was a sheltie in the back seat. The two young ladies closed the doors, windows up. The temp was in the 90's. There were no clouds in the sky for any shade at that time. The heat index was around 110.

Marta asked the driver to please roll down the windows a little to vent the car and allow heat to leave the vehicle. The passenger said "we probably should".

The driver said "we will only be in there a couple of minutes". Marta again asked the driver to please consider the dog, and roll down the window just a little. The driver then said to her " please don't put your judgement on me mam".

I then said I had read this week that a dog left in the car in this kind of heat can die in 15 minutes time. The two headed into the store.

I called 911 and told them about the situation. It is a felony. A car arrived in 3 minutes time. I told the officer what happened. He said that the Nebraska Humane Society has to observe the act unless the dog is visibly distressed. They were on the way.

After 15 minutes the two young ladies came out of the store with only a 24 pack of beer. The officer approached them as they walked toward the car. He asked for their IDs. The cop let them off with a verbal warning and putting their info in a report for future reference.

We hope they did in fact learn from the experience.

We would do it again without a second thought.

Steve & Marta