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Hot Dog: Canines Could Benefit from New California Legislation

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New bill could make smashing car windows to rescue dogs from hot cars legal

dogs in got cars california bill

A new California bill could make it legal to break a car’s windows to rescue a dog on a hot day

Summer is coming, which means the interior of your car is about to get a whole lot less comfortable—for you, your kids, and your pets. Even when it’s a pleasant 72 degrees outside, your car can reach 116 degrees in an hour when the engine’s switched off. In just 10 minutes, the temperature inside your car can become unbearable for anyone—particularly a dog. Add to this the fact that dogs are more susceptible to overheating and can suffer heat stroke at around 105 degrees, and you have a recipe for disaster as far as your canine companion is concerned.

The obvious solution is to leave your dog at home if you plan to go anywhere that he or she would not be allowed. However, many people still bring their dogs along in the car and pop into the store for 10 minutes while they’re out, leaving Fido inside the sweltering vehicle. Now, a proposed bill in California would make it legal for someone to break the window of a car if they saw a dog trapped inside on a hot day.

dogs in got cars california bill

The bill is called “The Right to Rescue Act,” and has strong support among Californians. “I’d rather have the ability to do it rather than not do it. It’s more important to help the dog than it is to worry about people’s feelings,” Randall Whittinghill of Silver Lake told ABC7 Los Angeles.

Dog owner April Rocha of Boyle Heights agreed, though she had some reservations. “I think that should just be logic. If you see a dog in distress, break the window if you can’t find the owner,” she said. “I think some people might take it a little far, like they see a dog in there and go a little nuts. I think it depends on the condition, but I think people may take advantage and go extreme.”

The three Assemblymakers who drafted the bill (Marc Steinorth of Rancho Cucamonga, Ling Ling Chang of Diamond Bar, and Kristin Olsen of Riverbank) made a video of themselves inside a hot car for 21 minutes to demonstrate the dangers associated with it, and how it could affect defenseless animals. They will introduce the bill today during a Humane Society rally in Sacramento.

News Source: ABC7