A dog in Kamloops was very lucky it had people caring for it when it was stuck in a hot car outside of Walmart.
According to a social media post, which has been shared close to 600 times, Sintich Kat was about to leave Walmart on Wednesday when she noticed a family leaving their vehicle to head into the store. Upon further examination, she noticed they allegedly left their dog in the back of the car.
"I didn't want to jump to conclusions so I decided to just sit in my car for a few minutes to see how long they took to come out," wrote Kat. "After 10 minutes, I decided to try to call the SPCA... No answer... Then bylaw... No answer... So I called RCMP."
"They said that it is so busy that chances are they wouldn't get up there in time so call Rays Lock and Key. They will come up and unlock the vehicle for free to let the animal out of the car."
After an alleged crowd of concerned residents formed, the group decided actions needed to be taken. At this point, one woman went into the store to try and page the family back to their car, but there was no answer.
"I couldn't believe that people still do this. It's just common sense that you don't leave your animals or children in a hot vehicle."
Ten minutes after phoning Rays, a locksmith was on scene to try and let out the dog.
"I called Rays and he had someone there in less than 10 minutes. Despite his best efforts, he struggled to get the vehicle open. He had a step stool and tried to even get his arm into the window to unlock it. His arm was slightly too big as was mine."
"I even tried to get my 3-year-old son to stand on the stool and reach in but his arms were too short, lol. I saw some young girls coming down the parking lot and thought, 'maybe they had skinny enough arms to get through the crack in the window.' When I approached the girls they were ecstatic to help try and help 'OD.' The girl managed to get her arm in with slight struggle and got the door unlocked!"
In a video of the incident, a woman admits to leaving her dog in 28 degrees weather for 40 minutes. The driver and passenger-side windows were both slightly opened.
"We let the dog out and he was so happy! After the locksmith and girl left I put the dog into my car and hung out with him and my son in the air conditioning. He was in my vehicle another 10 or so minutes when the family finally showed up."
Kat went on to encourage residents to be courteous to their pets, asking residents to think if they would like to be left in a hot car for over an hour.
"Think about how hot your car is when you hop into it after it's been closed up for even an hour. The first thing you do is unroll the windows and wait for the air-conditioning to kick in! So hot. Why would anyone think that it is ok to leave their pets for any length of time in a hot car with the window up? It's never okay. People need to wake up."
"This was a family that got out and left their pet inside as they went in to shop in Walmart. Why didn't one of the adults stay in the car with the dog and leave it running with air conditioning? Or even with all the windows down?! Come on! Leave your pets at home!"
The BC SPCA was notified about the incident.
