While many are preparing for the chilly winter season as autumn comes to a close, Arizona is still reaching the high 80s in some areas. Of course, this isn’t exactly sweltering, but it’s still enough to cause some to have heat stroke, especially if they’re left in a vehicle. In particular, one driver in Maricopa County was parking at a strip to buy a fan for their child. But to their surprise, they heard the high-pitched whine of a small terrier mix, clearly suffering from the heat inside a car in the parking lot. They called 911, but before responders could arrive, the dog’s condition visibly worsened, and it went into a “dazed wobble.”
“My brain said wait. My stomach said nope,” the parent thought as they used a tire iron in their car to break the rear window to open the door and get the dog out of its critical condition. A store manager came out with ice to help before police arrived at the scene. According to one of the officers, “Arizona has a hot car animal law and that I was ok given what he saw,” the parent explained on their Reddit post about the matter. Eventually, the dog’s owner arrived and thanked their pet’s rescuer, after which the cop went over the report with them.
The following week, the Arizona parent received a message from an unknown number, demanding they pay $1,240 for the repair bills for the car. “The text says pay by Friday or we file,” the dog’s owner said ominously. The owner claims the officer told them that the parent would pay for the damages, which wasn’t how things went down. “I saved all messages, my video, the 911 record request is filed, and the store manager will write a note,” OP stated, prepared to protect themselves against this pet owner’s legal threat.
Even though they tried to reason with the owner regarding the “heat law” and their dog’s life being at risk, the top commenters in the Reddit post strongly believe the parent should not respond in the slightest. Even if it’s for clarification, “Do not respond to someone threatening to take legal action on you because even small, seemingly unharmful responses can be recognized as you taking responsibility during a court case. Stop talking,” instructs a highly upvoted comment.
Everyone says the same thing: unless the parent is summoned to court, they should ignore the dog owner’s threats at all costs. Hopefully, they will take the advice and inform the police about the situation.
