Now for more information we have not covered. When Laura Dickie, animal control deputy, responded to this call, after talking to the owner of this vehicle with the dog inside the car, while she was preparing to leave, another vehicle pulled in to a parking space the next lane over with a dog in the car. The dog's head was sticking out the rear window of the car and the dog was barking at Laura Dickie. Ms Dickie ignored this new incident and did not even bother to talk to the owners of the new vehicle that pulled in. Why did she only speak to the one and then ignore the other? Something is very wrong with this incident at so many levels.
Moving back to the poster on store entrances;
Let's look at some issues here. The sign pictured above can be found at the following locations and is posted on the main entrances of the respective sites. Wal Mart, Tractor Supply and Dollar Tree in the courthouse area. No other areas have we found these posters.
First issue. The locations where these signs are found are private property parking lots. The sign requests that anyone can report a pet being left in a car at these locations. Well, if you see someone pull into a handicapped parking space in these same locations, and the person is not handicapped, you can call a tow truck but one will never come as you are not the owner of the store or property and have no authority to make the request. You can call a Sheriff's Office, but again, the same issue. You are not authorized to report the claim as you are not the owner of the property and therefore a deputy can not do anything about the so called violation. Only a store manager who's parking space is being violated can file a complaint about someone parking in a handicapped space who is not handicapped.
So with this in mind, how can any animal control deputy ever possibly bypass these same issues when a person calls in a so called violation?
If you have an accident in a parking lot at one of these locations, you can call the police. The only thing you will be told is all they can do is file a report about the accident. Since it is private property, they can not determine who is at fault.
So what we have is what appears to be an illegal search and seizure being perpetuated by county officials against anyone they choose in certain sections of the county. Sort of like a speed trap. Here is a catch you are not made aware of. If you make the call to report what you think is a violation? You may be held just as responsible for the actions of the animal control deputy should the deputy decide to break into a vehicle and remove personal property such as a pet and it is determined that the action was highly illegal. And you should be held accountable for such a violation.
Article 4 of the Bill of Rights reads; IV ) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Our opinion? When you shop at any of these stores, find the store manager and complain about these signs. They are highly misleading and may just potentially get innocent people in a great deal of trouble. The signs do not tell you that animal control might just break into a vehicle and take personal property. The signs also suggest that temperatures of 75 degrees is enough to warrant you to call. The inside temperature readings on the sign are highly misleading as they do not indicate whether windows were up or down during the readings or if the vehicles were in direct sun light or in the shade. They also fail to indicate humidity factors.
Online news story quote:
“Anytime we see (the dog’s) temperature jump above the 104 to 105 range it’s dangerous for the dog,” Montgomery told the Daily Telegraph last week. “Once we break into the 100-degree range in the car, the dog will be uncomfortable and the 110-degree range can be fatal,”
More from the web.
Is it illegal to leave your dog in a parked car? The answer to this question, of course, depends on in the state in which you live. Actually, only 16 states (AZ, CA, IL, ME, MD, MN, NC, NV, NH, NJ, NY, ND, RI, SD, VT, and WV) have statutes that specifically prohibit leaving an animal in confined vehicle. The next factor important to the question is the condition under which the the animal is left in the vehicle. Most of these laws provide that the animal must be confined or unattended in a parked or stationary vehicle. Further, the laws add that in order for a person to violate the law, the conditions have to endanger the animal's life. Some of the statutes specifically state that extreme hot or cold temperatures, lack of adequate ventilation, or failing to provide proper food or drink meet this definition. Other laws are more vague and just require that the conditions are such that physical injury or death is likely to result.
Above sourced from; https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-laws-protect-animals-left-parked-vehicles Check out all the state codes on the above link. Virginia does NOT have this code on it's books.
Courtesy Jan Null, CCM; Department of Geosciences, San Francisco State University
A dog leash ordinance request made by a BoS member requesting more government intrusion on his neighbors they did not want or would have filed complaints themselves. This is how they address violations to your rights? Now that is sad.
Estimated Vehicle Interior Air Temperature v. Elapsed Time
| Elapsed time | Outside Air Temperature (F) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 75 | 80 | 85 | 90 | 95 | |
| 0 minutes | 70 | 75 | 80 | 85 | 90 | 95 |
| 10 minutes | 89 | 94 | 99 | 104 | 109 | 114 |
| 20 minutes | 99 | 104 | 109 | 114 | 119 | 124 |
| 30 minutes | 104 | 109 | 114 | 119 | 124 | 129 |
| 40 minutes | 108 | 113 | 118 | 123 | 128 | 133 |
| 50 minutes | 111 | 116 | 121 | 126 | 131 | 136 |
| 60 minutes | 113 | 118 | 123 | 128 | 133 | 138 |
| > 1 hour | 115 | 120 | 125 | 130 | 135 | 140 |
Now checking the chart we looked up online from the AVMA. We checked the above AVMA chart information and it's based on a vehicle in direct sunlight with the windows closed.
We like this one a bit better. It shows the humidity factor with heat.
Now we do agree that leaving your pet in a hot vehicle can be dangerous and even deadly. However, we do not think that animals have rights over humans. We do not think pets should be treated with disrespect or even tortured. Adding insult to injury however is madness. We send children to school in buses with no air conditioning in the same exact conditions and nothing is done about that.
Demand Equal Rights For Our Children
We put up a petition on Change.org regarding this matter. Why are our children treated lower than pets? Why are our rights being so blatantly violated?
Now the Board of Supervisors knew about this before the latest BoS meeting in September. They could have responded to this and in our view they have. Here is the video where they address animal control issues.
A dog leash ordinance request made by a BoS member requesting more government intrusion on his neighbors they did not want or would have filed complaints themselves. This is how they address violations to your rights? Now that is sad.
