Treatment of dogs-- Be Humane, not insane

   

                                                             

     I don't even have a dog anymore and so why should something around me be my concern, you ask? Maybe it's because stupid and inconsiderate behavior bugs me. People, those mammals with the big brains, should know better.
     But they don't always, do they? They had an article just today in the Roanoke Times about a young mother who wanted to remind others to not leave their young children in a car. Apparently her husband left their less than two year old child in a hot van. They both regret it, of course, and sometimes kids get "lost in the shuffle". We didn't used to have car seats to leave kids in and we knew they would want to get "out" of the car. Especially a hot one.
     Well, dogs are no different. Who wants to stay in a hot car? The other day I was having my "get a cone for 59 cents" fix at McDonald's and had to get in line to get my treat. There were a number of people in front of me and behind me, and I wonder which one behind me had the dogs. As I got out and went to the car my spouse, who'd been waiting in air-conditioned comfort, commented that a huge pickup a few parked cars down have a window a quarter of the way open, which he considered inadequate in the 85+ degree heat. According to the Humane Society,  a car with a  slightly opened window that is 85 degrees inside can reach 102 degrees in 10 minutes, and 120 degrees in 30 minutes-- wow, that is in the desert hot, whether a dog or child is in there! They suggested we should have taken down the license number and make of the car and announced it in McDonald's. That's what we should probably do next time.
     Another time we were near insensitive dog handlers too. It was at the 4th of July celebration, and a man near us told his friend it was the first time he'd brought his light colored Labrador to this event. Well, it was dumb idea. I thought "we" were a little close and several times "I" plugged up my ears the bangs were so loud. But that dog was on a leash and trying to run away the whole time. A few times the man rubbed the dog's ears, but that's not the same as plugging them up. They say dogs hear sounds we don't and those loud noises probably didn't help her hearing any. Insensitive. And stupid.