If you see a dog that may be suffering from the heat in a car, you should first contact the police, who can advise you and possibly send a patrol, according to animal welfare officer Dennis Björklund.
We can check records to see if we can find the owner and have good tools to get the door open without causing too much damage. The police are also not personally liable like a private individual, who can be guilty of vandalism if it is done without justification.
Advice: Document
If the police are unable to arrive and the dog appears to be in danger, you can film or photograph the dog as documentation and make sure that it is really in danger before taking action.
Some electric cars also have so-called pet modes that keep the air conditioning in the car running at a suitable temperature, even though it is hot outside.
If the dog is jumping around, barking and wagging its tail, it is not in distress yet. You must be able to determine that the dog will die if you do not break the window. A witness is also good so that there are two people who have made the assessment.
The police patrol can later take the dog to a veterinarian to determine if it was dehydrated.
Then the police have more time to file an animal cruelty report.
Wouldn't it be difficult to determine the dog's condition and the heat in the car?
That's why I advise calling the police first. But take action if the dog appears to be unconscious or unreachable.
Cooling function decreases
If you rescue a dog that is apathetic and uncommunicative due to overheating, you should seek veterinary attention quickly, says Robert ter Horst, veterinarian at the District Veterinarians. But what are the early signs of overheating in dogs?
Breathing very frequently and sticking out their tongue is a dog's way of cooling itself down. But if they are stuck in a hot car, the air becomes too hot for the cooling effect to take effect.
At the first signs, take the dog to a cooler place, offer water, and cool the dog down by pouring water on it.
But the most important thing is that the pet owner takes responsibility and does not leave the dog in the car so that it risks suffering, believes Robert ter Horst.
Then you also don't risk other people having to make the decision to break a car window to help your dog.
The law on emergency and self-defense is regulated in Chapter 24 and Section 4 of the Swedish Criminal Code. It applies in cases of danger to life, property or health.
According to the Swedish Board of Agriculture's regulations (SJVFS), you may only keep a dog in a stationary car for a maximum of three hours. You may also not leave an animal alone in the car if the temperature in the car is above 25 degrees and below five degrees below zero.
Source: Swedish Board of Agriculture, Family Lawyer.
