I called the cops last night to report a woman who’d left her dog inside a hot car. It was 6 p.m., 82 degrees and the windows of the car were cracked, so it could have been worse. Even so, having just stepped out of my own vehicle, I knew how hot the inside of her car must be.

 

The dog, a brown poodle, was sitting on the back dash — the hottest possible place — and barking his head off.

 

I noticed the dog as I was headed to Cartridge World in Great Falls to drop off some empty cartridges. The proprietor of the store gave me a yellow Post-it note so I could scribble a message to the dog’s owner. “It is waaaay too hot to leave a dog in this car!” I wrote. I pasted the note to the driver’s door as I passed back by. And then I noticed the line of customers inside the pizza place a couple of doors down. I walked down to the store, stuck my head inside the door and asked, loudly, “Does anyone here own the car with the dog?”

 

This is nothing new for me. Two or three times a summer I take on the role of public scold when I see a dog in a hot car. Only once have I encountered an appreciative, apologetic owner.

 

This time, a woman four back in line spoke up. Yes, she confirmed, that was her dog. “It’s too hot to leave your dog out,” I told her. “I know,” she said slowly and emphatically, widening her eyes to let me know she really did understand it could be a problem. Yet she made no move to step out of line to rescue her pooch.

 

I waited a couple of seconds and then said ”All it takes if a few minutes to overheat a dog,” which seemed to be pointing out the obvious. Again she replied: “I knowwww!”

 

The other customers were watching. The woman clearly planned to stand in line another 10 minutes or so. I glowered at her for a second or two, then threw my arms up in the air and walked out. And, on the way out of the parking lot, I called the city police. After a protracted conversation with them about the dangers of keeping dogs in hot cars, the dispatcher promised to call Animal Control.

 

I have no idea if she did so. When I drove back by the parking lot a half hour later, the car was gone.

 

What’s the moral of this story? Only that I intend to keep blowing the whistle on reckless dog owners. Even when they tell me they ”know.”