DEDHAM – Pet owners are used to hearing warnings about not leaving their dogs in a hot car during the summer. But authorities are also telling drivers that the same is true in the cold winter months.
Dedham Animal Control said in a Facebook post Tuesday that they’ve been getting calls about dogs left in cold cars while their owners are shopping or eating at restaurants. Temperature have been in the teens and single digits during what’s been the coldest week of the season so far.
Last week, animal control said a dog was left in a car for more than two hours in 24-degree weather while its owner sat at a bar and started the car occasionally. In an incident on Monday evening, someone called police after a shopper left two dogs in the car when it was 18 degrees outside and didn’t keep the car running.
“Heat, remote starts, climate controls, ‘it was just for a few minutes’ – are often just as inexcusable to us in winter as they are in summer,” animal control wrote.
What the law says about leaving dogs in cars
Massachusetts law says “a person shall not confine an animal in a motor vehicle in a manner that could reasonably be expected to threaten the health of the animal due to exposure to extreme heat or cold.” Breaking into a car to save an animal’s life is legal in Massachusetts if certain conditions are met.
“We will respond and we may cite under the law,” animal control said. “Please leave pets at home when you go out, especially during this cold snap.”
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