Comment by encoderer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by encoderer | Hacker News Reader

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I once left my puppy beagle in the back of my car, windows cracked, while I ran into the restaurant to pick up takeout.

I was not in there more than 5 mins. When I got out, started to pull away, and was stopped by a cop who then called animal services.

This level of nanny-state-ism drives me slightly crazy. But the real issue for me was the person who decided s/he needed to call the police (the police for this). If it were me, I would probably sit and wait on a bench nearby, keeping an eye out. It's true that the dog was barking like crazy but he's a dog (a beagle at that), and dogs bark. I'd watch and if he showed signs of distress, I'd act. Or, if it turned into 20, 30 mins, then probably I would also react. But the person who comes across a situation and instantly goes to "call the police" is not something I understand.

I think maybe we all know the type who just likes to report things. Who likes that power trip. I can't help but feel we'd maybe be better off if those types learned to be more circumspect in their actions.

(In the end i paid my $35 fee and told the cop and animal control that I thought what they were doing was a total farce.)

I once called animal control when I saw a dog in a car, in a hot parking lot. This dog was barking and running around the car. I waited in my car's A/C for 5 minutes before calling, just to be sure I wasn't overreacting.

When I got through to animal control, I was told that the dog was not in distress. A dog in distress would retreat to a cooler spot of the car (near the passenger side floor) and not jump around barking.

That your dog was barking and moving around, it was not in distress.

Apparently it's hard to tell the difference if you're untrained. Seems like calling for help if you are concerned about the safety of a dog or kid is reasonable, even if it means you could be wrong.

It's also up to the police whether to take it any further.

Once they arrive, and hopefully the owner arrives, explain yourself (you were acting in good faith, etc.) and try and make sure the police don't go overboard.

To be fair, if I'm a passerby and I see a dog with the window cracked open, I have no idea how long he's been there. Calling the cops makes sense, they're the ones paid to made the judgement call and animal control should have the training to diagnose whether the dog is in distress or not. Whoever made the call chose to err on the side of caution out of humanitarian concern, not to get your goat or ruin your day.

Sounds like your police department sucks more so than the worried passerby engaging in "nanny-statism." The police chose not to assess the situation correctly and just went for the easy fine.

>I have no idea how long he's been there. Calling the cops makes sense...

So, everyone is assumed to have no common sense, only you have it and thus become the default enforcer despite, admitting, not knowing the situation?

There are people who do terrible things to animals. When you see someone taking good care of an animal, there's no reason to suspect he's one of the few people who do terrible things, but when you see an animal in a situation that looks like it could be something terrible, the situation is a lot different.

If you see a lone dog tied to a tree in the forest, it could be that the owner is taking a leak somewhere, but it's also possible the dog was abandoned. Better safe than sorry is not a terrible principle.

Same thing with kids in locked cars. Kids do die in locked cars. Not very often, but it happens. When you see a kid in a locked car, it's good to make sure the kid is okay.

I'd rather see false alarms treated seriously than see serious situations ignored. And reducing the number of false alarms by not leaving kids in cars also helps people identify the serious situations.

So we're not responsible for making judgments and we should now call someone paid to do it? Really?

There is a public discussion in Poland right now on whether it's legal to break a window if you see a dog in a locked car.

You're assuming that whoever sees the dog has the time to sit and wait and observe. What if they were to assume that you were making a quick stop but you actually weren't, didn't notify anyone, and your dog dies.

Would you regret not being notified?

I've read of people in your situation who leave a note that says what time they left, what time they will be back, and where to find them or how to contact them if the dog needs aid before they get back.

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