Kids, Pets, Cars, Heat Don’t Mix!

It amazes me that even in today’s world that I need to discuss something like this but it’s inevitable I’m going to see it at least a few times this year so I have to speak out now.  Please do not leave your children and pets unattended in the car…EVER!  Especially now that the weather is getting warmer.

I have already seen 2 sets of dogs left alone in cars (car not running, owner not around), we’ve already had 90 degree days and it doesn’t even take that much heat to cause a lot of damage.  I guess what I don’t “get” is why people do it?  I’m not talking about leaving a pet alone for 2 mins while you run into Wawa, but leaving a pet alone for a period of time as you go shopping or get dinner or go to church.  If you’re taking your pet out in the first place I assume it is because you care about them – then why would you leave them alone in a hot car that you can’t control the temperature and risk them dying?

If we bring our dog anywhere it’s because either a) We’re running errands that we’re not leaving the car (aka dropping checks off at the bank through the drivethrough) or b) Taking him somewhere because we’re going on a walk or something we’re doing outdoors that we’re bringing him for.  I wouldn’t even ever consider taking him out if I knew I had to leave him in the car.

Pets are one thing – It is something as a pet owner that definitely upsets me, but kids – that just makes me sick to my stomach.  I see at least 1-2 kids left unattended each year during the summer.  Again I’m not sure what the reasoning is but it’s really not worth it under any circumstances in my mind.

Two  instances stick out in my mind – the first was a hot summer day outside a local restaurant.  My husband ran inside to order takeout and I was in the car with our son (our second son wasn’t born yet) – I took a glance at the SUV next to me and noticed it was running but no one was in it.  I was trying to think why someone would leave their car running with no one inside – then I saw movement in the backseat – it was a baby, a baby baby in a carseat – they couldn’t have been more then 6 months to a year old.

1) The baby is alone in the car – at that age if the baby was to choke, cry, need anything there is no way for them to get help for themselves.

2) The car was running – I assume because the air conditioning was on.

3) The car was UNLOCKED.

So now not only is there a baby unattended in a car on a hot day(air conditioning or not) but there is an unlocked running car with keys in the ignition.  Now, I’m not a criminal, but if I’m looking to steal a car wouldn’t that be a pretty obvious and easy choice?  A car that is unlocked and running with keys?  What then happens if it does get stolen and there is a baby in the back? All that flashes through my head is that one episode of COPS or whatever where someone stole a car with a baby in the backseat and the guy throws the baby seat with the baby still in it out of a moving car at a high speed.  Luckily that baby was ok but seriously….

So my husband went in and ordered food, he comes back out about 5-10 mins later and I tell him what I’m seeing.  He sees the same thing and heads back inside to see if the owner of the car is around – he can’t find anyone that will fess up.  Finally a woman comes up and gets her takeout and he asks her if it’s her car – she says yes and he talks to her and from what he said she brushed it off, grabbed her food and left.  I see her come out, hop in her car and leave.  At that point I was in a mixture of shock and disbelief and didn’t want to make a scene with my little one in the car but I was beyond fuming.  The baby was left alone for at least 15-20 minutes, in a running car, with the doors unlocked – it makes me wonder, was that the baby’s mom or possibly a careless babysitter.  I want to say that there’s no way a mom would do that but it happens.

Again I don’t understand the reasoning – the baby is sleeping…ok then bring the baby seat in (at that age the seat just pops out and you don’t have to “disturb” the baby”.  Or ask the restaurant if they can’t do a “curbside pickup” of sorts and bring the food out to you – it wasn’t a chain that offered that service but I know of local restaurants that will do that (like Capri Pizza in Cresco) that are more then happy to walk your food out to you if you have kids in the car.

The second story I’ll try to make shorter – we went to Weis/MrZs to pickup a few things – hubby ran in to grab stuff and I stayed in the car with our kids.  I look at the van in front of me and think I see movement in the backseat – again the naive side of me doesn’t really register it at first then I notice that the movement I’m seeing is little hands moving – there were 2-3 kids in the backseat all in car seats.  Now they weren’t babies like the last incident but they were toddlers at best so even though they might be able to fend for themselves a little bit better you’re now at the point that they’re young but can still possibly do a bit of damage – like unlock a door, throw something at the kid next to them, etc.   I called my husband and told him and asked him to find a manager – I wasn’t the only one that noticed it and another concerned woman walked up to the car window and started talking to the kids.  It was another hot day but that car was not running so obviously there was no AC – being in the car with my kids I wasn’t about to leave them alone so I got ready to grab them out and go over when a manager comes out  followed by my husband.  I’m not sure that the manager knew what to do either and they all talked for a minute before the mom came out with a few bags of groceries.  The time that elapsed was a good 10-20 minutes that these kids were alone in a hot car unattended.  It took awhile for it to all unfold and the mom – well needless to say the other woman that saw this happen was not nearly as restrained as I think I would have been, but kudos to her because she gave that woman a verbal beating.  The moms argument was “they’re my kids I can do what I want” and the other woman’s argument was that she shouldn’t even be a parent then if she can’t properly take care of her kids.  They went back and forth for a few minutes, the manager still didn’t seem to know what to do, and we just watched then the mom got in her car and left.

What I didn’t know at the time is that it’s ILLEGAL to leave your kids in the car unattended.  Armed with that knowledge I sure as heck will be dialing 911 first as soon as I see an incident like this again.

I found this post and found some of the responses kind of shocking:

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/archive/index.php/t-75221.html

“911_mom
I agreed with leaving kids for just a minute until my experience yesterday. I always leave my 2 y/o in the car for just a second while I run into the gas station to get a pack of cigs. He has one of those car seats that just sits in the seat and uses the regular seat belt. Well, he crawled out of it yesterday and when I came out of the gas station, he was “Driving.” Ugh, I thought I was gonna die. People were gawking and one guy even said something when I came out about the keys being in the car. And to top it all off, I work at the local P.D. Oh, that would have been so embarassing if someone called them. From now on, he’s going in with me everywhere. I did wake up and realize how disastrous that could have turned out. And yeah, that is crazy about there not being an age limit to stay home alone. Someone called the p.d. the other day to ask that question and I had to go ask someone to find out the answer. They said it just depends on the maturity level of the child and that is up to the parents. I think that’s crazy!”

“Camden
I too, am guilty of leaving my kids in the car for short periods. I often leave the kids in the car if I will only be gone a minute and if they will be in my view because sometimes it takes less time to run in and out than it does to get them out of their seats and back in again.

Are people just not concerned with their children being stolen?