Dog left in hot car honks for help

[Liberal_in_LA]

Dog left in hot car honks for help
'I rushed over and got him out real fast'

Updated: Monday, 12 Jul 2010, 9:47 AM EDT

UPPER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CNN/WFMZ) - Sweltering temperatures are a reminder to keep not only yourselves cool, but your pets. In the case of a Labrador, he may have been left alone, but helped himself survive what could have been a terrible situation.

Eleven-year-old Max is not just a dog. He's like another member of Donna Gardner's family.

"You have to know Max. He's a very smart dog and he just does things that I don't think a normal dog does all the time," said Gardner.




The chocolate Lab proved that a couple of weeks ago. Gardner ran an errand and took Max with her. When she came home a short time later, she went inside the house, forgetting Max was still in the car.

"I came in and started cleaning and about an hour later I heard a horn blow," said Gardner.

She went outside, but didn't see anybody. "So I came back in the house and I started cleaning again and the horn blew again."

This time, she saw Max sitting in her driver's seat.

"I rushed over and got him out real fast and he was panting like crazy. I brought him in the house and he just dropped to the floor," Gardner said.

Gardner gave him water and cooled him down. Her daughter called the vet who said Max was a little weak, a little slow but otherwise OK.

------------------------------

Meanwhile, Gardner says she will never make that mistake again and hopes this serves as a lesson to other pet parents.

http://www.wane.com/dpps/news/strange/dog-left-in-hot-car-honks-for-help-ob10-jgr_3477449

[uncommon]

1. She forgot a "member of her family" in a hot car? Ugh. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. animals are underfoot when you clean. Didn't she notice Max wasn't around?

[jberryhill]

13. 11 year old dog...

Mine used to be underfoot a lot.

These days, if nothing involving food or going out is involved, she'd just as soon trot off to a quiet cozy spot in the house and chill.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. I have an old cat but she moves her sleeping spot to keep me in view at all times.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

18. Cats will eat thier owners when they die...

Sounds to me like you're little buddy just doesn't want to miss his big moment.

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. lol, maybe.

[sharp_stick]

9. Surprisingly not that hard to do

if you don't always have that member of the family with you in the car and they aren't active when you stop it isn't that hard to leave them there.

When my daughter was small I only sometimes had to bring her to daycare, usually my wife did it and my daughter would often fall asleep in the car. I got myself into the habit of putting my laptop and lunch on the floor in the back seat in front of her car seat that way when I got out of the car at work I had to open the back door and stare right at that car seat while I picked up my lunch and computer.

I never found her there but after hearing horror stories about kids dying in hot cars I thought it was a good habit to get into.

[Tx4obama]

33. That is a great idea! n/t

[barbtries]

14. a few years ago

a mother did the same thing with her daughter, with tragic results. it hardly seems possible, huh? i'm glad the dog was so smart, and wasn't strapped into a car seat.

[SammyWinstonJack]

34. +1. nt

[KeyWester]

2. rec for Max

[Jim__]

3. Glad to hear that max is OK! - n/t

[one_voice]

4. Um...how did she forget her dog in the car?

Didn't she notice he wasn't around while she was cleaning?

Good thing the dog seemed to be smarter than it's owner.

[joeybee12]

6. Smart dog...dumb woman...n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

10. +1000

[donheld]

37. + 1000 more

[calico1]

7. Good thing for Max he was smart enough to know

to honk.

I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around someone forgetting their child or their pet in a car. How do you do that?

I just don't get it.

[msanthrope]

11. I did it.....

I've told the story a few times....but here goes.

Wintertime. 3 month old with colic. Up all fucking night....finally, I take her driving in a section of public park near my house. It's a pretty deserted loop, and after 20 minutes, she FINALLY falls asleep. Me, I'm a friggin zombie, having not slept.

So I go home. I park, go inside, and use the bathroom. I'm peeing, and then I remember my kid.

Now, she was probably alone for under 2 minutes....but I'm telling you, in my sleep-deprived state, I got out of that car and totally forgot I had a kid....

I was frantic.

[sharp_stick]

12. I posted this a bit earlier

I'd heard horror stories about leaving your kid in the car and got into this habit that I still have.

>if you don't always have that member of the family with you in the car and they aren't active when you stop it isn't that hard to leave them there.

When my daughter was small I only sometimes had to bring her to daycare, usually my wife did it and my daughter would often fall asleep in the car. I got myself into the habit of putting my laptop and lunch on the floor in the back seat in front of her car seat that way when I got out of the car at work I had to open the back door and stare right at that car seat while I picked up my lunch and computer.

I never found her there but after hearing horror stories about kids dying in hot cars I thought it was a good habit to get into.

[CakeGrrl]

21. My dog will never let me forget he's there

He goes nuts every time we arrive somewhere. He's adopted, and my family wonders if it's leftover anxiety from his previous owner. Don't know, but letting him out of the car to mellow him out is the FIRST thing I do!

[RamboLiberal]

24. Very easy to do - WPost had a Pulitzer story on how this happens

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html

-----

"Death by hyperthermia" is the official designation. When it happens to young children, the facts are often the same: An otherwise loving and attentive parent one day gets busy, or distracted, or upset, or confused by a change in his or her daily routine, and just... forgets a child is in the car. It happens that way somewhere in the United States 15 to 25 times a year, parceled out through the spring, summer and early fall. The season is almost upon us.

Two decades ago, this was relatively rare. But in the early 1990s, car-safety experts declared that passenger-side front airbags could kill children, and they recommended that child seats be moved to the back of the car; then, for even more safety for the very young, that the baby seats be pivoted to face the rear. If few foresaw the tragic consequence of the lessened visibility of the child . . . well, who can blame them? What kind of person forgets a baby?

The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.

[Tx4obama]

36. Thank you for the link to the article, just read the whole five pages & I'm in tears... n/t

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. Can't believe people still do stupid shit like this.

Every summer there's always a handful of stories about idiots who leave their dogs and/or kids to fry in a hot car. It's hardly a secret anymore what can happen. Sounds like Max might be smarter than his owner.

[RamboLiberal]

25. You haven't a clue - easy for us perfect people to call others stupid

Read this story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549_2.html?sid=ST2009030602446

[Hassin Bin Sober]

31. I left my dog in my truck with the windows rolled up on a 100 degree day last week.

I ran in to the drug store to fill a prescription for a friend who just had surgery. While I was at the check-out, I noticed a woman frantically running in to the store. I headed out to the truck to wait for one of the prescriptions and noticed the same woman and another woman who appeared to be a store manager heading toward me.

The women motioned for me to roll the window down so they could have a word with me. At that point I realized they thought I locked my dog in a hot car. What the first woman hadn't noticed was I left my truck running with the doors locked and the two air-conditioning units on high. I have a keypad on the door so I can lock the dog in the car with the engine running.

I apologized to the nice lady for scaring her and thanked her for her concern for animals. It turns out she works in a dog rescue. i told her I have called the police on a few occasions for the same thing and I once came really close to busting out a window once right before the owner showed up.

Mybe I should put a sign in the truck window. I knew it was only a matter of time.

[damntexdem]

15. "You have to know Donna."

"She's a very forgetful dog owner and she just forgets to do things that I think a normal dog owner does all the time," said Max.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. lol n/t

[blondeatlast]

28. LOL! nt

[luvspeas]

20. Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crim

Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html

It's sad, but forgetting kids, pets loved ones of all kinds happens all the time.

[xchrom]

22. I don't know what to say except - Bless you, Max. Good boy. Nt

[cbdo2007]

23. One time we took our dog to the store and were questioning whether she has a sense of humor...

on the way to the store. We went in and came back out and our emergency flashers were flashing and she was just sitting there smiling. It was hilarious. She definitely showed us that she knows how to play a funny joke.

[Mad_Dem_X]

26. My dog locked me out of my car once

I was at a gas station, filling up my tank. My dog was in the back seat. He climbed into the front seat and, as I was talking to him through the slightly-opened window, he reached his paw up and brought it right down on the lock. Luckily, I was near both my home and my husband's workplace, so I just ran over to where he was and got the house key, then ran home and got my spare car key.

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. sounds like your dog did it on purpose

[Hassin Bin Sober]

32. That reminds me of the old joke about a woman locked out of her car with the dog in it.

The locksmith shows up and makes a snarky comment ... "If your dog was Lassie he could unlock the doors FOR you" The woman replies "If my dog was Lassie he wouldn't have locked me out in the first place"

[AngryOldDem]

27. Serious question.

Just how in the HELL can you go and forget that you have a dog, kid, cat, rabbit, or ANY living being in your car? She actually forgot that her LAB was in the car?

I've never been able to fully buy the "Oops, I forgot" excuse.

[Raine]

30. Good for Max but

how can you forget a "member of the family" ... I couldn't forget my dog even if I tried.

[liquid diamond]

35. Obviously this dog is smarter than his owner. n/t

[KurtNYC]

38. In spite of this family's obvious love and honesty, this story

apparently gives the self-righteous a chance to feel superior and judgmental.

They contacted a vet after the incident AND they got this story publicized during the summer months as a reminder to all. Since they are only human beings, that it the best they can do.