A man stresses the importance of not leaving your pets in the car when temperatures are high after rescuing an overheated dog a few days ago.

Graham Patterson rescued a dog from a hot car in Morrison’s carpark on Wednesday, May 23 after it had “collapsed”.

Graham and his friend Steve were sitting outside Morrison’s in Kingsbridge around 3pm when they heard a dog barking from a car. Within a few minutes the dog’s bark changed from sounding normal to panicky, and Graham knew he had to check on it.

He found the car with the dog inside, but it was already on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. While all the doors were locked, the windows were left down, and he was able to unlock one of the doors. After retrieving the dog from the car, Graham took him to the coffee bar and got a bowl of water for him to cool him down.

He immediately told the store, who made several announcements explaining that the animal was safe and being looked after. When the owner didn’t show up, Graham called the number on the dog tag and left a message.

When the owner finally came out of the store, she was surprised to see her dog in the arms of a stranger, and unaware that anything potentially life-threatening had happened to him.

She thought she would only be a minute or so, had left the windows down and assumed the animal would be fine. Though Graham claims 25 minutes has passed until the owner came out, she said it had only been about 10.

Graham said: “Even though he wasn’t in the car that long, he collapsed and went limp in my arms and I had to force water into him. It is so sad that people just do not realise that a dog can die so quickly from heat in a car. I would hate for this to happen again in Kingsbridge or anywhere else and the dog not be so lucky.”

The owner, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that she thought what he did was unnecessary and what he said was an exaggeration. “I only nipped in the store for ten minutes, and to come out and have people accusing me of neglecting my dog made me feel really horrible.

“I do realise now how quickly it can happen, but he still shouldn’t have broken into my car. He could have gone about it a different way.”

According to the RSPCA website, even if the windows are left open or the car is parked in the shade, leaving a dog in the car on a warm day can still be a very dangerous situation for it. A car can become hot as an oven very quickly, even when it doesn’t feel that warm. When it’s 22 degrees, a car can reach an unbearable 47 degrees within the hour.

Unlike this case, if you notice a dog has been left in a vehicle on a warm day, please be aware of the precautions and consequences when reporting it.

The website states that in the event of an emergency, they may not be able to attend quickly enough, and with no powers of entry, would need police assistance at such an incident.

Here’s what to do, according to the RSPCA website:

Establish the animal’s health and condition. If they’re displaying any signs of heatstroke such as heavy panting, excessive drooling, drowsiness, poor coordination or if they’re collapsed or vomiting, dial 999 immediately, as the dog could lose consciousness and experience internal organ failure.

If the situation becomes critical for the dog and the police are too far away or unable to attend, many people’s instincts will be to break into the car to free the dog. If you decide to do this, please be aware that without proper justification, this could be classed as criminal damage, and potentially, you may need to defend your actions in court.

Make sure you tell the police what you intend to do and why. Take pictures or videos of the dog and the names and numbers of witnesses to the incident. The law states that you have a lawful excuse to commit damager if you believe that the owner of the property that you damage would consent to the damage if they knew the circumstances (section 5(2)(a) Criminal Damage Act 1971).

If the dog isn’t displaying symptoms of heatstroke, establish how long the dog has been in the car. Make a note of the car’s registration, and if you’re near a shop or venue, ask the staff to make an announcement to alert the owner of the situation. If possible, get someone to monitor the dog’s condition.

For more information on the rules and regulations regarding leaving dogs in cars, visit www.rspca.org.uk.