I recently saw a meme depicting an infant child and a small dog which said, “If you have to be told we’ll die in a hot car, you’re too stupid to have either of us.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting fed up with the number of innocent children and dogs that suffer and die each year after being left or forgotten in hot cars – a grim occurrence that naturally peaks during the sweltering summer months.

Last Sunday, Gloria Daniels – a homeless person from Illinois who was apparently living from her automobile – suffered chest pain and drove to Halifax Hospital for medical assistance.  Unfortunately, she left her small pug in the car, apparently thinking that merely cracking a window and leaving food and water would allow the dog to survive the hellish heat of a Florida July afternoon.

A security officer found the dog in the car.  Thank God, right?

Wrong.

Rather than immediately act to rescue the animal from almost certain heat injury or death – this mental midget opts to leave him put and “check” on the pup a couple of times before finding it dead in the car – cooked to an internal temperature of 109.9.

Come on.  He literally watched the animal die.

For her failure to report the dog’s presence in the car, Daniels has been rightfully charged with a felony crime for her cruelty.  But in all honesty, when did her responsibility and criminal liability end – and the security officers begin?

She was admitted for a medical emergency and left her pet behind in the hospital parking lot – Daniels should have alerted someone, if she was physically able.

The security guard was just an irresponsible dipshit.

Mid-afternoon on a July 9^th?

Really?

Look, no one stands-up for cops, firefighters, security personnel and other first responders as vehemently and consistently as I do.  Even when they’re wrong – because I know first-hand the no-win situations they face daily.

But this case is patently indefensible – knowingly leaving a dog trapped in a 115-degree oven for hours on a summer afternoon is beyond my comprehension.

To my mind, this represents willful and wanton negligence and deserves to be dealt with in the harshest of terms.

I happen to know Halifax Health Security Chief Mark Jones personally.  He is a good man, dedicated to public protection, and a proven asset to Halifax Medical Center.  I have every confidence that he will take appropriate action to see that the offending officer is held personally accountable for this sickening inattention to their ethical responsibility as a security professional to protect life and property – in all its forms.

Far be it from me to tell Chief Jones how to do his job, but this asshole should be launched like a Saturn 5.

Now.

The security of a medical facility is a difficult and incredibly important job – due, in part, to the vulnerability of patients, professionals and others who visit and work in the relatively open environment of a hospital.

In my view, this level of abject stupidity and gross carelessness simply cannot be foisted on those who depend on professional security services.

Folks – I’m begging you – if you have pets or small children, please develop a system to double-check the interior of your vehicle and ensure that no one is left behind, even for a minute, every time you exit the car.

Every time. 

And if you come upon an animal or child trapped inside a hot vehicle, take rapid and decisive action to ventilate the interior, remove the victim as rapidly as possible, then contact law enforcement and emergency medical personnel immediately.

I keep a window-shattering spike in my vehicle’s “go bag” for just such an emergency.

Trust me.  Seconds matter.