While Colorado and more than a dozen other states have made laws protecting people who break the windows of locked vehicles on hot days to save pets and children, glass-smashing seldom happens.
But this week in south Jefferson County at the Foothills Golf Course, men swinging golf clubs, after a manager dialed 911, powered their way into a vehicle trying to rescue a dog in distress.
It was the first case Jefferson County Sheriff‘s officials could recall where rescuers acted and likely will receive protection under one of the laws, which require that rescuers first notify the police and make reasonable efforts to find the owner of the locked vehicle.
Even when temperatures outside are as mild as 70 degrees, the heat inside a locked car can spike above 100 degrees within a half hour, according to veterinary authorities.
On Tuesday, a woman at the golf course spotted the dog in distress, went inside the clubhouse, and notified a manager, sheriff and golf course officials said. The manager called 911. In the meantime, around noon, two men outside got involved. They eventually used a golf club to break the windows of the vehicle.
The two men pulled out the dog. They tried to resuscitate it as they waited for sheriff’s deputies to arrive, officials said, but the dog died.
The owner of the vehicle had parked it with the dog inside around 8:45 a.m. — before golfing, Jefferson County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Jenny Fulton said. “He said he thought he left his windows rolled down. But even that does not prevent something like this from happening on a hot day.”
He was cited for animal cruelty, a misdemeanor.
The people who smashed the windows trying to save the dog apparently will face no penalties. A Good Samaritan law that Colorado lawmakers passed in 2017 shields people who break into hot vehicles to rescue a pet or at-risk person from penalties — such as criminal mischief, tampering, or trespassing. The law says a person breaking into a vehicle for this purpose must first make sure the vehicle is locked, use only the force that reasonably is necessary to enter it, and stay at the scene with the animal or at-risk person until police or paramedics arrive.
Other states with similar laws include California, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont, Wisconsin, Kansas, Connecticut, and Tennessee, according to records in the Animal Legal and Historical Center at the Michigan State University College of Law.
“People need to know that there really is an opportunity to engage. You can take steps to save an animal,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s public information officer Jacki Kelley said.
So far this year, dispatchers for the sheriff have received 33 calls alerting authorities about pets locked inside vehicles. Last year, dispatchers received a total of 78 pets-trapped-in-vehicle calls, up from 69 calls in 2021, records show.
Typically, deputies sent to respond make the rescues, and deaths are prevented.
Colorado summer heat will intensify next week, according to the National Weather Service.
“This was the first case we are aware of” where a person who is not an agency first responder smashed windows to try to save an animal, Fulton said.
“Don’t leave animals in vehicles on hot days. It gets very hot very quickly. We encourage people to leave their animals at home. It is as simple as that. And, certainly, don’t take your dog with you when you’re going to be golfing.”
