Ridge Meadows RCMP and the B.C. SPCA arrived just in time Monday and saved two small dogs locked inside a hot vehicle.
Someone called the SPCA after noticing the dogs in the SUV in the Meadow Ridge shopping centre on 207th Street.
SPCA arrived on scene, but didn’t have authority to get into the vehicle.
Police soon followed and were able to get into the vehicle through a partially opened window. They then took the dogs to a local vet, with one of them vomiting from the heat, suffering from heat stroke.
There were still at the vet on Tuesday, recovering.
“We have them in our custody … and we want to meet with the owners prior to those dogs being returned to them, to find out why they would leave the dogs in the car,” said Eileen Drever, with the SPCA.
“It’s just inexcusable. Fortunately, these dogs did not die.”
A dog can die within 10 minutes in a car, Drever said.
Charges could follow, she added.
So far in B.C. this year, the SPCA has responded to 599 calls of dogs in hot cars.
The previous weekend in Maple Ridge alone, there were between 10 and 15 such calls to the SPCA. Most calls end with with vehicle gone by the time the SPCA arrives.
People are asked to put the SPCA hotline into their phones: 1-855-622-7722, so it’s handy if the see an animal in distress.
