Police officers appeal to the public not to leave children or animals in a car, even for a moment. During a heatwave, the inside of a vehicle becomes a kind of greenhouse, where the temperature is significantly higher than outside. Let us not allow such dangerous situations to occur!
The police are appealing especially to adults. Even if it seems that taking care of some matter will take little time, during a heatwave we should not leave those in our care alone in vehicles, even for a moment.
Such care should also extend to animals. Leaving four-legged animals in a car in high temperatures constitutes animal cruelty, punishable under the law by up to two years in prison. Some time ago, such a situation occurred in Lubin. A 29-year-old man locked eight Labrador puppies in the trunk and went shopping. It was almost 30 degrees outside. The puppies lay whining on a dirty rag, with their excrement scattered around them.
The puppies’ owner did not return, so a police officer broke the window. The small Labradors were exhausted. A veterinarian took them to a clinic. According to the veterinarian, the officers rescued the puppies at the last possible moment. (The officer who pulled them from the overheated car, and who has worked with police dogs every day for many years, said afterwards that he had never heard such terrifying whining and whimpering from an animal.)
Police officers pay particular attention to such situations. Let us also remember that if officers determine that leaving a dog or child in a car for longer poses a threat to their life, they have the right to use any means necessary to get them out of the vehicle—including breaking the window.