Dog Rescued From Truck With Windows Rolled Up

LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4) — A dog in Larimer County was saved by people walking by, after they noticed it was left in a truck with the windows rolled up during the summer. In temperatures above 80 degrees, temperatures inside vehicles can skyrocket to more than 100 degrees within 10 minutes.

Thanks to a concerned resident, police and humane society professionals arrived and broke out the window to save the dog.

"This is not a new issue by any stretch of the mind," said Sgt. Joseph Quinn, a manager at the Larimer Humane Society.

Quinn said the call was just one of more than 100 in the last month reporting animals left in hot cars.

A Colorado law allows the public to break a vehicle's window in order to save a child or animal. However, they must first call law enforcement, and make a thorough attempt to locate the owner.

(credit: Larimer Humane Society)

Those measures failed on Tuesday, and officers with Loveland Police eventually broke the window.

"(We) found that the average temperature in the car was over 100 degrees, which could be very, very dangerous for an animal," Quinn said. "They can get nerve damage, kidney damage, brain damage and they can even die inside of a vehicle."

Officers were able to remove the dog from the truck and give it water and other needed assistance.

"The dog was running an extremely high temperature," Quinn said.

(credit: Larimer Humane Society)

The dog was transported to the Larimer Humane Society and treated. Custody was not returned to the owner until potential criminal charges of animal abuse were set.

State Sen. Joann Ginal sponsored the legislation that allowed the window to be broken for the dog. It was first formed in 2017.

"I'm glad a bill we enacted in 2017 is really saving lives here in Colorado. This is just one example," Ginal told CBS4's Dillon Thomas.

The humane society said the best advise would be to leave pets at home on warm or hot days, even if you only plan to stop at one location.

"If you are going somewhere the dog is going to be left in the car for an extended period of time, just leave them home. It really is the safest thing for the dog," Quinn said.

RELATED: Dog Dies In Hot Car In Colorado