WATCH: A man lashes out after being confronted about dog in hot car
A video of a heated confrontation with a dog owner, who left a dog inside a car, is circulating on social media and drawing comments and criticism from people around the province.
Jennifer Thi posted the video of the altercation between the man and two women, including herself, trying to help the canine to her Facebook page on Monday (WARNING: strong language).
Thi said a woman walked into the pet store in Vancouver where she works, and asked if anyone knew who owned the silver car parked with a French Bulldog inside. She said the woman had already gone into other stores in search of the owner, believing the dog was in distress — something Thi said she saw for herself.
“I could tell it was overheating — the windows in the car were opened half an inch and the dog was panting heavily, drooling, and was trying to be as close to the crack of fresh air as possible with not even any water in the car,” Thi wrote in her Facebook post.
Thi explained she was trying to figure out how to help the dog when she tried opening the passenger door and found it was unlocked. She and the woman taking the video decided to bring the dog into the pet shop and wait for the owner to come and get it.
“Just as we’re going to leash the dog, a man who has been standing in front of this car THIS ENTIRE TIME sipping on a slurpee asks us what we’re doing,” Thi wrote. “He has heard everything we’ve said, he’s silently watched as I’ve opened the car door and get a hold of the dog.”
“I ask him if the car is his. He says yes. The dog is his, too.”
Thi’s friend then told the man he should not have left the dog in the car with the windows rolled up so high. That’s when the man becomes very angry with them, Thi wrote in her post.
“I was gone for five f**king minutes,” the man in the video yelled at the women. “Never open someone’s f**king random door.”
Thi said she posted the video because she wants people to spread the word about leaving animals in hot cars.
“I suppose some people just don’t get it… But maybe after seeing how irrational his argument is, hopefully some people will think twice before making a ‘sandwich and slurpee’ stop,” she wrote. “You can’t wait until your pet dies from being in a hot car to realize how quickly it can get hot and how a little sliver of a window essentially does nothing.”
WATCH: Reporter Jill Bennett has more on what you should do if you spot an animal in distress
Thi removed the video from her Facebook page at about 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday and said in part:
As important as it is to make sure you don’t leave dogs or any other pets or toddlers in hot cars, it’s also important to think about what you do on social media and how it affects others and I didn’t think about the latter half carefully enough. I know it’s too late and that too much damage has been done already, but please try to understand the man’s situation and avoid shaming him further.
Prior to making that decision, she told Global News it appeared the man just “flipped a switch.”
“I was just standing there in complete shock because he was so angry at us for trying to help his dog,” said Thi.
She said the experience “wasn’t very pleasant.”
“I definitely did not agree with anything he said.”
Thi added that it is best to call either the police or the SPCA and let them help, rather than taking action yourself. But she does not have any regrets.
Marcie Moriarty, the general manager of cruelty investigations for the BC SPCA, said when she saw the video she was “appalled” by the man’s behaviour. “It was an exceptionally rude display, on his part, to someone who was taking concern, legitimate concern, for his pet.”
Moriarty said the BC SPCA cannot condone the behaviour of opening someone’s car door as they are breaking the law. However, she said she does understand peoples’ concern about seeing a dog in a car that appears to be in distress.
She said the best thing to do is take down the licence plate number and enter the local stores to try and find the owner first.
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