TORONTO – Retailing giant Wal-Mart will post signs in stores across Canada warning people about the dangers of leaving pets in hot cars.
The initiative follows the firing of employee Carla Cheney in Kemptville, Ont., who claims she was let go after confronting a customer who had left his dog in a car amid sweltering temperatures.
A statement from Wal-Mart says Cheney wasn’t fired for trying to help a dog in a car, but didn’t offer any further explanation due to “privacy reasons.”
Cheney’s lawyer Robert Monti says his client doesn’t accept that and will bring a wrongful-dismissal suit against the mega-chain.
Wal-Mart says it has a long-standing protocol that tells employees to notify authorities if an animal is in distress or at risk.
The Kemptville incident followed the death of a dog who had been left in a car parked at the Vaughan Mills shopping centre north of Toronto in June.
Authorities also issued warnings not to leave children unattended in vehicles after a boy in Milton, Ont., and a girl in Edmonton died this summer after being left in hot cars for extended periods of time.
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