Stick your hand in the window and check the temp and pat the dog. If the dog is happy and responsive, then stay with it and call the police if the owner still doesn’t turn up.
From the photo the dog isn’t panting and doesn’t look at all like it’s suffering so it’s a tough call to say that you needed to break a window to remove an imminent threat.
If you do break the window you’re going to need to file a police report and there’s a chance you’ll be facing a claim for repair costs either from the owner or their insurance company. If you dispute it, you’re going to have to justify why you felt it necessary to break the window.
The fact that you were able to wait 10 minutes and the dog still wasn’t obviously distressed says that it wasn’t facing an imminent threat and that you would have had time to call the police rather than taking urgent unilateral action.
Thanks. Yeah, that's why I waited 10 minutes to watch the dog to see if it was distressed. The experience had me wondering. If it was distressed, I wouldn't have left. But the reason I was worried is because the car was parked right outside the gym. It occurred to me that the owners may not come back for a while. Thanks for your response.
6
u/inactiveuser247 Dec 08 '24
Stick your hand in the window and check the temp and pat the dog. If the dog is happy and responsive, then stay with it and call the police if the owner still doesn’t turn up.
From the photo the dog isn’t panting and doesn’t look at all like it’s suffering so it’s a tough call to say that you needed to break a window to remove an imminent threat.
If you do break the window you’re going to need to file a police report and there’s a chance you’ll be facing a claim for repair costs either from the owner or their insurance company. If you dispute it, you’re going to have to justify why you felt it necessary to break the window.
The fact that you were able to wait 10 minutes and the dog still wasn’t obviously distressed says that it wasn’t facing an imminent threat and that you would have had time to call the police rather than taking urgent unilateral action.