With temperatures on the rise over the past few weeks the Drumheller RCMP and Bylaw officers want to remind residents to not leave animals or children in parked vehicles on hot days.
RCMP Acting Drumheller detachment Commander Cpl Kevin Charles told the Mail that many people don’t realize parking in the shade or leaving the windows open a crack have minimal effects and can still result in temperatures that could mean serious injury or possible death to their pets.
At 35 degrees Celcius, a vehicle’s interior temperature can reach 45 degrees in only 10 minutes and 60 degrees within an hour.
“It is not very often we see a kid, (people) usually put two and two together and realize I better not leave my child in this oven on wheels, but for some reason when it comes to animals they think, oh I’ll crack the window and leave them a dish of water and they’ll be fine. Well, they’re not,” Charles said.
“We’re not saying, if you see an animal in a vehicle call the police or bylaw, we are saying if you see an animal in distress..., perhaps unresponsive or panting heavily and you can tell that the vehicle is sealed and parked in the sun on a hot day,” he said.
Charles said if residents see an animal in distress, they are advised to obtain the vehicle make, model, colour and license plate. If the vehicle is near a local business, provide this information to someone in the business who may be able to determine if the vehicle’s owner is a customer in the store by paging them.
To report incidents to Drumheller Protective Services you can call 403-823-1363 or on weekends 403-823-2512. A bylaw officer will investigate and the vehicle owner may face charges under Drumheller’s Municipal Bylaws. Reports can be made to the Drumheller RCMP at 403-823-7590 24 hours a day. Police will investigate under Alberta’s Animal Protective Act and the Criminal Code of Canada. Penalties vary depending on the circumstances.
“Depending on when people call it could be a few minutes before they get to a dispatcher, and then it gets sent to an officer and then the officer has to respond, so it could be quite a turn around before we are actually able to arrive on the scene,” he said continuing by saying that the RCMP aren’t suggesting any confrontation with the vehicles owners, but to let the business know that there is a vehicle with an animal in distress inside near their  business.
When it comes to breaking a window to get an animal out, Charles said, “no one has authority to do that except for us...they can be held liable civically and potentially criminally.”
“We put a different weight to it, if it is a child. If there is a child in there, and they are non-responsive, then yeah you could save someone’s life,” he said.