Columbus Zoo Staff Rescue Dog From Hot Car in Parking Lot

Staff at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio, were forced to break into a vehicle in the zoo’s parking lot on Saturday when a concerned dog lover noticed a dog locked inside.

While temperatures outside were in the low 70’s, temperature inside the locked vehicle had reached at least 90-degrees, making it dangerous and potentially deadly for the dog, locked inside with no food or water, the windows completely rolled up.

The concerned woman, who asked not to be identified, immediately called zoo security and posted a photo of the dog to Facebook. She waited at the vehicle until the dog was safely rescued – but expressed concern over why it took zoo staff more than 40 minutes to rescue the distressed dog.

While temperatures outside were in the low 70’s, temperature inside the locked vehicle had reached at least 90-degrees, making it dangerous and potentially deadly for the dog, locked inside with no food or water, the windows completely rolled up.

In a response to the woman’s concerns, the zoo posted the following statement:

I spoke with our Director of Security and Safety and he provided the following account: ‘We got the call about a dog in the car at 3:10 p.m. Per our protocol we assessed the animal and called the Vet staff at 3:17 p.m. when it appeared the animal did not have any water. Vet staff responded, Security took inside temperature of vehicle (90 degrees). Vet staff advised the dog looked to be stressed and suggested that we remove the dog from the vehicle. By 3:59 p.m., the dog had been removed from the vehicle and was secure at the Zoo’s Animal Hospital.

While the entire process from first notification to secure in the Hospital took less than 1 hour, the main issue is that the vehicle proved a little difficult to unlock and required us to use a couple different methods. One thing we don’t do is break windows, unless a child is in the vehicle and the parent/guardian requests that we do so for entry. That of course is a last resort even for a child as the potential for injury from glass is also a concern.

The dog’s owner didn’t return to their car until 5:56pm and we do not know what time the dog’s owner first arrived at the Zoo’ Our security staff did speak with the dog’s owner about the risk of leaving their dog in their car.

In May, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a bill granting citizens permission to break into vehicles, including smashing windows if necessary, to rescue distressed dogs in an emergency (after they have called 911, made a reasonable attempt to locate the owner, and checked for unlocked doors). However, the law does not take effect until August 29.

The dog’s owner returned to their vehicle nearly 3 hours after the dog was first spotted locked in the car. The dog was returned to the owner.