Whenever the temperature climbs above 75 degrees, Rose Owens hops in her vehicle and cruises city and county parking lots looking for hot dogs left in cars.
She found a poor pooch inside a stifling vehicle shortly before 11:30 a.m. last Friday and she’s helped rescue more than 170 pets since hitting the sizzling streets of Windsor and Essex County two summers ago.
“It hurts my heart to see dogs being treated unfairly in a hot car,” said Owens. “I’m going to be patrolling the parking lots. I’m going to protect these poor things.”
It’s a lot of work but if I can save a dog’s life, it’s worth it
Owens has started a petition to make it a finable offence to leave animals in vehicles on hot and humid days. She has 15,000 signatures and counting and has now distributed petitions at all the local Pet Valu stores.
Owens is kept busy at night running her own cleaning business but spends sweltering days driving around in a Dodge Journey decorated with Pet Patrol decals and topped with orange flashing lights. Inside the vehicle are the tools of her trade — laser thermometers and a water bottle specially designed to fit through narrow window openings for thirsty animals.
“It’s a lot of work but if I can save a dog’s life, it’s worth it,” said Owens, who last year staged an event where she climbed into a car on a broiling day wearing a fur coat. “In 15 minutes, I had a fever and my blood pressure went sky high. It was crazy. I couldn’t even breathe properly. I felt sick for the rest of the day.”
The Pet Patrol ranks grew this week when Owens was joined by a new volunteer, Janice Wilson, who will patrol parking lots in Leamington and Kingsville.
Owens handles Lasalle, Windsor and Lakeshore and is looking for additional volunteers to help keep watch in Belle River, Essex and Amherstburg. She funds the initiative herself and accepts donations.
Anything that raises awareness and educates the public about the danger of leaving animals in hot vehicles is a positive, said Melanie Coulter, executive director of the Windsor and Essex County Humane Society.
“People who are doing this are people who care about their animals enough to bring them places. That’s where the education is important,” said Coulter. “These aren’t people who don’t care about their dogs and leave them tied up in their backyard.”
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Owens is always on the prowl but she also relies on legions of supporters who text and call when they spot animals in cars. Owens will attempt to locate and educate the owner if the situation isn’t dire but will phone 911 if the vehicle is too hot and the animal in distress. While she has never had to break a window, she said she would if she had no other choice.
“Will I end up going to court?” asked Owens, who owns two dogs named Diamond and Ikey. “I don’t care. If I get fined, I get fined.”
While it is illegal to cause distress to an animal, there is no law that specifically deals with temperature. Owens wants to remove any subjectivity from the equation. Her petition calls on Parliament to make it a finable offence to leave an animal in a vehicle when the temperature climbs above 75 F.
Contact Pet Patrol via email at purfect_rose@hotmail.com.
Rose Owens of Pet Patrol, shown here on June 3, 2018, cruises through parking lots on hot days looking for dogs left in sweltering vehicles.