Living in South Florida, I have come to dread the sound of a dog barking as I walk through a parking lot because I’ve come to acquaint it with some moron driving around with their “best animal buddy” and then deciding they need to go shopping and leave the dog in the car.

Most recently I was with my boyfriend on an extremely hot day, 93 degrees according to his car’s external temperature gauge. We were walking back to the car after a Littleshopping excursion when we heard a dog barking like mad. The ignorant part of me kicked in and I thought it might be ideal to avoid getting involved. The rational side took over and I found the car. A gray Pontiac with the windows cracked about three inches each. There was aTiny golden dog barking furiously, and I could not blame it. I was sweating standing outside the car.

There were a few stores in which I could have begun to search for the owner, and I got it right on the first tryVerizon. I opened the door and asked if someone had left their dog in the car. ABiggirl said “It’s mine” and my animal protection rage blinded me from logic. I told her she was a complete idiot despite the fact that she was almost three times my size. I really don’t care when an animal is at risk. Who the hell does that kind of thing? Would you leave your child in the automobile on a 93 degree day? I think not! I hope not!

She was with her boyfriend, making it even more frustrating because one of the two could have sat in the automobile with the air conditioner cranked, but they both needed to spend God knows how much time in a cell phone store while thatTiny dog was going ballistic. The girl started threatening me with violence and I called the police. What else can you do? We now have shows on Animal Planet increasing awareness of how people should not treat animals. No one should sit by and allow this kind of thing to occur.

While we sat in our vehicle waiting for the police, the couple thought it ideal to get the dog out of the car and walk around, possibly to get away from police activity. The unfortunate part of THAT is that the ground is fire hot. I have seen people walking their dogs and actually hit their dogs because they won’t stand still on hot pavement. Some people don’t realize that their dogs’ paw pads aren’t gonna cut it. My own foam flip-flops melt on the hottest days, leaving warped edges. When I found my kitten in a bush her Littlepaw pads were black and singed from whatever she went through. Animals are incredibly fragile,