Pet Product News Editorial Blog:
Friday, July 10, 2009
Save a Dog’s Life
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My home state of New Jersey experienced a tragedy this week when an explosives-detecting golden retriever employed by the Mount Holly Police Department died, apparently after being left in a car.
The SPCA is investigating the death of Patton, who was five years old at the time of his death on Tuesday, and had been serving in the K-9 unit in Mount Holly for three years. He was under the care of officer Kara McIntosh.
It’s difficult to draw any conclusions until all of the details of the case are released, but any way you look at it, this is a very sad situation. Listening to a talk radio station here in New Jersey yesterday, I heard other K-9 handlers express disbelief that this could have been an oversight on the part of McIntosh, noting that K-9 vehicles are equipped with special climate control features. One noted, though, that a number of dogs do die every year in the line of duty, simply because these features fail.
The news reports on this story are extremely varied and, as such, unreliable, but one or two stated that Patton was in McIntosh’s private vehicle when he died. I guess we’ll know that for sure when the final report is released.
The death of any dog under these circumstances is tragic, but the loss of a dog that was such an asset to humanity is particularly unfortunate. My heart goes out to McIntosh, who by all accounts was closely bonded to Patton.
It’s easy for loving pet owners to judge the humans in these situations, but the truth is that it does happen to people who love their dogs like they love their own children. Who among us has not ever been guilty of doing something dangerous for “just a moment,” assuming everything will be fine and we have it all under control? The fallibility of the human brain allows for tragic mistakes all the time.
As boutique owners, you can help prevent these kinds of accidents from happening this summer. I recommend that everyone hang a flyer behind the register reminding dog owners that it is never safe to leave a dog in a car. You could also print the poster and put one in each bag as customers leave the store.
(Time elapses. Editor creates text for flyer, seeks image for flyer, gets involved in other projects, remembers flyer…)
Here, I made one for you! You can download the flyer by clicking the image above. Let’s save some lives together this summer.
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