To be frank, humans – not my humans of course, they are absolute perfection – continually confound me. On a recent trip to our local market, on a sweltering afternoon, my human ran into the Harris Teeter to procure provisions for our humble abode. The spare human, as is generally the case, and I remained in the car with the air conditioner running. We also had cool water at our disposal and yours truly was comfortably situated in my car seat, cooling mat securely stationed under my slender frame for added climate-controlled comfort. It was 97 degrees without the heat index, dear reader, so one can imagine how hot the local parking lots were.
As my human approached the entry, silently contemplating her produce selections, she heard a familiar voice call out to her. A dear friend and neighbor had found a canine attempting to seek refuge inside the Red & White – pardon me, inside the Harris Teeter (old habits die hard). This good Samaritan asked my human for help in locating the humans of this abandoned, hot and rightfully terrified pet.
As my human and our sweet neighbor were discussing how to best help this poor, bedraggled pup, the kindly manager exited the grocery with the owner of aforementioned canine barreling behind her. This owner relayed that her dog always sat in the golf cart, no matter the weather, whilst she did her shopping and he had never attempted such a feat prior to this particular scorching hot day, and that she had only been in the store for a moment or two before his escape. The kind and ever helpful manager reported that she had made an announcement, requesting said owner to return to the parking lot to retrieve her lost canine 15 minutes prior to this owner’s attempt to reunite with the dog she left unattended in the blazing sun, tethered to a golf cart. I am nearly certain that I do not need to explain here how 15-plus minutes and a mere moment or two are quite diverse measures of time.
This owner hastily grabbed her dog and led him into the store to complete her shopping excursion. This is a matter we shall address another time but in short – how discourteous. Upon exiting the store, post purchase, this owner stood in the parking lot conversing whilst her already overheated dog danced from paw to paw, presumably attempting to avoid the burning asphalt.
When my primary human arrived back at our vehicle, the dog in question was seated in the golf cart, while the owner continued to chat. The spare human and I did not know the entirety of the story yet, but we were still horrified by the brief snippet we had witnessed. My human took one of my bowls – a small sacrifice I was more than willing to make – and a bottle of water and offered them to the owner; my human even said the owner of the hot, thirsty dog could keep the bowl. That offer was declined, much to my chagrin. Finally, the glum duo departed.
It should be noted that the only utterances of thanks came from the manager, the good Samaritan and my human for their part in helping this dog safely navigate the hazards of a blistering hot parking lot on a heat advisory day. I won’t insult you by pointing out who exactly did not utter one word of thanks in this instance.
My point, and I do have one, is this: educate yourself on the dangers of excessive heat exposure and the repercussions of not heeding the advice of experts.
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