COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) rescued a dog from a hot car earlier this month. It happened on July 17 when CSFD said it was 82° outside.
CSFD says they were dispatched to assist Animal Law Enforcement (ALE) with the call. The dog was believed to have been in the car for an hour and 45 minutes.
According to CSFD, they were able to get the pup out of the car, and ALE and the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) took the pup into their care. The dog showed signs of heat stroke, and CSFD says the owner was cited.
After an hour of sitting in the sun, the inside of a car could get as hot as 130°, according to CSFD. They say never to leave pets or children in the car.
Some of you asked CSFD on X what citizens' legal rights are in this situation. Here's what News5 found out.
Under Colorado law, you are immune from civil and criminal liability if you forcibly enter a locked vehicle in order to help an at-risk person or animal. However, certain criteria must be met before entering a vehicle.
"So per the state law, before you break into a vehicle, you do have to do your due diligence to try to find an owner, especially if the dog is active, alert, out the window," said Alyssa Haden, field supervisor for Arapahoe County Animal Services in an interview early this month with our sister station Denver7.
However, if the dog is not alert and there is a fear it may lose its life, you may enter the vehicle.
"We want to use the least destructive way into the vehicle. Use those door handles. If those are locked, then we can break the window and extract the dog," said Haden.
If you do break the windows of a vehicle, you should stay at the scene until law enforcement arrives.
Here is the criteria people must follow under the state's current statute:
- Ensure the vehicle is not a law enforcement vehicle
- Have a reasonable belief that the person or animal is in imminent danger of death or suffering serious bodily injury
- Verify the vehicle is locked
- Make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or operator of the vehicle
- Contact a law enforcement or other first responder agency prior to forcibly entering the vehicle and not interfere with the actions of any such responding law enforcement agency
- Use no more force than reasonably necessary to enter the locked vehicle
- Remain with the at-risk person or animal in a safe location close to the vehicle until law enforcement or other first responder arrives at the scene; except that, if the person rendering assistance has to leave the scene before the owner or operator of the vehicle returns, prior to leaving the scene, the person rendering assistance shall leave a notice on the vehicle with his or her name and contact information and the name and location, if any, of the facility to which he or she took the at-risk person or animal. Also prior to leaving the scene, the person rendering assistance shall contact law enforcement, animal control, or other first responder to provide them with the same information.
Denver7's Sydney Isenberg contributed to this web story.
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