Last Saturday was a particular hot and humid day in Grand Bend, Ontario as well as many other parts of southern Ontario. On Saturday afternoon, Will Costa had travelled to Grand Bend from Kitchener to attend a concert at the resort town’s bandshell. In between sets, it was announced a dog had been left in a vehicle just outside the venue. The temperature in Grand Bend at that time was around 30 degrees C (86 degrees F).
Costa then went to where the car was and where a group of people had gathered. A parking stub on the dashboard of the BMW indicated the car had been parked there for about 90 minutes.
An unidentified man wearing a blue shirt picked up a large rock and began hitting a window of the BMW. Costa then took out his camera and began recording. Eventually the window shattered and the man in the blue shirt unlocked the door and took the dog out of the car.
The dog was placed in the shade and given water. The video shows the small dog looked happy and no worse for wear. It was running around and playing with some people in the crowd that had gathered. The man who rescued the dog can be heard saying on the video that the temperature felt like about 45 degrees C in the car (113 degrees F).
Police were called and they arrived about 50 minutes later, around the same time as the car’s occupants showed up. They had left the windows open a crack and didn’t know what the big deal was. Although they were embarrassed about what happened they did not think they did anything wrong as some air was getting into the car. Eric Jensen, of the Toronto Humane Society, told Global News that even with windows open a crack, temperatures in cars can get very hot very quickly.
According to the Lambton detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the couple was not concerned about the broken window.
The police asked the couple to accompany them to the station but so far no charges have been laid and the incident is still being investigated by the Ontario SPCA. The dog has been returned to its’ owners and it is not likely the man who broke the window will be charged. Police said under the Criminal Code, anyone convicted of causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal can face a maximum fine of $10,000 and up to five years in jail.
Costa posted the video of the man smashing the window on Instagram and Facebook. As of yesterday, it had been viewed more than 300,000 times.
