Posted on 06/20/2025 8:07:50 PM PDT by Macho MAGA Man
CORNELIUS, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) – A woman in North Carolina said she helped a dog who was trapped inside a hot car on a 90-degree day, but a responding police officer told her she had “no right” to do so.
Suzanne Vella said on June 7, she saw a dog panting inside a hot car that was parked in a shopping center parking lot. She immediately knew she had to do something.
Vella said she called 911 and looked in the area for the dog’s owner, but after not finding them, she opened the car door – which was unlocked – and gave the dog some water.
“I was really concerned because I know it only takes a few minutes for dogs to go into heat stroke. It was a 90-degree day,” Vella said. “It wasn’t even a decision, I knew.”
Vella said when a Cornelius police officer arrived at the scene, he reprimanded her for going into the vehicle to help the dog.
“I was shocked,” Vella said. “I could tell [the officer] was really upset. He just kind of yelled at me and told me I had no right to go into the vehicle, and he repeatedly asked the owner if he wanted to press charges on me.”
According to the Cornelius Police Department, they received a 911 call at 2:18 p.m., the officer was dispatched at 2:19 p.m., and he arrived at the scene at 2:26 p.m.
That’s eight minutes that Vella thinks could have been too long to wait to act.
A cell phone video recorded by Vella captured the interaction between her and the police officer after he arrived.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox8live.com ...
I support the cop and car / dog owner.
Stupid cop.
Natural law.
Of course you do. Let the dog die, so then the cops can arrest the dog owner....
To even get this in front of a jury you’d need a prosecutor as dumb as the cop.
> What a jerk this cop is. He has zero empathy for dogs locked in cars 90+ degrees outside. <
Your mileage may vary. But in my experience, 85% of cops range from adequate to exceptional.
What about the other 15%? They are somewhere between trash and evil. Their arrogance ruins the reputation of the entire profession.
This cop is firmly in that 15%.
However, she would have been totally justified breaking the window.
I saw the same thing and called cops. The dispatcher told me to watch the dogs until cop got there, I rolled the window down though. The dogs were lying on the floor panting. Cop took about 10 minutes. Cop called owner on phone, no answer so he took the dogs to the pound.
Crimes traditionally required criminal intent. The Good Samaritan had none. If some damage had been done, the owner could have demanded reparations, but there was no harm done. This cop needs to find better ways to make his monthly quota of charged crimes.
But, the dog owner would get a slap on the wrist,
The dog looked sort of young, like a 2 or 3 yr old.
Some dogs that age are not used to dealing with prolonged thirst. Such a dog is going to hyperventilate, open mouthed, making his mouth feel even more dry and more thirsty.
The owner is not likely to press any charges, and probably wishes this entire event would just go away.
A few years ago we had a wildfire threatening my neighborhood. My next door neighbor had a dog she kept indoors. As the fire got closer to our area I called my neighbor at work and had her called out of a meeting. I asked about the dog and she told me that she had him boarded away from home because of the chance of fire. I told her, “If the fire got into our neighborhood I was going to bust down her front door and get the dog.” She thanked me.
Press charges for what? What’s the criminal intent considering the woman who opened the door told police exactly what was happening when she called, and explain why she did it prior to police arriving on scene?
Hes the kind of cop who would kill a k-9 dog by leaving it in his squad on a hot day.
I would have supported Vella. And if upon arrival, I found that the dogs were suffering, the the windows were up and the doors were locked, I would have smashed a window myself.
Problem is, you dont know which kind you are going to get, so its in your own best interest to assume they are bad ones.
> Crimes traditionally required criminal intent. <
Yes. And another way to look at it is to apply the “reasonable person” standard.
Would a reasonable person be expected to open that car to help that dog? You betcha.
The woman did good.
The cop needs to be reassigned to picking up garbage in some city park. But not forever. Maybe just until he gets his mind right. A year ought to do.
The cop is a moron.
> Problem is, you don’t know which kind [of cop] you are going to get, so it’s in your own best interest to assume they are bad ones. <
Sadly, you are quite correct. A bad plumber can make a house leak worse. But a bad cop can absolutely (and casually) destroy your entire world.
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