Frustration over lack of prosecutions prompts call for change
A shopping centre manager is calling for a ban on leaving dogs in hot cars, after repeatedly seeing animals put at risk in the store car park.
Claire Grundy is operations manager at Birchwood Shopping Centre in Warrington, Cheshire.
She says: "There isn't a week that goes by where we don't have a report of a dog locked in a hot vehicle, or a team of staff trying to locate the owner to return to their vehicle."
Staff at the shopping centre are "saddened and frustrated" by the number of people who leave their dogs in hot cars, and the lack of action taken against irresponsible owners. This is despite annual awareness campaigns run by charities such as the RSPCA and the Dogs Trust.
Claire says: "The police attend the scene and speak to the owner about their irresponsibility, however, this is the limitation of police powers on the matter."
Police action is only taken under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 if the animal dies as a result of being left in a car, she adds.
Frustration at the lack of a clearly defined law prompted her to take action and launch OtisLaw2015 - a campaign named after her own rescue Labrador.
The campaign is calling for a change to the Animal Welfare Act, making it illegal to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal by leaving it unattended in a hot vehicle long enough to cause them discomfort.
Initially, the petition was launched on Change.org and received 13,000 signatures. Since then, the government has reopened its petition committee and the e-petition has had to start from scratch on the official government site.
So far, it has over 1,700 signatures, but if the issue is to be debated in parliament, the petition needs 100,000 signatures by February 2016.
The campaign is gaining momentum online, gathering support from a number of celebrities and coverage from regional news and radio stations across the north west.
Sign the government e-petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/106636
Image courtesy of Claire Grundy
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