Doggy Daddy Ceretto Sponsors Hot Car Rescue Legislation Here

Patrick J. Oneill, 66, of Massena, was charged in 2013 after his Labrador retriever died in a car. State police said Oneill left the dog in the car for four hours while he attended the state fair. Oneill pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and was sentenced in May 2014 to three years of probation, during which he is forbidden from owning animals.

 

New York State Assemblyman John Ceretto is rapidly becoming the darling of dog lovers across the state for his work in supporting and sponsoring legislation crafted with the intention to protect and defend the rights of man’s best friend.

He supported the 2013 state legislation that requires convicted animal abusers to pay the cost of care for their victims, sponsored legislation to establish an animal abuser registry in the state and is now sponsoring an amendment to an already existing law that would make it legal for ordinary citizens to smash a car window in order to rescue what they believe is an endangered dog or cat locked in a car on a hot day.

While no one – including Ceretto- seems to be able to say how many animals, mostly dogs, die in such a fashion each year, or how many dogs the Ceretto amendment – if it passes - might be expected to save, but some in the business of furthering legal protections for companion animals believe the problem warrants such legislation.

“The ASPCA strongly supports states giving law enforcement and Good Samaritans the ability to intervene to protect animals suffering in hot cars,” said Chloë Waterman, the ASPCA's senior manager of state legislative strategy. “It takes only minutes for a pet to face death. On a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can reach 160 degrees, even with the windows cracked.”

Dr. Gene Mueller, president of the Anti Cruelty Society in Chicago, agreed.

“Because dogs don’t sweat, except for some from their paw pads; they aren’t as efficient at cooling off as people and are more susceptible to heat stroke,” said Mueller. “Sometimes we mean well, but truly by bringing the dog with we’re meeting our needs’, instead of the dogs’ needs. There are times when the right thing to do is just leave your dog home in the air conditioning.” 

There’s no agency that keeps track of how often dogs die in hot cars. No national statistics are available, according to Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine at the ASPCA in New York.

“But clearly it happens too often,” she said. “I mean normal adult humans wouldn’t just sit and boil in a car, they’d get out. But dogs don’t have a choice if the doors are closed. Sadly, these cases of fatal heat stroke are preventable – it shouldn’t happen.”

Currently in New York State, only law enforcement officers and animal control personnel are authorized to smash the window of a parked vehicle and effect an animal rescue. Under the Ceretto amendment, that responsibility would be given to anyone happening to notice an animal in dire distress.

On July 1, the first such law in the nation went into effect in Tennessee and there have been no reports of window breaking coming from the Volunteer State in the weeks that have passed since.

According to New York State Penal Law, Article 35, it may already be legal to rescue a dog in dire straits by smashing a window. The law states that conduct that would otherwise be an offense is justifiable and not criminal when the conduct is "necessary as an emergency measure to avoid an imminent public or private injury which is about to occur."

Ceretto, who keeps two dogs and three cats with his family, said he will be traveling to Albany on Thursday to meet with state Sen. Kathy Marchione about sponsoring the amendment in the Senate.

Ceretto introduced the bill on May 26. It was referred to the agriculture committee, where it will be on the agenda when the Legislature resumes.

The bill requires the person who removes an animal from a vehicle to relinquish it to a humane society and leave a note on the vehicle stating where the animal has been taken.  It also requires that the person who decides to rescue an animal must be acting “reasonably and in good faith.”

Ceretto told the Reporter that he proposed the bill after reading about an incident in Athens, Ga., when Michael Hammons broke a car window to rescue a Yorkshire terrier he believed was in distress. The woman who owned the car and dog pressed charges against Hammons for criminal trespass.

The charges were dismissed against Hammons.