I am not quite sure where to put this, but here goes.

So we went down to the Tucson area for a little tourism during a long Easter weekend when the kids had a couple of extra days off from school. We took the kid's dogs as I firmly believe they are family members and teach kids a lot. So Sunday we went to a missle museum that I thought the kids might enjoy and learn something.

Here are the facts. Tucson temps for the day were a low of 68 and high of 82. We got there at 8:35 AM. I left the kid's dogs in the car with windows rolled down about 7-8 inches for air movement and their bowl full of cool water. We were going on the 9 AM tour which lasted one hour.

Here is what happened - I was reported for animal abuse. I was told the cops should break the glass, take the animal (s) and then fine you over $200.

It turns out you cannot leave an animal unattended in a car in Arizona by state law. It does not matter if it is 32, 72 or 112 outside. It does not matter if they have been there all day or you are just popping into the men's (or women's) room.

Apparantly the response is all over the map. There might or might not be some leniency for an officer to judge whether the animal is in danger. The lady at the city police where it happened appologized for somebody having too much time on their hands. In my town the animal control officer said she would not cut much slack. I finally said that it sounds like it is better to leave dogs in the pound to be destroyed than to adopt and travel with them and she agreed that was correct 'unless your equipped to travel with them,' whatever that means.

So welcome to Arizona any of you considering visiting with your family pet.

California the same.

For children too.

Moi

not here in Wisconsin, thank god.

River

In fairness, I just got a return call from a knowledgable person in Pima County which is where Tucson is. She explained it in terms of what Arizona law requires for a citation, which has to be explained to a judge if need be. The primary point is if the animal is in distress. If it is, they will break the glass to rescue the animal. If it is not, they will not. They are supposed to look at the totallity of the situation. There are always the marginal situations where two reasonable people can come to two different conclusions. But having the windows rolled up when it is 40 degrees is not the same as having the windows rolled up when it is 115. Having a dish of water is different than no water. Had she been called, she said that she would have explained to the other person that having dogs in a vehicle with windows rolled partly down for ventillation when it was 74 and they have a water dish would not be animal cruelty by Arizona statutes.

I guess in the end it is interesting how one individual will take bits and pieces of something to come to a conclusion that suits their particular viewpoint and then try to impose it on other people.

Can eunuchs be left in the car unattended in Arizona?

Arizona statutes require (in your case) ventillation (for the benefit of the upholstry) and water and HRT medicines be readily available in a dish at chin level.

Last week when I stopped for tamales there were three kids left in the car next to mine, roughly 1, 4 and 8. Window was down, not to cold or hot. It's still a crime here. Last year some guy forgot to drop the baby off at day care and left it in the car all day.

People have no sense, and if there is a "reasonable" loophole in the law they will use that as an excuse.

It's also a crime to leave your motor running when you get out.

They are trying to legalize wolf hunting though.