Jason Minson, an Army veteran who runs a landscaping business, was on duty in Norfolk, Va., on Tuesday when the first of several unusual things happened. Minson was checking a tree in his yard when he heard a loud bang in the street.
When he went to check, he discovered that a passing car had crashed into another car parked on the street. If that hadn’t happened, Minson might never have been able to approach the parked car and find out what was inside. A black Labrador puppy was lying on the floor of the vehicle – the noise and shaking seemed to have woken him up momentarily.
And he was panting. “It was the last ditch effort of a dog trying to calm down,” Mindson said. Minson immediately called 911. Police sent a unit to help the dog – but they also told Minson that breaking the car window to free the dog was a capital crime. (The law varies depending on where you are).
Minson watched the panting dog through the window pane. He brought a bottle of water to the open window and the dog jumped on the seat and started drinking. The dog finished the whole bottle. Then there was another.
“I’m usually a very nice, level-headed person, but I’ve had enough,” Mindson said. An animal control officer arrived and she started trying to open the door, but to no avail. And nearly 20 minutes have passed since Minson found the dog – and she feared time was running out for them. “The dog was lying on the floor of the car and not panting as fast,” Mr Mindson said. “To be honest, I don’t think the dog survived,” Mindson wrote. At that point, he took matters into his own hands. “Blame me,” he can be heard saying in one of the videos he recorded, “I don’t care now.”
Minson used the animal control officer’s baton to break the window and open the door. Animal control officers transported the dog in a van and took him to a veterinarian for emergency treatment. The owner of the dog, meanwhile, has been charged by the police. Minson also received a call from the police – but will be a witness at the hearing into the incident.
The next day, Mindsen visited the dog at his rehabilitation center. The dog already looked stronger. Ms Mindson, who owns a Great Dane, hopes if anyone sees her dog in trouble they will do something about it. “This is real people talking,” Minson wrote on Facebook after the dog was rescued. It’s hot outside and if you leave an animal in your car, it will die of the heat. …… Take care of your fur babies. Find out what you can do if you see a puppy in a hot car.
