A North Bay woman is upset about an incident that happened on the weekend, saying authorities refused to rescue a dog in distress in a vehicle at a Walmart parking lot last Sunday.
Anne-Marie Theoret claims she saw a dog left in a vehicle with the sun blazing down.
"He was absolutely overheating and he was panting heavily and when we opened the door to give the dog some air, he was covered in his own sweat." said Theoret.
She says she found the animal inside the car parked right outside of the store, and when she went over to the car, she found the window only slightly rolled down.
"I got really, really concerned at that point and thought this dog has been left in a car and the windows are all up, how is this still happening?" she said.
Theoret says she repeatedly called the Humane Society and city police but failed to get any help.
She says her daughter opened the unlocked car door to give the animal some air when she says the owner spotted them and verbally harassed the family.
"He just basically said there was a crack in the window and to mind my own business, and I said that was very ignorant and he doesn't know the needs of his animal." said Theoret.
The OSPCA says it can't comment specifically on this issue, but says the woman did the right thing by calling authorities.
"There are enforcement agencies that deal with these things, so obviously ourselves and city police or OPP depending on the area." said OSPCA Inspector Nicole Driscoll.
North Bay police say they can't comment on this particular incident but say the responded to a similar complaint of an animal in a vehicle that very morning.
"It's a living animal, we want to get out to the scene as quickly as we can depending on the duties that we have." said Special Constable John Schultz.
As for Theoret, she says it's not the first time she's seen this happen, and she hopes pet owners are becoming more careful.
"Would you want to be stuck inside a vehicle for that amount of time with only a little crack to breathe fresh air?" said Theoret.
