28
East Cork
Business
info@eastcorkjournal.ie
Thursday, 30th
August 2018
than an hour for the temperature
inside a
car – even with a win- dow open – to more than double when it’s 22°C outside. This could prove fatal. Even parking
in by KAREN WALSH
Dear Karen, Can you break a car window to save a dog from a hot car during this warm spell of weather we are having?
Dear Reader, We may be enjoy- ing a heatwave after a long and cold winter, but spare a thought for our four-legged friends. Every year we learn of multiple cases of dogs being left in hot cars and dying. It takes less
with the window slight- ly open can result
the shade in
death. So if you see a dog locked in a car dur- ing the summer months - especially if it looks as if it’s ailing - you might be tempted to release it, possibly by smashing a window.
The law governing
this area is the Crimi- nal Damage Act, 1991. Under Section 2 of the 1991 Act a person who without lawful excuse damages property be- longing to another in- tending to damage any such property or being reckless as to wheth- er any such property
would be
damaged
shall be guilty of an of- fence.
Under Section 6(2)
of the said Act it states that a person charged shall be treated as hav- ing a lawful excuse if at the time of the act he believed that the person or persons he believed to be entitled to con- sent or authorise
the
damage of the property would have consented if he had known of the damage or the access- ing and its circumstanc- es.
Breaking someone’s car window should al- ways be a last resort. If you do not take other reasonable
steps be-
forehand it will proba- bly result in unwanted consequences for you and you could a charge
face of criminal
damage and possibly a civil claim for damag- es. The owner of the vehicle could proceed to report you for caus- ing criminal damage to their vehicle. If you do see an an-
imal trapped in a hot vehicle
please take
down the registration number and contact An Garda Síochana or the National Animal Help- line. You should try and locate the owner as soon as possible. If An Garda Siochana decide that breaking a window is necessary, then they will proceed to do so. If it is an emergency and the animal is show- ing signs of being in sig- nificant distress and you do break a car window, you must be prepared to defend your actions. Before you do decide to break the window, there are a few things you can
Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email:
info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web:
www.eastcorkjournal.ie
do in the meantime. If you are at a shopping centre or supermarket, note down the colour, model and registration number, and ask cus- tomer services to put out an announcement to get
the owner’s at-
tention. Check the doors of
the car, as owners may leave the car unlocked in case the dog sets off
the car alarm. To
try and protect your- self, make sure you tell An Garda Siochana of your intentions to break the window, take photos and footage of the dog in the car, and take names and contact numbers of witnesses. If the dog is not show- ing any signs of heat- stroke, try and deter- mine how long it has already been trapped in the car, like looking
On a hot day dog
owners have a respon- sibility to take care of their pets. A person can be fined up to €5,000 and/or jailed for up to six months for ne- glect, abandonment or cruelty to animals un- der the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. There is further pro- vision for fines up to €250,000 and/or pris- on up to five years for
eastcorkjournal
at a pay and display ticket or asking peo- ple around you. But if these measures do not work and the situation becomes critical it may become
necessary to
break one of the win- dows. If you must resort to smashing a window, re- move the dog from the car, lay it in the shade and allow it to drink small amounts of water.
more serious cases. Karen Walsh, from a
farming background, is a solicitor practicing in Walsh & Partners, So- licitors, 17, South Mall, Cork (021-4270200), and author of ‘Farming and the Law’. Walsh & Partners also special- ises in personal injury claims, conveyancing, probate and family law. Email:
info@wal-
shandpartners.ie Web: www.walshan- every
dpartners.ie Disclaimer: While
care is taken to ensure ac- curacy of information con- tained in this article, solicitor Karen Walsh does not accept responsibility
for errors or
omissions howsoever arising, and you should seek legal advice in relation to your par particular
circumstances at the earliest possible time. . @eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal
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