I'm wondering what the laws specifically say in various states. In MD, the law is you can't put your dog/animal in danger. Which means you could leave them in the car if they were 'safe'. Of course it leaves room for interpretation and an officer could cite you if they deemed your animals to be in danger.
Edited to add - I went and tried to find the Virginia law and there is no specific Virginia law unless it was adopted within the past couple months. Although you can be charged with 'cruelty to animals'.
California law looks to be similar to MD law in that it is a judgement call although I see other places that say it is against the law at any time in CA to leave your animal in the car unattended but that appears to be an interpretation of the law rather than the actual law.
Last edited by nelie; 08-26-2009 at 09:35 PM.
|