Right now in the Basin-temperatures are cold/cool due to the season. But here in 3 weeks-it's the first day of Spring (March 20th) and we begin the warm-up. Summertime temperatures in Texas-especially here in the Permian Basin--are usually between 90 and 100 degrees for daytime highs. The sun knows no mercy. So when I see people here running errands with their dogs in the car and running into stores, leaving their dogs locked in hot car-it angers me. Right now, there is no law in Texas that makes it illegal to do so but there should be. Even leaving the windows "cracked" isn't good enough. Suggestion: If you're running errands that require you to be in stores for long periods of time-LEAVE YOUR DOG AT HOME.

Some states have "Good Samaritan" laws in place that make it legal for you to break the window and get the animal some relief, but Texas isn't one of them. Whenever I see this I want to grab the nearest rock... But if you do so, it's breaking the law. Now-if it's a person-different story. The Civil Practices and Remedies Code has a section that declares it legal to break a window without penalty to free "vulnerable individuals" from hot vehicles. But not animals. It's time that changed. My dog's life is more valuable to me than most humans are--so if I see you've locked your dog in a hot car--the penalty of breaking the law or not--you're losing your glass. I'll take that chance to save a life any day of the week.

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LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

 

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