Man who freed dog from hot car upset with Humane Society's response

A Winnipeg man who helped free a dog that was locked in a hot vehicle at Grant Park Mall on Wednesday is upset with how the Winnipeg Humane Society handled the situation.

Eric Qually was visiting the mall around 2 p.m. when he was approached by another man in the parking lot and asked if he had a bottle of water. Qually says the man told him that there was a dog locked in a vehicle for nearly an hour.

"We looked in the car and there was no water or anything for the dog. It was just in there panting heavily and excessively drooling. It was scary," said Qually.

Qually says it was cloudy but the temperature was around 25 C and the window was only slightly opened. The man, who Qually knows only as AJ, said that he had called police and they instructed him to call the Winnipeg Humane Society.

"I dialled the Humane Society and tried their emergency line and it was just a message. So I tried again, and again it was just a message," said Qually. Qually's own phone log, shown to CBC, shows his first call was made at 2:06 p.m.

Qually decided he couldn't wait any longer and freed the dog from the car by sticking his arm through the barely-opened window, allowing him to open the door.

"If it's a matter of life or death of a dog over someone's car, I don't care about that car. I'm going to take that dog out," he said.

They took the dog to a patch of shade and got a take-out box from one of the mall restaurants which they filled with water for the dog.

Qually says he called the Humane Society no fewer than eight times before someone answered. The person who answered said they would personally walk over to the correct department to deliver his message. 

Once animal protection officers arrived, Qually turned the dog over to them. He says the dog's owner eventually came out of the mall and after talking with the officers, the dog was returned to him.

Owner didn't 'realize the hazard'

The Winnipeg Humane Society says the dog was not in distress when the officers arrived, so legally they couldn't confiscate the animal. Instead, they took the incident as a teaching opportunity. 

"In a moment like that, what we did is have our officers educate the owner of the dog," said Aileen White, a spokesperson for the WHS.

"In this instance the owner of the dog was really open to this and didn't realize the hazard he was putting his dog in," said White.

Qually says that isn't good enough.

"Giving it back to someone who left it pretty much for dead is not what I see as protecting."

Qually says if the dog wasn't going to be seized, the owner should have at least been fined. He's also upset at the time it took for someone to answer the phone, saying from the time the dog was first discovered in the car to the time animal protection officers showed up, two hours passed. 

Humane Society says officers there in 5 minutes

The Humane Society disputes that. Officials say they received information when the staff member walked over the information to dispatch at 2:30 p.m. Officers were dispatched at 2:43 and they arrived on scene at 2:48. 

Nevertheless, White says the shelter is looking into the matter. She says it's rare for anyone to get a voicemail message when calling the emergency line. Still, she acknowledges Qually's anger.

"What he experienced was incredibly frustrating for him," said White.

"We really do like having concerned citizens who are watching for and looking out for the welfare of the animals in our community."

White says in a situation like this calling the police non-emergency line and asking to be directed to the fire department is an option. Calling the WHS emergency line is also encouraged, which White says should always have someone answering because those calls get forwarded to other departments outside of normal business hours.