RIP Brockwood 6

[Catherine]

This is a shocking end to what was thought to be a dog theft.
I can hardly believe it.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-co...-1.2647705

All this time people have been anxiously searching for their pets and the dog walker knew they were dead. Everyone knows you cannot leave dogs in cars. How many dogs need to die before people wake up to the danger. It is worse because this was a paid pet care person.

Those poor dogs and their poor owners.

[LPC]

I totally agree. It is a terrible tragedy for the dogs and their caretakers. It is easy to condemn the dog walker, and certainly she made a terrible error of judgement and the law must take its course. I'm definitely not defending her, much less her actions (which included deception and subsequent added suffering for the caretakers) - but at least she "saw the light" and confessed. She cannot be completely heartless to have done that. One of own dogs was in the tragedy, so it wasn't premeditated.

Once again, I repeat that I am not defending her actions and of course she must face judgement under the law. The fact that she was being paid to look after the dogs makes that worse. But something tells me that she will go to her grave regretting her actions - because of her own sense of guilt, not the punishment which she will get.

[Tobi]

What a very tragic and sad story.

What is it? Do people STILL need educating about leaving dogs (and indeed -young children) in vehicles on warm days?
Or is it that they have other priorities and simply don't care....until a tragedy happens?

[Catherine]

There are follow up articles and I will try to keep track of them.
http://www.cp24.com/news/dog-walker-coul...-1.1829964

It gets worse.
http://www.langleytimes.com/news/259885251.html

One thing that crossed my mind, is the fact that she was paid to take the dogs to the off leash park. She did not do that, she parked her truck and left the dogs shut in. The owners were paying her to take their pets for a run. The dogs would have been safer at home without the run that never took place.

Why do dogs die every year in hot cars. Why don't people learn.
These six dogs will not be the only dogs to die in hot cars this year.

[Catherine]

They may be gone, but they are not forgotten. They had a memorial walk to show support for those who lost their dogs and to thank those who helped.

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/memorial-walk-for-b...-1.1848424
http://www.theprovince.com/life/lovers+w...story.html

I can't imagine how deal with losing a pet to someone else's neglect.
It looks like she will be charged. It won't bring the dogs back, but it will ensure that she will never do anything like this again. Hopefully the publicity will save other dogs from being left in hot cars.

[Knight of Albion]

What a scandal. A calculated deception and total disregard for the animals's welfare.

6 dogs dead. The temperature was only mid 70s it says. They must have been in there for a long time.

[Tobi]

There's one thing some people need to understand, and that is it doesn't even need to be a baking hot day, for it to be dangerous to leave a dog in a car. Even on a relatively cool day, if there is sun on the car, it heats up pretty quickly inside. The temperature inside the vehicle is much higher than the outside temperature. Cracking windows open doesn't help enough either.

Another point to bear in mind is parking under shade. That is not a good idea either, as what was shade at midday can be full sun by twelve thirty. And even under shade on a hot day, it can be too warm inside a vehicle.

Dogs' systems are not geared to cope with heat. We can cope in heat much better than they can, as we can sweat all over our bodies, whereas they can't. Although they can sweat a tiny bit through their paws, the only way they can regulate their temperature is by panting, and this can easily be overwhelmed.

[Catherine]

It is pretty obvious that the dogs were left in the truck for a long time.
There were six of them which would have made it worse. It is such a total breach of trust and a complete disregard for the animals in her care.
One of the articles mentions another dog owner who cancelled at the last minute so her dog was not there. It would have been seven dead.
She was lucky, but she feels bad for the dogs that died. One of the owners is an elderly lady and her dog was older so she has lost a pet that has been part of her life and at her age she is not going to be able to take on another dog.
I think the woman needs to be charged for what she did. There need to be consequences.

[Catherine]

They have convicted the woman, now they are down to the sentencing. It looks like she is going to do jail time. The question is how much. I doubt it will be enough to make up for what the six dogs went through or what their people went through.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-co...-1.2921186

I can understand the lifetime ban on her owning animals, but why would they only ban her ten years from working with other people's animals?

[Tobi]

She acted in a very stupid and thoughtless way, and has seen and felt the results of her mistakes. Let's all hope that this has gone deep, and that it has changed her...

It is only fair that she should bear full consequences. But her lawyer says she was in a very bad state of mind at the time of the tragedy.

However I always feel that no bad state of mind should come between a person and their duty of care to another living being. And if they feel it might, they should let someone know who can take over that duty of care -or soldier on! Basically, on that fateful day she put her own worries and concerns before the welfare of those dogs.

But let's hope that she learns deeply from this sad event.