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w w w .in s id e h a lto n .c o m | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, A u g u s t 1 1 , 2 0 1 7 | 6 EDITORIAL | OPINION ABOUT US Don't leave them Each sum m er brings at least one story of a pet or child left inside a hot vehicle. It is a crim e and anyone spotting hum an or animal, in a locked vehicle should report to police. But som etim es it happens by accident. That has been the case this summer. In Ju ly we reported a twoyear-old boy w as not injured after accidentally locking him self and the keys in a car outside a grocery store as his parents were putting their two children in the vehicle. Police were called and quickly rem oved the child by breaking a window. N o charges were laid. Today's editorial page carries a letter of a sim ilar incident, this tim e involving a pet. Q uick action was taken by the owner and others and all turned out OK. Each summer, the Children' s Aid Society (CAS) of Halton w arns people not to leave children unattended inside a vehicle. "The tem perature inside a parked car can exceed 50C within 10 to 20 m inutes on a typical Canadian sum m er day; opening the w indow (s) slightly does not reduce the temperature; heatstroke occurs at 40.5C ; young children, especially infants, are three to hve tim es m ore sensitive to heat than adults and rising tem peratures inside a car can cause a child to suffer from heat stress, dehydration, shock and, in extreme cases, even death," it reports. Anyone leaving a child inside a vehicle can be charged. Anyone who leaves a pet in a car on a hot day could be charged under the Ontario Society for the Prevention o f Cruelty to Anim als Act (OSPCA). And, accidents can and do happen. To safeguard pets, local anim al welfare authorities say when it is even warm and sunny leave pets home. To safeguard children, the local CAS advises: · Never leave children alone in a vehicle, even with the windows down · If you leave a vehicle, take your kids with you · Never use a vehicle as a substitute babysitter · Do not leave children in a vehicle w ithout adult supervision -- not even for a m inute · Look in your vehicle, front and back, before leav ing · Lock your vehicle and secure your keys to prevent children playing inside it · Be careful if you have som eone else drive your child -- follow up to ensure they arrived at their des tination If you see a child alone in a vehicle, call 911. Give the location, licence plate inform ation and approxi m ate age/condition o f child and wait for police and/or emergency services. Check to see if the vehicle is un locked, open the doors and shield the windows with a blanket or safely rem ove the child from the vehicle. The Oakville Beaver, published every Thursday and Friday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 100 community publications across Ontario. View our digital edition online at: Insidehalton.com under Print Editions found in the footer. · *m etrolandm edia · * Connected to your community* The Oakville Beaver is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca National NewsM ediaCouncil N ew sM ediaC anada M edias d'lnfoC anada LocalMedia feed editor@oakvillebeaver.com E @OakvilleBeav insidehalton.com |__ I @oakvillebeaver Letter to the Editor T h an k you to a lo c a l hero fro m ABC Towing I am the clinic director of ICLS at 1344 Cornwall Rd. While working in my of fice Tuesday, I looked out the window and noticed a woman frantically looking in her vehicle and tapping on the window. I went out to see what was going on and if I could help. She explained she had inad vertently locked her dog (a cute little white Scotty) in the car. She was very distraught and called 911, but police told her to call a tow truck. She contacted CAA immediately and they said they would be there within 10 minutes. The dog appeared fn e and was not panting, so I tried to calm her by reas suring her the weather was nice, the tow truck would arrive quickly and told her we could break the window. I got a blanket to shield the windshield and surprisingly and thankfully, ABC Towing showed up in just under nine minutes and immediately un locked the car. The driver (unnamed) would not take any money. The woman who owned the dog was in tears and begged him to take something, but he refused and told her to have a nice day. The dog was f ne and the entire experience left me with a wonderful new faith in humanity. With all the lousy things we hear about in the news, I think more stories of kindness and generosity need to be shared. I wrote a review online, but really wish we could thank the driver for his good deed and believe he deserves recognition. These little acts of kindness really affect the way we show up in the world so thank you to the driver of the tow truck from ABC Towing. Karen Rosbrook, Oakville DID X EVER T E L L Yt?U T H A T -- 1 V / H E N I W A S A KID, W E ~ HAD O N E BLACK A M D W H ITE . T V T H A T O N LY G O T 3 CHANNELS? WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING, M AX? J Pud by Steve Nease ^ \5 *M e o P T H « w e s; 's t a r W A R S : r o ^ u e o n e ; AM D th e AJAYS G A M E IN H p . CONTACT US The Oakville Beaver 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 Phone 905-845-3824 / Fax 905-337-5568 Classified 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyers/Retail Advertising 289-293-0624 Real Estate/Homefinder.ca Advertising Suzanne Trickey / 289-293-0677 / strickey@oakvillebeaver.com WHO WE ARE Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please call Kim Mossman 905-631-6095 or email kmossman@metroland.com Vice-President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Neil Oliver Advertising Director Daniel Baird / dbaird@metroland.com / 289-293-0624 Managing Editor Angela Blackburn / ablackbum@oakvillebeaver.com / 289-293-0617 Regional General Manager Kelly Montague kmontague@metroland.com / 289-293-0614 Director of Distribution Charlene Hall / chall@metroland.com / 905-631-6095