A new Tennessee law allows people to break into cars to save animals that are locked in without fear of getting sued.  Taking effect on 1 July, the law extends Tennessee’s Good Samaritan legislation to include pets as well as children.  According to the law, a person “shall be immune from civil liability for any damage resulting from the forcible entry of a motor vehicle for the purpose of removing a minor or an animal from the vehicle” if the vehicle is locked, the being inside is in imminent danger and emergency services have been notified.  It is the first law that allows people to enter a vehicle to save an animal, said Tennessee state representative David Hawk.  “We dug into the other 49 states, and there was nothing in any other state that even came close to being a provision that would allow someone to enter a vehicle with the intent to save an animal’s life,” Hawk said. “We plowed new ground.”  By passing the law, Tennessee joins 16 other states that outlaw leaving animals in parked cars, according to to Michigan State University’s Animal Law Center.  Hawk first introduced the bill after two dogs in Greenville, Tennessee were found in an overheated car and appeared to be in distress in 2013. Hawk said the people who found the dog contacted law enforcement, but within five minutes one had died and the second was deteriorating.  Other stipulations require a person to leave contact information for the vehicle’s owner, stay with the minor or animal until an emergency responder arrives and to not use more force than necessary.  Lisa Price, operations manager at the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley, said an animal left in a car can be in danger within minutes, depending on the temperature. Price, who has also worked as a veterinary technician, said she has cared for animals who were left in a car for too long.  “Their temperatures are so high that it’s an emergency,” Price said. “I have seen some not make it. They were in [the car] long enough that they overheated. Dogs have very little capability of cooling themselves down. They don’t sweat like we do, and they can overheat so fast.”  Price said cars left outside when temperatures are in the 70s or higher can heat up very quickly, and endanger animals left inside.
Extension of state’s Good Samaritan law says would-be heros ‘shall be immune from civil liability’ for rescuing animals trapped in dangerously high heat