ROANOKE, Va. – Hopefully, it's a situation you never encounter, but if you were to see a child or an animal in a hot car, it's important to know your rights before taking action.
In 2015, Virginia passed a law providing civil immunity for anyone who forcibly enters a vehicle to remove an unattended minor at risk of serious bodily injury or death.
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The law does have one provision, that the person entering the car calls 911 before breaking into the car, if it's feasible under the circumstances.
While this law doesn't protect against criminal prosecution, the lawmaker who introduced the bill in 2015, Delegate Chris Peace, himself a lawyer, told NBC12 after the bill passed that it'd be unlikely for any commonwealth's attorney to press charges.
When it comes to animals, the law is slightly different, as the average person cannot just break into a car to save any animal.
Only law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel and animal control officers are able to perform such an act and not be held liable.
Furthermore, the law only allows this protection for unattended companion animals that are at risk of serious bodily injury or death.
Virginia law defines a companion animal as:
"Companion animal" means any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person. Agricultural animals, game species, or any animals regulated under federal law as research animals shall not be considered companion animals for the purposes of this chapter."
Under Virginia law, the owners of the car can obtain warrants for vandalism.
Police can charge pet owners with a misdemeanor for leaving a pet in a hot car; however, if the animal dies, that charge would rise to a felony offense.
The moral of the story, in both cases, is to immediately dial 911.