Proposed law would protect people who save pets from cars

WHAT: Beavercreek City Council meeting

WHEN: 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 9

WHERE: Beavercreek City Hall, 1368 Research Park Drive, 2nd floor, Beavercreek

CONTACT: The City of Beavercreek, 937-426-5100

The city council will vote on a proposed law that would protect people who break into a locked vehicle, during extreme weather, to rescue a pet.

Beavercreek City Councilman Zach Upton, who owns two dogs, said he suggested the law after reading a news story about a man who was criminally charged for breaking a vehicle window to rescue a dog.

“I thought that’s just not right,” Upton said. “This man did good will, and there needs to be something we can do to protect him.”

In order for the person to be protected, certain conditions have to be in place, according to Stephen McHugh, the city law director.

“To be immune from prosecution the animal must be in imminent danger of suffering harm, the citizen’s action must be reasonable and public safety officials must have been contacted,” McHugh wrote in a Nov. 5 memo to the city manager. “The vehicle owner must be provided the name of the law enforcement agency that was called and the individual must remain in the area with the animal until a public safety officer arrives.”

Under the current laws, the owner of a vehicle could file criminal charges against an person who broke into his or her vehicle to rescue a animal. The ordinance is the first of its kind in Ohio, according to Upton. If the city council approves the legislation, these individuals would have some protection in Beavercreek.

Monday night’s city council meeting will mark the first of three readings on the ordinance. The council will have to approve the ordinance three times before it becomes a law. If approved, the law could go into effect as early as January.