Caught on camera: Social experiment shows hundreds of people ignoring howling dog in hot car

Confused.com, the car savings site, conducted the experiment to investigate how members of the public would react to a dog left in a vehicle on a warm day. The aim of the experiment was to raise awareness of the actions people should take, rather than finding themselves in the position of a helpless bystander.

Armed with a fake dog – called Annie – a car and realistic sound-effects, a camera crew set up camp in car parks and busy streets across the UK. They recorded the reactions of passers by who assumed a real dog had been abandoned in the vehicle on a hot day.

The camera crew waited, hidden from view, to see how people would react to the distressing barks and whining, and how many would intervene. Footage was collected over three days in July when outside temperatures were the hottest seen this year.

Throughout the entire time filming the social experiment, the overwhelming majority of passers-by failed to intervene or do anything to help the dog; instead just glancing over and walking on by, or ignoring the loud cries of the dog altogether. Only four people out of hundreds stopped to take action, with one trying to open the car in an attempt to rescue the whimpering dog. Another tried pulling down on the slightly open window to get to the dog.

During the filming, the crew had to stop a passer-by who was moments away from calling the RSPCA out of concern for the trapped dog. 

Despite media warnings about the soaring temperatures vehicles can rise to on hot days, a number of drivers admit abandoning their dogs in their vehicles.

More than two fifths (42 per cent) of drivers have left their dog unattended in a car – and shockingly, a quarter (25 per cent) of these admit to doing so on a warm or hot day.

While more than one in five of these (21 per cent) claimed that it was ‘only for a short time’, a small number of people (2 per cent) confessed it had been for a long time. The research also revealed some respondents have left their dog alone in a car for as long as four hours.

Despite very few people choosing to intervene in such circumstances, many drivers have seen dogs left alone in cars in very public spaces. In fact, almost three quarters (73 per cent) revealed they have witnessed an unattended dog in a supermarket car park.

Confused.com aims to raise awareness of this important issue, as the RSPCA received 7,187 calls in 2016 about animals in hot environments. Although down from the previous year (8,779), it is still worryingly high considering the charity's key advice is to call 999.

Motorists, passengers and the public in general are being urged to be especially vigilant during the summer months and on the lookout for dogs that could have been left in a car on a warm day by careless owners.

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, said: “We urge all drivers to make themselves aware of the dangers of leaving dogs in cars on a hot day, and for them to be vigilant to what is happening around them in car parks, especially during the summer months. Spotting a dog alone in a hot car might just save the animal’s life."

The RSPCA advises anyone who witnesses an unattended dog in a hot car to call 999 and report the incident. To help people be better prepared in the future, Confused.com has set up an advice page to educate people on what to do if they spot a distressed dog in a hot car.

RSPCA dog welfare expert Lisa Richards said: "If you spot a dog shut in a car on a warm day that’s showing any signs of heatstroke, you should call 999 straight away. It doesn’t even need to be a sunny day for the temperature inside a car to reach dangerous levels for a dog."