There are plenty of people who leave dogs in vehicles during the summer with ac running. Dog shows are during the summer, and sometimes it's just cooler in the car.
We have had people open doors and windows of our cars with dogs inside and letting them loose in high traffic areas, usually when it's not actually hot out. Dad had so much trouble, it's one of the reasons he never takes his dog to work anymore.
It's one thing if some jerk has left and animal in a situation that is obviously deadly or the animal is clearly in distress, which you really have to get close enough to see (thus seeing signs that the AC is on) to call 911 and let the dog loose.
It's another if someone is just being a busy body and does it because *whiney* you're not supposed to leave a dog in the car *whiney* and endangers themselves, the public and the dog.
I would NEVER just open a strange car with a strange dog unless I had a leash, 911 on the phone and could see the dog in clear distress. If I'm a bit worried, I'll go to the most obvious location of the owner and have them paged.
The thing is you don't know the situation. The animal could be sick, agressive or anyone of a number of delicate issues that nessitate it being in that car, and people who leave dogs in cars generally are in one of those positions, have made arrangements for the dogs comfort and safety (like csd) and, every so often, just ass's that don't care.
I generally run into the first two catagories, rather then the last, and I know what it is like to go back to my car and have the nerve wracking experiance of my dog is missing in a busy parking lot right next to a high traffic road.
