Aussies are outraged over a photo of a caged dog in direct sunlight on the back of a ute.
A woman leaving the busy Noosa Village shopping center was shocked to come across what she said was a ‘panting’ German shepherd in a cage on the back of a Toyota ute.
She shared a photo of the dog crouching behind the metal bars on a 30 degree Celsius day.
It appears someone was in the driver’s seat of the car.
“To the not nice person in the Noosa Village car park today with their boat on in 31 degree heat, I hope someone locks you in a cage that is too small and leaves you out in the sun,” she wrote on Facebook.
A woman leaving the busy Noosa Village shopping center was shocked to come across a panting German shepherd caged in the back of a Toyota ute.
“Horrible people shouldn’t have dogs!”
The woman went on to explain that “a minute” after she took the photo, a woman walked out of the mall and got into the “nice air-conditioned car and they drove away.”
Some social media users lashed out at the dog owner’s words of feeling “physically ill.”
“The owner should go to jail for animal cruelty,” one woman said.
‘If the cage wasn’t locked, I would have taken it to the vet. Would you let your child be locked in the car on a hot day?’ another wrote.
A woman who identified herself as a “vet nurse” said she sees dogs dying of heat stroke all the time.
“It’s no joke… they’re literally cooking from the inside out,” she said.
The woman went on to explain that “a minute” after she took the photo, a woman walked out of the mall (pictured) and got into the “nice air-conditioned car and they drove away.”
‘It can be a long, slow process and just because you take them to the vet doesn’t mean we can fix them. Still, we try, and it can cost thousands and take days/weeks for them to actually die or recover.”
A few people defended the owners, arguing that because someone was in the ute while it was parked, the dog was not left unattended.
“You see that there is a man in the driver’s seat. Why didn’t you talk to him about it directly? Call the police and report it, or speak to him,” one woman wrote.
Others said nothing should be assumed based on a single photo.
It is illegal in all Australian states to transport dogs unrestrained on the back of a ute or trailer.