Man says he saved dog from cold car

A 40-year-old De Pere man says he "rescued" a dog in a car after a trip to the grocery store. The dog’s owner says he only left his dog alone for a few moments. Kevin Leurquin tells us he was horrified when he heard the cries of a dog inside a cold car on his way out of festival foods in west green bay, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Leurquin says he checked out of the grocery store at around 8:30 Tuesday night. When he walked out to his car, he tells us he heard the dog whimpering in a turned off vehicle across from his. He says his immediate instinct was to save the dog from the bitter cold. He found that the doors of the car were unlocked, so he took the dog and brought it into his car to warm up. The temperature at the time was 7 below zero. One veterinarian who spoke with nbc26 says she starts to worry about a pet's safety at 45 degrees and warns people not to take their pets anywhere in these conditions. She says the rule of thumb is if we're cold, then chances are our pets are too. As a dog owner, Leurquin agrees. "They get cold just like us. Just because they have fur, that's not a fur coat. I mean, it's just a small layer of fur and that dog was shivering,” says Leurquin. As for the dog’s owner, Leurquin says he waited with the dog in his car for about a half hour before the owner came out to retrieve it. He caught the encounter on video and the dog owner was very upset, claiming he was only in the store for a couple of seconds. Leurquin says he called law enforcement about an hour after the exchange to report the incident. Police say no charges have been filed. Police also say if you ever find yourself in a situation like this one, the best thing to do is call them. Although there are Good Samaritan laws allowing you to save a person or pet in a dangerously hot or cold car, police say they are trained on how to handle these cases and it is better to let officers do the job.