More than 65,000 volunteers from all over the country are members of the "Yadid" organization, who help Israeli citizens on the roads and in their homes - and it turns out that hundreds of dogs were also locked in vehicles.
According to Lizzy Stern, the vice president of the organization, who himself rescued quite a few dogs from vehicles, in 2023 about 250 animals that were locked in vehicles were rescued, an increase of about 15% in the number of cases compared to the previous year. Even in cases of cats and even birds.
Unfortunately, we have received quite a few cases of dogs that were intentionally left in a locked vehicle.
It goes without saying that this endangers the lives of the dogs and should be avoided at all costs," he said.
A dog rescued by a "Yadid" volunteer // Photo: "Yadid" organization
Noam Hartsek, director of the organization's national center, told about a phenomenon that exists specifically in cases where dogs are locked in vehicles: "If in most cases involving children locked in vehicles the incident occurs when the child is belted in the safety seat and the automatic locking is activated, we noticed that when it comes to dogs, the key is inside the car and the owner is outside it. While the dogs are running around in it, more than once they accidentally press their foot on the car's lock button or the remote control, which causes the doors to lock while they are inside."
He noted that such cases are sometimes challenging, as the volunteers must be doubly careful when opening the vehicle in order not to harm the dog that is walking around inside the vehicle.
Israel Hotzler, a member of the spokes division at "Yadidim", recommends that in order to avoid such cases, do a very simple thing: do not leave the vehicle inside the vehicle, but simply take it with you by hand.
"In any case where you got out of the vehicle, leave a window open the whole time so that even if the dog inside is locked, we will be able to open the doors. These simple solutions prevent most locking cases," he noted.
In the event of a lockout, you can immediately call the "Yadidis" hotline at 1230, give the operator the details of the case - and he will reassure the caller, and give remote instructions until the volunteers arrive at the scene.
A volunteer at "Yadidis" with a dog that helped rescue him // Photo: "Yadidis" organization
"Rescuing a dog or any other helpless animal from a locked vehicle is a huge satisfaction and an extremely high feeling," says the organization's CEO Israel Almasi. "We place great emphasis and great importance on the lives of dogs or any other animal.
Protecting the lives of animals is very important, not to mention the importance and the relationship that a dog or animal has with its owner."
"The documents that reach us are exciting every time," concludes Hoetzler.
"You can see the excitement and joy of the dogs immediately at the moment of the rescue, which is often accompanied by jumping from the vehicle straight to the owner. It's hard to remain indifferent to these plays."
Hundreds were rescued last year alone. One of the dogs rescued by the organization's volunteers // Photo: "Yadid" organization
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us