A Listener's Response

I had an interesting listener response to a story I did today.  The story involved a dog who had died when left in a hot car.  A woman emailed my co-host, Jennifer Roberts, to complain about the report, demanding to know why the station would air such an upsetting story.  The email was typed in all capital letters and was at least three times longer the story itself, which read...

"Newport News police have charged 24 year old Julie Elisma with felony cruelty to animals after she allegedly left her boyfriend's dog locked in her car for several hours.  The dog died from heat stroke."

What I find interesting is that in a month in which I've talked on-air about a baby's death in a hot car, torrential downpours, and a triple murder in Norfolk, it was a sad story about a dog that elicited such an anguished response from a listener.  Jennifer forwarded the email to me, and I wrote back with an apology and an explanation.

Stories such as these, while disturbing, are informative.  On the surface, they inform the public about a tragic event.  But they work on a deeper level, as well.  The fact that a dog died in a hot car illustrates that there are still people out there who don't know the dangers of leaving an animal in a car in the summertime.  The story I wrote also included the fact that the suspect is facing a felony charge, illustrating that there is a consequence for such an act.

Certainly, I would rather there weren't stories like this.  But I remain hopeful that my editorial decision to research, write and air the two lines of news copy listed above (it aired exactly once on 92.9 The Wave and Star 1310) will cause a pet owner or a pet owner's friend to think twice before a pet is left in a hot car for any length of time again.