Heroic Army Vet Smashes Car Window To Save Overheated Dog, Gets Arrested

Michael Hammons, an Army veteran, was arrested in Athens, Georgia after he saved an overheated dog locked in a hot car by smashing the car’s window to rescue it.

When Hammons saw a group of onlookers waiting for police to free the panting pooch, which did not appear to have water, he grabbed the foot rest of his wife’s wheelchair and busted the window, My Fox Atlanta reported.

Some called Hammons a hero, but the dog owner was furious when she came out of the store and sized up the scene, Oconee County Sheriff Chief Deputy Lee Weems told the Daily News.

Hammons said that he has PTSD and he’d seen enough death and destruction in his life and so he wasn’t going to just stand idly by and watch more suffering take place if he could prevent it.

The owner of the car was obviously unhappy with the broken window and claimed she was only gone a few minutes. Witnesses said she was gone much longer, which would certainly explain the crowd around the car.

Deputy Weems understood why Hammons did what he did, but said that he had no choice but to arrest him.

Now he’s been charged with criminal trespassing and could face up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine if convicted.

According to the Daily News

The Georgia Assembly passed a law, which will go into effect July1, that grants immunity to those who trespass to rescue children or the elderly left in hot cars. The provision does not grant the same exception to people who intervene on behalf of animals.

Maybe it should.

H/T Happy Place