you notice a dog suffering badly from the heat inside a locked car. What would you do?

Simple. Call 911, or break the window.

break the drivers side. They hate that cause they have to vacuum the little shards before they can sit down on the seats again.

I would check the make of the car and preemptively strike the country of it's origin....

I have done that several times already: gone to the manager of the store
who can call out the license plate of the car and ask them to attend to their
animals, or if this doesn't get results, call the police.

In California it is against the law to leave animals in the car without adequate
ventilation, or in conditions which adversely affect the animal's health or welfare, so the police will fine the pet owner a hefty fee - rightfully so!

I agree - I would first try to open the car - assuming everything is locked up tight, I would go to the store and have the car liscence owner paged and then if no one showed up break the window.

The problem with breaking the window is that the dog could be seriously injured by the broken glass because car window glass breaks into tiny pieces.

The only safe glass to break might be the rear window, where the glass might not fall on the seats and floor.

BBB

any injuries suffered from flying broken glass would be miniscule -- modern windshield glass breaks into small rounded pieces.

we're talking about saving a dog's life.
it's a no-brainer...

just for the record...

break a side glass, they are tempered to shatter into itty bitty pieces for Your safety.

Front and some rear glasses are laminated, difficult to break, and much more expensive when the owner returns to discuss...)

I'd try and have the owner paged and call security to break the glass.

i like to think dog owners would gladly pay for a busted windshield if it meant saving the life of their critter...

Living in Texas I have had to do this a lot, it gets so hot so fast here. I always go into the store and have the person paged. While they are being summoned I go back out to the car and call the police, in most cases the cops and the owners show up at the same time. I give my statement to the cop, pat the pooch and go on my way. It's illegal here as well.

I've never had to break a window as everyone usually shows up pretty quick. I have seen the cops break the windows before and if it came down to the animal being in serious need I would not hesitate to do so.