The Crying Dog
It was a brutally hot afternoon in Ocala, Florida.
The temperature was around 97 degrees when 67-year-old Joanne Keel was walking across a shopping center parking lot. She had a bad knee, but something else caught her attention before she could make it inside the store.
She heard a dog crying.
Joanne looked around and spotted a silver minivan.
Inside, on the back seat, was a young black Labrador.
The dog was panting so hard that her entire body was shaking.
Every window was rolled up.
Joanne immediately realized how dangerous the situation was.
She called 911 and reported what she had found. Then she stayed beside the van, waiting for help.
But the minutes felt painfully long.
Nine minutes passed.
The dog became weaker.
At first, Bella was still lifting her head.
Then she stopped.
Joanne knew she couldn’t just stand there and watch.
Months earlier, she had read something about Florida’s law concerning people who break into hot vehicles to rescue someone in danger. The information had stayed in her mind.
She ran back to her own vehicle and grabbed the jack handle from her trunk.
Then she made a decision.
She broke the window farthest away from the dog.
The glass shattered.
Joanne reached inside, carefully lifted the frightened Labrador through the broken window, and carried her toward the shade near the store entrance.
But the story wasn’t over yet.
