ST. LOUIS – The dog days of summer are upon us, a time of year for people to not only protect themselves from heat risks, but their pets as well.

What if you happen to find a pet stranded in a car? It can be an extreme danger for a dog, cat or any animal to wait inside a car for more than a few minutes on a hot day.

Someone with good intentions might hope to get someone else’s pets out of a hot car and rescue them from such situations, but is that legal to do? In the St. Louis area, that largely depends on if you’re in Missouri or Illinois.

According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Missouri does not have any “Right To Rescue” laws for those looking to remove an unattended pet from a hot car while Illinois only allows law enforcement to break into vehicles to rescue an animal.

Even with intent to act in good faith to rescue a pet, you could potentially face a misdemeanor or felony based on damages done to the car, per Missouri statutes. A blogger for Spirit West Autobody suggests to call the Animal Cruelty Task Force for the Humane Society of Missouri, who can then facilitate information to law enforcement and possibly rescue the dog from the car.

As for Illinois, there is a state statute preventing people from confining “any animal in a motor vehicle in such a manner that places it in a life or health threatening situation by exposure to a prolonged period of extreme heat or cold, without proper ventilation or other protection.” Authorities, not Good Samaritans, are responsible for following up on that law when there are violations.

In Illinois, people should contact their local law enforcement agency over pets unattended in hot cars. Otherwise, a non-law enforcement person looking to rescue the animal could potentially face misdemeanor or felony charges for property damage.

To simply put it, Missouri and Illinois are not among the 14 states with “Good Samaritan” laws for rescuing pets from hot cars, but contacting the right agencies could help with rescuring animals in need.