On Tuesday photo editor Lynden Steele and I were tossing around ideas for different ways to illustrate the heat. I scanned the newspaper and saw that the Humane Society had issued a heat warning for pets, and we decided to give them a call to see if I could follow one of their officers around as they investigated reports of animals in distress.

The first house we arrived at had reportedly been vacated by its human residents several weeks ago, but still contained at least one, possibly two dogs, who were frightening the neighbors. After chatting with a few neighbors, humane officer Ann McLaughlin made her way to the front of the home and knocked on the door.

A large, very healthy looking pitbull greeted us at an open window with a loose screen, barking and growling to show that he was the master of this territory. Because the dog did not exit the home or yard there was little McLaughlin could do besides leave a notice on the door to try and establish that the home was in fact abandoned.

Since the animal looked healthy and had clearly been eating well and had shelter from the heat, these photos didn’t really work for the heat story.  But heat or not, I thought they deserved a home somewhere. After all, it’s not every day you see a pitbull hanging out of a window.