Colorado has made it legal to break into a car, but only if it is to save the life of a child, cat or dog.
As The Denver Post reports, the new state law takes effect on Aug. 9 and provides legal immunity for people who break into a hot car to save an animal or a person, but doesn’t specify whether it’s from heat or cold.
But immunity only applies if every other option has been exhausted first and the person must have reasonable belief that the pet or person is at risk of imminent danger of death or suffering serious bodily injury. At that point, the person must make every reasonable effort to contact the owner and law enforcement before breaking in.
According to the National Weather Service, on a 90-degree day, the temperature inside a car rises to 110 degrees within five minutes if the windows aren’t cracked and 100 degrees if they are cracked.
According to a report by Michigan State University College of Law’s Animal Legal and Historical Center, Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma currently have no laws protecting animals left in parked vehicles.