Now on the other hand I would think alerting the police unnecessarily intrusive. I have had tannoy messages put out (citing the vehicle number) to alert (with luck) the owners of dogs appearing distressed after being left in cars, and I would have thought that a better bet ("Will the owner of car number ..... please go to their vehicle as their dog appears distressed") and that might have been the best of all worlds: no confrontation; with luck a positive outcome; and no police.