German Shepherd in a car

Question
My dog is 9 1/2 month old male and he is neutered. I took him to the park, fed him his dinner, made sure he went to the bathroom and put him in the back seat of my Honda Civic.  He comes with me everywhere.  As long as it is cold out he loves it.  He hates the heat.  He has a beautiful thick double coat and he is mostly black and red.  The temp. was 17 degrees.  I had 2 windows open a crack.  Someone called police and animal control. I was issued a summons and even though I live in Upstate New York, I have to drive back to Jersey City, 5 1/2 hours away to defend my decision.  He hangs in my car all the time. He would rather be there then home in his crate. He has blankets, bones, toys etc.  He was in there about 2 1/2 hours.  I have left him there longer before.  We check him periodically.  They said I was cruel to my animal.  I am sick about this.  What do you think?  He sleeps in our bed at nite.  We are hardly cruel people.

Answer
I don't see a thing wrong with what you did.  Many animals have been abused by being left in a car when it was unreasonable.  Now we have dumb laws being enforced whether there is a problem or not.  All I can say is know and obey local laws.  I am sure this will mean leaving him at home more and for longer periods of time.  

What is worse yet are the laws banning certain breeds of dogs including German Shepherds.