Every year countless dogs die after being locked in cars (on warm, not necessarily hot, days) while their owners work, visit, shop, or run errands. What’s so tragic is that these beloved pets were simply the victims of bad judgment.
The temperature in a parked car, even in the shade with the windows partly open, can rapidly reach a level that will seriously harm or even kill your pet. Leaving your pet in a car, with the engine running and the air conditioning on, is also taking a risk. Many pets have died as the result of a faulty AC system, or because the engine simply stopped running.
Pets should not be left in a parked vehicle alone, not even for a minute. On a warm day, temperatures inside a vehicle can quickly rise to dangerous levels, as quickly as 2 degrees per minute.
The best advice is for people to leave their pets at home. Dogs will forgive their owners for running errands without bringing their furry family members along for the ride. A dog is much safer, and more comfortable, when left at home in a climate controlled environment.
However, we all need to stay alert and aware for those pets who, due to the unfortunate decisions of their owners, find themselves in desperate situations (i.e., hot cars), when their health or their lives may be in serious jeopardy.
How do you know when the inside of a vehicle is too warm/hot for an animal or for a human? Even if it is a comfortable 60 degrees outside, a car interior can reach 100 degrees on a sunny day. Even on a mild day, at 73 degrees outside, an SUV can heat up to 100 degrees in 10 minutes, and up to 120 degrees in 30 minutes.
In fact, if the outside air temperature (in the daytime) is at least 70 degrees, it’s a pretty safe bet that any animal inside a vehicle is experiencing extreme discomfort, and could be in danger of serious illness or death.
A pet can have a heatstroke, lapse into a coma, suffer brain damage, have irreversible organ damage or die, if the temperature reaches 105 degrees for just 5-15 minutes. At the very least, a pet will be subjected to an extremely inhumane level of intense suffering.
Although many dogs love to ride in the car, NO dog enjoys being left alone in a hot car, and NO dog deserves to experience such unbearable torture.
Dogs (and cats) cool themselves by panting, and by releasing heat through their paws. On summer days the heat levels of the air and upholstery in your parked vehicle can increase to such severe temperature ranges, that it becomes impossible for pets to cool themselves.
If you see a pet in an unattended vehicle on a warm or hot day, please take one of the following actions immediately:
1. If the owner is available, quickly and politely explain how the situation can be dangerous or fatal to the pet.
2. If the owner is nowhere to be found, or unwilling to listen to reason, then call the police (dial 911) within 1 minute. The police can usually respond much faster than animal control departments. The police have the capability to enter the vehicle and rescue the pet. They also have the ability to write a ticket for animal cruelty, so that the owner can have the meaning of animal cruelty explained by a judge.
Please get involved. You are the voice of helpless animals. You may very well be the difference between life and death. You’ll sleep much better knowing that you prevented an innocent pet from being the victim of a tragedy.
You should never feel like you are being intrusive, when your intention is to help an animal in need. If you are reluctant to get personally involved, then at least give the police an opportunity to save the pet. Police and judges are not fond of animal cruelty, and they understand that protecting pets is a job that we all share. And always remember that heat kills, and minutes count.
If a hot car is too dangerous for people, then it’s even more dangerous for pets. Please find additional articles, information, and videos regarding this topic by searching “dogs in hot cars” on the internet.
Bob Mooney
Fayetteville, Ga.
[Mooney volunteers with the Fayette Humane Society and Small Paws Rescue, based in Tulsa, Okla.]
