AUGUST 2020
PAGE 28
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PETS
The Dang ers of Leaving Dogs in Cars – What You Need to Know ! By Lauri Julian
3. The animal is behaving frantically — pawing at the window, or trying to stick its nose out. 4. Loss of bowels. 5. Lethargic, and unresponsive behavior. In addition, their eyes can become glazed over and you may see them trying to find a cooler place like lying on the floor.
What can you do? You can go into the nearest store(s), give the license plate, make and model of the car and description of the animal so the owners can be paged to return to their vehicle ASAP. If you’re unable to find the vehicle’s owner, call Animal Control -- they will ask you a series of questions concerning the condition of the animal and will do their best to assist. California has passed a Good Samaritan law that protects people from being charged when they break a car window to save an animal, but most animal experts recommend you wait for law enforcement or animal control before attempting a rescue except in the most extreme cases. An agitated animal may jump out of a car and run away, cut itself on glass or even attack the rescuer. When considering removing a dog from a hot car, act in good faith, try to contact law enforcement before entering the car, and remain nearby with the animal in a safe location until law enforcement or the owner arrives.
Cooling down the dog It is vital to cool down the dog. Here are some things you can do: 1. Dogs pant to release heat and they sweat through their foot pads. One trick, if available, is placing rubbing alcohol on their foot pads which assists with evaporative cooling. 2. Try putting lukewarm to cool water on the dog, NO ICE! This can cool them down too quickly and shock their system. The weather is heating up and according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), every year hundreds of pets die from heat exhaustion because they are left in parked vehicles. People say, “I’ll just be a few minutes,” but what they don’t realize is how much the temperature inside the car can rise in a very short period of time. Unlike people, dogs become overheated very quickly because they do not sweat through their skin. They are also wearing a fur coat! The temperature inside your vehicle can rise almost 20 degrees in just 10 minutes. In 20 minutes, it can rise almost 30 degrees...and after one hour, the temperature can be more than 40 degrees higher than the outside temperature. Even on a 70-degree day, that's 110 degrees inside your vehicle! This rise in temperature puts your pet at risk of serious illness or death, even on a day that doesn't seem hot to you. According to a study by Stanford Medicine, parked cars get dangerously hot, even on cool days. If it’s sunny – it’s just like when the sun warms a greenhouse in winter, it can warm a parked car on cool days – the sun heats up a mass of air trapped under glass. Leaving a bowl of water in the car will not help much when the water gets warm as well. Further, the study found cracking a window or running the AC prior to parking the car had an insignificant effect on both the rate of heating and the final temperature after an hour. And studies have found that leaving windows cracked does not make much of a difference. Furthermore, leaving a dog in the car is dangerous regardless of temperatures because the dog could be stolen by people who engage in dogfighting or thieves who will then sell the dog to animal testing labs.
What if you see a dog left in a hot car? If the dog seems alert, and is standing upright, he is likely not in distress... yet! Here are 5 signs to watch out for: 1. Excessive panting or drooling. 2. The dog’s tongue has turned dark purple.
3. Give them cool (not super cold) water to drink, being careful not to give too much at a time as it could come right back up and further dehydrate them. 4. Get them into an air-conditioned environment, but once the dog seems better, dry them off and keep them covered so they don’t lose too much heat. If any dog is to the point where membranes are purple/blue, or they are lethargic or unresponsive, it is vital for them to be taken immediately to an emergency care facility as they often require more intensive IV care to cool the organs.
Next steps Be sure to contact Animal Control to report the incident; they can determine if the animal needs medical attention and can handle any issues with the owner returning to the scene. When the owner does return, chances are they will be upset or even angry – try not to be confrontational. It was not intentional, and they likely care very much about their dog, that’s why they took them in the first place. Many people just don’t understand how much and how quickly a car can heat up. If more people do, they’re likely to leave their pets safely at home. One thing you can do in advance is educate people – let your friends and family know, help them understand how hot a car can get – even on a cool day.
