Risks of Leaving Your Dog in a Hot Car
Contributed by Angie Lewis, President of Alaska Animal Advocates
Despite the enormous amount of information against leaving your dog in the car during warm weather and the many stories in the newspapers and on television – it continues to happen, leaving dogs and families to deal with health issues and even death. Cars can heat up very quickly, even on days that do not seem very hot. If the temperature outside is 80 degrees, it will only take two minutes for the interior to warm up to 94 degrees. Dogs can die of heatstroke when the temperatures are 70 degrees, often suffering from brain damage.
Signs of heatstroke in a dog – vomiting, diarrhea, heavy panting, excessive drooling, bright red gums, increased heart rate and body temperature, convulsions. Dogs can only cool off through panting (moisture from their tongues, nasal passage and lungs), and sweat glands on their paw pads and in their noses. Also, they have blood vessels in their face and ears which swell to release heat. None of these are very functional to help cool a dog off. Consequences of overheating in a car can be very serious - heatstroke, organ damage, and death in approximately 10 minutes of being in a hot car, even with windows partially opened.
To save your dog’s life, get him out of the car and place him in an area that is cool. Lay him down and then cool him down further by placing a cool, wet towel on his abdomen. DO NOT USE ICE OR ICE BAGS. This can be a shock to their system. Always contact your vet to give him information about your dog and what happened.
What should you do if you come upon a dog suffering in a hot car. Try to get in touch with the owner – don’t spend too much time on this phase. Go to some of the stores and report what is happening. Call the police or animal control. If at any point the dog looks really stressed, break the window. If the owner is terribly upset about the window, he/she probably isn’t a good guardian of the dog anyway.
In many areas of the United States, it is illegal to leave a dog in a hot car as it is viewed as animal cruelty. Another problem that might arise could be the actions of concerned people who might smash your window to save the dog in distress. I can say that I wouldn’t think twice about destroying a car window to rescue a dog. I would certainly put some effort into locating the person and letting him/her know about the dog’s situation first, but after that, goodbye window!
The best strategy for dealing with heatstroke is prevention. Leave your dog at home on warm days and certainly do not leave him in the car. You can leave your contact information on your windshield so that people can get in touch with you to let you know how your dog is doing. Do this only if you expect to be gone just for a couple of minutes. I am not fond of this strategy because it allows for too many errors. Show your dog love, it can be best to leave him at home.