It’s great to take your dog on fun outings and to socialize them. But leaving your dog in a hot car can be dangerous — if not deadly. A good Samaritan called the police when they saw a dog sitting inside a Nissan Sentra in a Walmart parking lot in Strongsville, Ohio. Cars can rapidly heat up to extreme temperatures in a matter of minutes. When the unnamed woman returned to her car, a police officer was there. She tried to convince the officer that the dog was fine, but he was not convinced, according to the Examiner.
The officer wanted to teach the woman a lesson and made her sit in the hot car for a few minutes to demonstrate what her dog had to endure. Although she said she was fine, she reportedly looked uncomfortable. The officer advised the woman that she would be cited if she left her dog in a similar situation again, as reported in the Huffington Post.
According to the American Veterinary Association, hundreds of pets die yearly from heat exhaustion. People often use the excuse that the window was slightly cracked open or it wasn’t hot out. According to the Association, a car can rapidly heat up to deadly temperatures. There is a great, informative chart on their webpage — the link is here .
Amazingly, in just 10 minutes, a car can turn a deadly 89 degrees when it’s a sunny 70 degrees outside. After a half hour? The car becomes a deadly 104 degrees. From a seemingly harmless 75-degree day, the inside of a car can become a 94-degree oven in 10 minutes. And a little crack of a window will not cool the car down to safe temperatures for your beloved canine. And, even if they don’t die, they can suffer brain and other damage. It’s truly not worth the risk. The Association recommends leaving your beloved companions at home. They state the following.
“This is definitely a situation where ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ is a good thing. Please leave your pets at home at home when you can… they’ll be safe and happily waiting for you to come home.”
What do you think about the police officer making the woman stay in the hot car to make a point? Do you travel with your dog on hot days? Does he or she go with you where you are headed?
Of course, animal lovers can’t imagine being without their beloved companions — whether canine, feline, or other. According to an article in the Inquisitr, a grandmother by the name of Helen was surprised by her family with a new puppy —and her heart-warming reaction went viral. The touching moment was filmed, and knowing the back-story made it even more touching. She had lost a beloved canine and a beloved feline companion within three weeks and was suffering from the devastating losses.
[Photo by Matthias Rietschel/Getty Images]