What Should You Do If You See A Dog Left In A Hot Car

Dog Hot Car Laws: What Should You Do If You See A Dog Left In A Hot Car?

As rational adults who just happen to be dog owners, we all know that you should never leave your dog inside the car on a hot day. Right?
However, people still do it.
So, from one dog owner to another, please don’t leave your dog in the car on a warm day — even if the windows are rolled down!

Leaving your dog in the car during the summer (even when it doesn’t seem all that hot to you) is similar to putting your dog inside of an oven! Seriously. The temperatures heat up so quickly that your dog becomes completely helpless when trapped inside the car on a hot day.

Believe it or not, leaving the windows partially open is NOT enough. Parking in the shade WON’T keep the car cool enough either.
Dogs feel heat differently than humans do. They sweat differently too. Dogs sweat by panting and by sweating from their paws. However, a dog trapped in a hot car cannot effectively rid its body of enough of the heat by panting and sweating — simply because there’s not enough cool, fresh air to replace the heated, stale air. Therefore, a dog breathing in warm/hot air for too long will suffer heatstroke (…or worse).

"In simple terms, heatstroke occurs when a dog loses its natural ability to regulate its body temperature. Dogs don’t sweat all over their bodies the way humans do. Canine body temperature is primarily regulated through respiration (i.e., panting). If a dog’s respiratory tract cannot evacuate heat quickly enough, heatstroke can occur."

In a matter of just a few minutes, a dog can be overcome by the heat. It’s no joke. Temperatures in a closed automobile will rise approximately:

• 19 degrees in 10 minutes
• 29 degrees in 20 minutes
• 34 degrees in 30 minutes
• 43 degrees in an hour

The Animal Protection Institute (API) conducted their own study that showed that deadly temperatures can quickly build inside a closed vehicle, even with moderately warm temperatures outside. The study found that even at 9 a.m. with an outside temperature of 82 degrees, the closed automobile registered 109 degrees inside … The API’s study also measured vehicles with cracked windows. With 4 windows cracked, an 88-degree day outside turned into a 103-degree sauna inside the vehicle at 10 a.m.  Source

Just like kids trapped in a hot vehicle, dogs simply cannot withstand those high temperatures when confined in a small, enclosed space.

Source: dogs.thefuntimesguide.com