Keep Your Pets Cool and Safe

Today on the way home from the dentist my mom noticed a cat sitting in the back window of a parked car. It was already 80 degrees outside, and even though the windows were cracked open, that cat would probably not last much longer in there.

My mom stopped and knocked on the door of the house nearest to the parked car. The elderly man who answered did not own the cat, but he was concerned about the animal when he heard it was locked in a car.

When they walked out to where the car was parked, they noticed a man walking away from the car, holding the cat. We don’t know if he came to get the cat because he saw my mom looking inside the car, or if he just happened to remember the cat had been left out there.

That cat survived its experience in a hot car. But many dogs and cats die of heat exhaustion each summer when they are left in a car, even if it’s in the shade. It only takes a few minutes for a car to heat up to over 120 degrees, even if the windows are open an inch or two.

Please join us this summer and notify the authorities if you see an animal locked up in a car on a warm day. It’s better to let a police officer break a car window to let the animal out than to have someone’s beloved pet die.

While some animals die from becoming overheated in a vehicle, others die from being left outdoors on a hot day, or from sitting inside a hot house without air conditioning. Dogs with short snouts are especially prone to overheating if they are not kept in a cool house.

For this reason, dog rescues recommend that you have a window air conditioner in case your central air goes out or gets turned off, especially if you live in a hot climate.

Window air conditioners are an added expense, but our pets (and our family’s health) are worth it.