Imagine yourself in an oven with a rapidly increasing temperature that will cause brain damage or kill you. You are also wearing a fur coat the entire time. Your fear is building, which turns into anxiety and panic, and you have no control over the situation. Your sickness or death is one of excruciating pain and suffering. What you have gone through is what a dog can experience in a matter of 10 minutes in a car on a warm day. Even in the shade with partly-open windows, a car can rapidly reach a level high enough to seriously harm or kill your dog.
Dogs cool themselves by panting and by releasing heat through their paws and do not perspire through their skin as people do. On warm days, the air and upholstery in your vehicle heats up to high temperatures making it impossible for pets to cool themselves.
You say you will just be a few minutes in the store? Very often this will turn into 10 or 20 minutes. Too long. Even an outside temperature of 20C can too quickly cause the inside of a vehicle to reach a temperature of over 38C. If you see a dog in a car on a day when the temperatures are warm to hot - call your local SPCA (250-562-5511) or the SPCA hotline (1-855-622-7722) or the police (911) - they will come and investigate. Many people who care about their pet don't realize that cars turn into death traps in minutes.
Folks think that it won't happen to them - but use some common sense - you feel hot in a car without air conditioning? It is at least 50 times worse for your pet. Please leave your dog at home while you do errands - he or she will live to love you for it.
Jane Young,
Prince George
