Heat, Cars, and Pets Can Be a Dangerous Combination

Many dog tails begin to wag when they hear “Wanna go for a car ride?” However, traveling with pets during the summer months can be dangerous because heatstroke can happen quickly.

Common sense tells most people that leaving their pet inside a parked vehicle on a hot, summer day is the wrong thing to do. Still, many people think they can just run into the store for 15 minutes and everything will be fine. What most people need to realize is that the inside temperature can skyrocket after just a few minutes. Parking in the shade or leaving the windows cracked does little to alleviate creating a pressure cooker. In fact, a recent study by Stanford University proved that cracking a window had an insignificant effect on both the heating rate of heating and the final temperature after an hour inside the car.

For example, on an 85-degree day, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within ten minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature can reach 120 degrees. Pets are in danger of heatstroke when the temperature reaches 110 degrees. On hot and humid days, the temperature in a car parked in direct sunlight can rise more than 30 degrees per minute, and quickly become lethal.

“Pets, more so than humans, are susceptible to overheating,” said Mary Rupley, Humane Society of Huron Valley veterinarian. “Dogs have sweat glands on their nose and pads of their feet, but these glands are inadequate for cooling during hot summer days. When dogs pant and drink water it helps them cool down, but if they only have overheated air to breathe, they can suffer brain damage and organ damage in as little as 15 minutes.”

If you see an animal inside an unattended car during hot weather, try to locate the owner as quickly as possible. If you can’t get immediate help, call the Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) (Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105) at (734) 662-5585 x 112 or contact your local animal shelter.