The sun has been shining with temperatures rising over the past few days in western Massachusetts and pet owners need to be aware of the potential dangers. “Whenever there’s a heat advisory, that means that there’s professionals telling us there’s a warning. There’s some kind of advisory that we have to be careful and that doesn’t just go for us, but for all living beings that we look out for,” said Pam Peebles, executive director of the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center. Peebles said they’re receiving numerous calls about a top concern this time of year: people leaving their pets out in the heat and inside parked cars. “Our phones are very busy. They don’t stop…We’re finding people that are dismissive or offer up so many reasons of why that happened and…there’s almost no excusable reason to leave your animal outdoors right now,” Peebles explained.
The temperature outside is 80 degrees or hotter. We’re told the level of heat inside a parked car is too dangerous for a pet. “A vehicle in over minutes can raise 30 degrees…That car, even on an 80 degree sunny day, can heat up to the full temperatures, so when we get past 80 degrees, it’s very different than going on a walk with your dog, being confined in a vehicle in the sun can be lethal,” Peebles noted.
If you think leaving your pet in a parked car with the windows down is okay, think again.
“It doesn’t matter if the windows are cracked or down a third of the way in a vehicle, it is no place for an animal – period – when the temperatures are hot,” Peebles added. However, if you do see a pet in a hot situation, Peebles told Western Mass News that it’s important to tell someone. “Make that phone call to police or animal control. If it’s a car, then go into the nearest store and report it to a store manager and then they can make a page and follow up with animal control. Try not to take matters into your own hands,” Peebles said.
Massachusetts isn’t the only place that has this problem. According to The Star, the Easton Police Department is warning residents against leaving animals in hot cars. EPD says its officers respond to “dogs in car” complaints almost daily during the summer. “The normal response the owners give is that the dog was only left in the car for a short time or that they did not think it was that hot out,” an EPD press release stated. “The truth is that it doesn’t take long, and outside temperatures don’t need to be all that high for your car to become an unsafe place for your dog to be.”
EPD shared information from the American Veterinary Medical Association, which the police force said “may help shed light on the dangers associated with leaving animals in cars.” The temperature inside a vehicle, the release stated, “can rise almost 20ºF in just 10 minutes. In 20 minutes, it can rise almost 30ºF, and the longer you wait, the higher it goes.” “At 60 minutes, the temperature in your vehicle can be more than 40º higher than the outside temperature. Even on a 70º day, that’s 110º inside your vehicle,” EPD wrote.
The police department is urging people to “please leave your pets at home” because “it’s safer for them.”
Source: WestMassNews & The Star
