Why Is A Hot Car So Dangerous To Dogs?

Photo – © lilu13 – Fotolia.com

There’s nothing that can compete with spending some time outdoors on a warm weather, drinking a cool beverage to quench the heat-induced thirst, and frolicking under the heat of the sun, but it might also be a good idea to check how your canine buddy is handling the heat. Intense heat and a hot weather are brutal to dogs since they can only cool themselves by panting and sweating through their paws. When an environment becomes warm or humid, our brains send signals to regulate our core temperature and cool our body by sweating. This doesn’t work out for dogs, having mainly panting (i.e., breathing out the excess heat) as a cooling mechanism. This means is not as effective as sweating though, and thus, dogs in general have limited abilities to cool off in a close, highly humid area.

Have you ever tried leaving your dog inside your car to run an errand or go shopping on a warm, sunny day? Leaving pets inside cars, even with partially opened windows… well let’s just say that for the animal you are leaving them inside a dangerously hot oven. Temperatures in a car can exceed 120 degrees in minutes on a 78-degree sunny day, and this can be fatal to dogs in a short time.

There is a strong movement towards making people aware of the dangers and suffering to dogs left in cars in the sun.
No dog should suffer from organ failure or brain damage due to heat stroke and be left alone in a hot car.

Such is the firm contention of Dr. Ernie Ward, a veterinarian from North Carolina, who proves his point by spending 30 minutes inside a car left out in the sun on a summer day. Have a read on how his experiment turned out through this article: http://www.pawnation.com/2013/07/02/vet-sits-in-hot-car-for-30-minutes-to-show-effect-on-pets/

Pls keep your dogs safe and let us know your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page!