Dogs in hot cars , summertime

[Kristina Brannlund Westin]

Every summer, it is the same. You go to an exhibition, the sun is shining,, it's hot. Just yesterday it was 26 degrees Celsius we had. It is tough enough for the dogs to be in the ring during the contest. When I am about to leave the exhibition, and goes against my car I can hear an exclamation of the speaker. They shouted to a car owners who had left his dog in the car in this heat, and asked the owner to immediately retrieve the dog, otherwise the guards to enter the box and get the dog, which apparently did not feel so good. I get so angry and frustrated, when I on most exhibitions hear this stuff. What is the dogowners, breeders, animal lovers who expose their dog for this, and let it be in the car and suffering from heat stroke. I wonder what the penalty will be? Are they turned off from the Swedish Kennel Club, and may not participate in exhibitions. I hope to see become disabled for life, and that they are forbidden to own dogs at all.
How does this work in other countries, and how these behaviors are punished?

[Kristina Brannlund Westin]

Hi Christine!
It´s the same here. I have met people at a store, and they leave there dogs out in the car in sun heat. I told them to take the dogs out, because if they are not, I will call the police. And all those dogshows, where dogs are left in the car and will almost die or in worst case they will die because of the heat. Those people should be banned, and never get a dog again...Makes me very angry,,,

[Melinda Auld]

This is a real problem here in Australia, where obviously it can get very hot in summer. It is not unheard of for temperatures to reach 60 degrees C or higher inside a closed car. Despite that, and despite the well-publicised risks, people still leave their dogs inside their cars on hot days...there have even been incidences here of people leaving BABIES inside hot cars while they go shopping. Idiots. I hate leaving my dogs in the car even on cool days.

As far as I know, the RSPCA are able to charge offenders here with cruelty and neglect...but how often that happens, I'm not sure. I don't know if the police have such powers here - it's possible they do.

It is not uncommon to see dogs left in trailers here at shows. Most trailers here are insulated, and many are cooler inside than outside on a hot day. There was an incident in another state a while ago where a trailer door was accidentally shut, and several of the dogs inside either died, or suffered severe heat stroke. I think the person concerned was reprimanded by the controlling kennel council - even though it was a genuine accident. I believe something similar just happened recently in the USA, too, with a professional handler who left 7 dogs in a trailer overnight.

Given dogs' limited ability to self-cool, it is a horrible, cruel thing to leave them in ANY situation where they might suffer from excess heat. In my opinion, anyone guilty of leaving their dogs to suffer and die in agony in a hot car deserves every possible punishment.

[Melinda Auld]

I'd also like to add that I think it's just as cruel to see people walking their dogs on a hot footpath during the heat of the day, too. Dogs can only sweat through the soles of their paws. A hot pavement can easily damage a dog's foot. And some short-faced breeds have real difficulties cooling by panting, simply because the altered shape of their faces does not permit full exposure of the blood vessels inside the nose and mouth to cool air.

I cringe when I see people walking their dogs in the middle of the day here in summer - or worse, jogging with them. They have no idea their dogs might be suffering. I once actually pulled my car up on the side of the road to stop someone who was jogging with their TEN WEEK OLD Labrador puppy in the middle of a 35 deg C day!! The puppy was lagging behind and was lame and absolutely exhausted, and the jogger hadn't even noticed. Grrrrr. I made the person put their hand on the pavement to feel how hot it was. It was so hot, the tar between the concrete was melting. They hadn't realised.

[Sue and Cash]

I was working last summer and was in a Walmart parking lot and heard a dog crying inside a car. It was so hot and humid out and the window was only cracked a couple inches. The poor little dog was inside a crate on the back seat. I called the police and it took them over 20 minutes to come. By then I had drawn a crowd around me I was so upset. I threated, five more minutes and I will break the window to get the dog out. So this lady comes running up with a bag of Old Roy dog food (might as well kill the poor guy slowly I guess instead) and shouting I was only gone for a few minutes. I was screaming to her it was over 20 minutes and her dog is very upset and overheated in there. I asked her to please wait because the police were on the way and she split so fast I was choking on her car fumes. I was so upset the rest of the day that the police around here don't seem to care about animals in distress! 20 minutes would have meant a dog could have died while waiting to be rescued.

[Kristina Brannlund Westin]

Susan, it is moments like this I just wanna kill some one. And the police, 20 minutes it is a real shame!!!

[Karin Diller]

Every summer even little children are left in cars and dy there because their parents didn´t think it would get that hot or didn´t think at all! Last summer, a man forgot (!) his little daughter in his car.

Oh, yes, and the joggers or bikers exercising their dogs in the heat of the day. The moment the biker pulls to a stop, the dog slumps down, panting and exhausted. Those people don´t seem to notice, they go on and on, becaus "he needs his exercise", "he is used to it".

I do not know if there is any penalty from the VDH for breeders who leave their dogs in the cars. One would think, they also do this in everyday situations, wouldn´t one?

[Kristina Brannlund Westin]

Such bloody idiots there are in this world:-(