Should you leave your dog in a hot car?
Summer is here and that means road trips out and about with your dog. But summer also brings high temperatures, which can be fatal to your dog if you’re not careful.
Should you leave your dog in the car in summer?
In the summer, the temperature in a parked car can easily reach upwards of 40ºC in very little time. Dogs are unable to regulate their body temperature as well as humans, meaning as little as 20 minutes inside a parked car can be fatal.
Ideally, you should never leave your dog unattended in a parked car, as the temperature can rise above safe levels even on overcast days, or days you may not consider to be particularly warm. Temperatures as moderate as 20-23ºC outside can cause the inside of your car to heat up to 45-50ºC in very little time.
Even parking in the shade or leaving a window cracked open does very little to help keep your car cool when it’s parked.
What should you do if you see a dog in a car?
The first thing you’ll need to do is assess the dog’s condition as best you can through the windows.
How to tell if a dog is in distress
Dogs display multiple signs of heatstroke which are very easy to spot:
- Heavy panting
- Lethargy
- Vomiting
- Collapse/losing consciousness
If the dog is in distress
- Call 999
You’ll need to alert the police if you believe the dog is in danger.
- Call the RSPCA and/or a vet
Call the RSPCA as they will be equipped to take care of a dog suffering from heatstroke. Depending on their response time, they may tell you to take the dog to the closest vet instead.
If the dog is not in distress
If you see a dog in a car on a warm day, and it doesn’t show any signs of distress, there are still things you can do to help.
- Find out how long the dog has been there
Look for a pay and display parking ticket, and use your surroundings to try to figure out how long the dog has been there. For example, if the car is parked in a petrol station, it’s unlikely the dog has been there for very long. But if the car is parked in a long-stay car park, it could’ve been a few hours at least.
You should also make a note of the registration. If the owner of the car returns but you feel they had put the dog in danger, you can still tell the police.
- Try to alert the owner
If you are in a shopping venue or outside an event, you can ask the staff to try to alert the owner of the car over the loudspeaker system.
Make sure you or somebody else stays with the car to monitor the dog.
- Call the RSPCA
You can call the RSPCA for advice on what to do if the dog doesn’t appear to be in danger. They may tell you to just keep monitoring the dog until the owner comes back or may advise you to call the police.
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