How to Help a Dog Locked in a Car

It’s probably obvious to most of us that dogs shouldn’t be left in cars in 90 degree heat, but what about on a regular warm day, when it’s cool in the shade?

You’ll crack the windows for Fido and everything will be fine … there’s a breeze coming in, you’re not parked in direct sun. No problem, right?

WRONG! A car traps the heat of the sun like a greenhouse, even when parked in the shade, even with the windows cracked.

A recent study illustrates some scary numbers; on days where the temperature ranged between 72 and 96 degrees, a car's internal temperature (regardless of the outside temperature) could be raised by an average of 40 degrees within a half hour, regardless of the windows being cracked or not.

Cracking the windows did nothing to slow the heat-up. That’s eye opening stuff.

I’m an absolute terrorist when it comes to dogs in locked cars.

The most recent case was in a grocery store parking lot last summer. The black dog was in a truck parked in direct sun, and he looked very uncomfortable.

I watched for a few minutes just to make sure that the owner wasn’t doing an in-and-out trip to the store (still very unsafe), and then I called the non-emergency police number. The grocery store made an announcement about the dog in the car, and I watched people look around tsk-tsking, trying to identify the idiot.

In the meantime I wrote a note telling the owner of the car that the police were on the way, and that he had put his dog in a very dangerous situation. Over twenty minutes had passed by this point and I was unhinged by the dog’s obvious discomfort. It was hot out, but I wasn’t ready to commit an act of vigilante justice and break the windows, particularly because the police were on the way.

The car’s owner finally emerged over a half hour after I’d initially spotted the dog. I made my way over to him, not sure of how I could convey my anger without getting beat up or shot, but he grabbed the note off his windshield and sped off before I reached him.

The police car pulled in the other entry way as the truck exited, and even though I was able to give the license plate number and his general direction, nothing could be done.  Score one for the idiot.

MyDogisCool.com is doing a great job raising awareness about the dangers of leaving dogs in hot cars. I’ve used their flyers on cars around town on days when the risk of overheating wasn’t as great.

On hot days I skip the flyer and go right to the non-emergency police number. In my area they understand the danger of leaving a dog locked in the car, and will break in and ticket if necessary. I’ll borrow a line from the government: if you see something, say something. You might be that dog’s only advocate.