A dog was struggling to breathe as she sat in her owner’s car. The temperature inside the car had already reached 160 degrees Fahrenheit when firefighters arrived to help.
The Sacremento Fire Department in California responded to the concerned calls of Good Samaritans and found the little white dog hunched over and panting on the dashboard of the vehicle. “Unacceptable,” the firefighters wrote in a tweet.
Photo credit: Sacramento Fire Department
Luckily for the small dog, the firefighters pulled her from the sweltering vehicle in time to save her life.
Police cited the dog’s owners and the dog was taken to animal control. After the incident, the Sacramento Fire Department pleaded with pet owners, “When warm, never leave pets in cars.”
It seems despite continued efforts of authorities to educate the public about the risks of leaving pets in cars, some pet owners continue to underestimate how hot it gets in a car in warm weather. Even if a vehicle is parked in the shade, temperatures inside a car can be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the outside temperature. For example, if the outside temperature is in the low 70s, the temperature inside a car can climb to 116 degrees within an hour!
NFL star Tyrann Mathieu demonstrated just how hot it gets by locking himself in a car. Within 8 minutes he was ready to pass out. His advice? “If you are going to make a dog a part of your family, then make him part of your family. Don’t treat him that you wouldn’t treat someone you loved and cared about.”
Please continue to spread the word and raise awareness about the dangers of leaving pets in hot cars!
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