Warm weather brings warning for dog owners

Temperatures are on the rise and while that’s welcome news for most humans, it’s not always good news for some dogs.

That’s because they’re left in hot cars by owners who may not realize how dangerous that can be.

Police already received eight calls about dogs locked in cars last Friday.

Neil Fraser with the Nova Scotia SPCA says it’s a case of us not knowing how quickly a dog can overheat.

“Dogs don’t sweat,” he explains. “They cool their bodies off by drawing cool air across this tongues so if they’re panting and the car is full of hot air, they’re not cooling down. A vehicle can go from 20 degrees to over 40 in the span of 15 minutes.”

He adds it’s obvious from all the cases they deal with that the dogs are well loved.

“It’s just the owners don’t realize how quickly the vehicle will heat up,” he says. “They run into the mall or a store for five or ten minutes and it turns into being 30 or 45 minutes.”

Constable Brian Palmeter says the first concern is obviously for the dog, but owners can face charges.

“For unnecessarily injuring or putting their animal at risk and those types of investigations are generally handled by animal services,” he says.

He adds it’s important for people to call police if they see a dog locked in a car.

“Certainly we have had cases where the dog has been in severe distress where we’ve had to take immediate action by breaking windows to get the dog out of the hot car,” explains Palmeter.

Fraser says there’s a simple solution to keep your dog safe if you can’t leave the a/c on in the car – leave your dog at home.

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