AC Pup: Pets, cars and high temperatures don’t mix

Last week I wrote about protecting your pet from the heat and gave some wonderful tips on how to keep them safe. Because this topic is so critical, I will focus on it more in depth over time.

It’s important to be extremely cautious and conscientious during the summer to keep your fur babies healthy. The summer heat can potentially be deadly for pets, but the dangers may be entirely avoidable if attention is paid to the hazards and measures taken to offer protection.

We’re not even officially into summer yet, and our Middle Georgia temperatures are in the high 90s and even flirting with 100. This is no time to take chances with your pets.

Today I want to talk about pets, cars and summer. They don’t mix. It’s as simple as that. Don’t take your pets in your car during the summer, especially if you’re running errands and think you’ll run in the store for just a minute, or if you’re vacationing with your pet, stop for a meal at a restaurant and leave your pet in the car.

It’s amazing how quickly a parked car turns into a smothering oven even with the windows rolled down a little way. According to VeterinaryClinic.com, if the outside temperature is 90 degrees, which is not uncommon in our area, it only takes 10 minutes for the temperature inside the car to reach 109 degrees. And in 30 minutes, the car will be 124 degrees.

Do you know how easy it is for time to get away from you when you think you’re going to run in the store to pick up one thing and you bump into an old friend you haven’t seen in years? By the time you’re done reminiscing, 30 minutes may have passed. Or what about when you run in the store and are totally on task until you get a phone call from your boss? Because the call requires concentration, you stop your shopping and talk to your boss. Whenever the conversation is over, you finish your shopping. Again, 30 minutes have passed.

Had you had your pet in the car during this season, you very well could’ve had a tragedy on your hands. And you possibly could have serious charges as well.

A veterinarian conducted an experiment showing the impact of the heat inside a car. He actually stayed in the parked car himself and filmed the reactions his body had to the intense heat. It was scary how quickly the heat in the parked car caused him significant distress. It really made an impression to watch it as he described what he was feeling and observe the reaction he was having.

A parked car with someone inside will create a medical catastrophe for people and pets alike. You know the interesting thing about this recurring problem we have every summer? It’s all totally preventable.

Yet every single summer my nonprofit animal group, Central Georgia CARES, gets calls from panicked bystanders in Middle Georgia witnessing pets inside a parked cars struggling to survive. It has happened every single summer for the seven years I have been working with CARES. I am hoping this summer will be different.

If you do see a pet locked in the car, what should you do? Take action. Don’t wait for someone else to do something. Take charge. Get the make and model of the car along with the tag number.

Although it’s legal in Florida to break a window to free a pet in distress, unless something has changed, I don’t think it’s legal in Georgia. It would really be nice if it were legal, but for now we have to follow the laws in place. So call 911 immediately and explain the emergency situation. Do not leave the car unattended. While you wait for the officer to arrive, monitor the decline of the pet in the car. If the situation becomes critical before the arrival of the officer, call again and give them a status update to let them know the situation is truly an emergency.

If the owner of the car returns to the car and drives away prior to the officer’s arrival, please continue to wait for the officer and give him the make, model and tag number of the car. Leaving a helpless animal or vulnerable person in a parked car is a very serious offense. The officer will want to have a conversation with the driver.

We often hear it takes a village. In the case of monitoring parking lots in the heat of the summer or searching for pets or people locked in parked cars, it really does take a village of people who are not afraid to take action. Please be one of those brave, observant people who want to help avert a tragedy.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "AC Pup: Pets, cars and high temperatures don’t mix."