Just this month, several dogs in different states have died of heatstroke after being left in parked cars. It seems unthinkable that these preventable tragedies still happen — particularly as extreme heat spreads this summer across large swaths of the United States.
So experts feel it bears repeating: never leave a dog alone in a parked car because it can kill them.
Jen Quammen, DVM and president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), said news reports of dogs dying in hot cars are “really upsetting” and that people should never leave pets or children alone in parked vehicles — even in the shade or with the windows cracked.
“The temperature goes up really significantly higher inside those cars,” she said. “Even if you’re not in direct sun, it’s still a confined space and so the temperature is rising.”
She noted that while some people might rationalize a quick trip inside a store by leaving a dog or cat in an idling car with the air conditioning on, many modern vehicles automatically shut off after 10-15 minutes of idling.
“That may not be something folks are accustomed to or have thought about — that a lot of our modern cars don’t allow themselves to sit in idle that long,” she said. “For me, the question of, ‘Should you leave a dog or a cat unattended in a car?’ I feel like that’s a pretty hard and simple, ‘No.’”
An AVMA resource on pet safety in vehicles notes that the temperature inside a vehicle can climb 19 degrees Fahrenheit in just 10 minutes — and almost 30 degrees in 20 minutes. So the temperature inside the vehicle can quickly become much hotter than outside temperatures.
Since dogs and cats can’t cool down by sweating, it compounds their risk of overheating. The only ways they can dissipate their heat is through their paw pads and by panting.
“Their respiratory system is their primary way of cooling,” Dr. Quammen said. “So pets with heart issues or pets with respiratory issues, those pets with shorter noses, they are already at a disadvantage. So if we then have them in a situation that is unsafe, that can be affecting them even sooner.”
Very young and senior dogs and cats also run a higher risk of dying in a hot car, she noted.
Symptoms Of Overheating In Pets
Pets can also overheat on walks or during play in summer heat, so Dr. Quammen recommends avoiding walks during the heat of the day.
As a veterinarian who works in emergency care, she’s seen patients with heatstroke come in with body temperatures of 107-plus degrees (normal body temperature range for dogs and cats is 101-102 degrees Fahrenheit).
“That is not safe for their core organs,” she said. “Those organs are not meant to be that warm.”
When dogs and cats are overheating, symptoms include panting with or without drool and their tongue or gums turning from bubble gum pink to a bit red or even blue, purple or grey because they’re not oxygenating well, she noted. Sometimes the pet will collapse.
“If they get to a point where they just completely aren’t going to walk anymore, they’re completely collapsed, again, that gum and tongue color change — those are all pretty heavy indications that we might be really pushing more into a heat stress or even a heatstroke scenario,” she said. “So getting that animal out of the direct sun, out of the direct heat, indoors with some air conditioning or fans at least. And if they have not kind of bounced back within even two to five minutes, they need to be seeking emergency medical care.”
It’s important to not submerge an overheating pet in cold water in a bathtub, river or swimming pool since that can shock their system or cause them to ingest water into their lungs. Instead, offer fresh water to drink.
What To Do If You See A Pet In A Hot Car
If you see an animal in a hot car, start by calling 911. If there are other people in the parking lot, recruit someone to run into the store to alert employees and potentially make an announcement on the loudspeaker while you stay by the vehicle to meet the first responders.
“I don’t want to encourage anyone to break into someone’s car,” Dr. Quammen said. “You don’t know what the behavior of that animal on the other end is. So we could get into a situation where someone is trying to do something helpful and that animal ends up escaping. If there’s no way to control that animal, if you break a window and that dog or cat jumps out, then what? So they end up on the road or they end up running away. Some animals are also not very friendly to strangers, and I never want a bystander to get hurt either. So I think contacting authorities in those situations is the right thing to do.”
Ultimately, Dr. Quammen — who has a 17-year-old mixed breed dog named C.C. and a 16-year-old cat named Pete — hopes people will rethink bringing a dog or cat along on a “quick errand” that could end in tragedy.
“It is never safe to leave a pet unattended in a car,” she said. “We want them to be safe and healthy so maybe the best place for them is at home.”
