Jun
2012
Is That Outfit Really Worth Your Dog Dying?
People who leave their dogs in hot cars is one of my biggest pet peeves.
Every year I go out of my mind when I see or hear of someone who left their dog in their car on a hot summer day to run into the store.
In the past I have been known to confront these complete strangers with a not so friendly greeting when they arrived back at their automobile that housed an overheated, panting dog, running around in their car.
Some of these conversations are more pleasant than others.
I have seen it in all different areas, Target being the biggest hot spot in my area. It never fails that I go into Target with no cars parked next to me and I come out to a mini van parked right next to me with a dog locked inside.
Seriously, it happened more than 4 times times last summer.
I finally decided to go to Walmart instead, where, if I might add, no one parked next to me with a dog locked in a hot car.
I’ve been reading a lot of post this summer where bloggers are trying to spread the word that this kind of behavior is just not cool. I love that we are spreading the word and trying to get the message across, but let’s face it, despite what I want to believe not everyone reads blogs.
However, almost everyone watches T.V. or listens to the radio, so I get excited when I see or hear about not leaving dogs in hot cars on one of those media outlets.
So why are people still doing it?
Based on the conversation that I had with a client at the vet the other day, I don’t think they understand what really happens to a dogs body when they are hot and locked in a car, and we need to paint them a picture.
My conversation went a little something like this:
Client: I left my dog in the car the other day when I ran into the mall. After all, the dog loves to lay in the sun, so he’s perfectly fine in the car for a few minutes, or twenty. Right?
Me:Um, no. Laying in the sun is totally different than being locked in a hot car.
Client:How so??
Me:Your dog can get up and move when he gets hot laying in the sun. He can’t get out of a hot car:
First, your car is like an oven in the summer. Would you sit in an oven?
No, you would not.
Second, unlike you, your dog does not cool himself by sweating. They sweat yes, but through the pads on the bottom of their feet. They pant to regulate body temperature. By panting, a dog can cool the mouth and tongue, along with blood which is circulating through the head, keeping the body temperature at a safe and normal level. The closer the temperature of a car is to the dog’s body temperature, the more likely the dog is to overheat and die.
Third, a dogs normal body temperature is higher than ours. A normal temp for a dog can range between 101-103 degrees Fahrenheit. At 105 degrees a dog can be at serious risk for heatstroke. Going from 103 to 105 degrees can happen in the matter of minutes for a dog locked in a hot car. 106 to 107 degrees your dog may be close to brain damage.
At 105 degrees your dog is beginning to panic and now his cells are in the process of breaking down which leads to dehydration and blood thickening which is putting strain on the heart which may cause blood clots and death to vital organs. The liver, brain and intestinal cells will probably be the first to go.
So while your inside the mall picking out an outfit for Friday night, your dogs insides are literally cooking in your car.
Is that outfit really worth it?
Client: (stunned) I had the windows cracked open.
Me: Doesn’t matter. Still HOT.
Client: I had no idea it worked that way.
Me: It does, and your lucky your dog is safe. Don’t do it again or I’ll kick your butt.
Alright…..I didn’t say I would kick his butt, but I wanted to.
Education is key. Keep spreading the word and if your up for it-paint a picture.
46 Comments on Is That Outfit Really Worth Your Dog Dying?
1Pingbacks & Trackbacks on Is That Outfit Really Worth Your Dog Dying?
-
[...] morning I saw another post Is That Outfit Really Worth Your Dog Dying? by Jen from My Brown Newfies. Jen works for a vet’s office and her post explained a lot [...]
Reply
Kolchak, Felix & Jodi
June 19, 2012 at 2:00 am (366 days ago)We’re lucky that it’s actually eligible for a cruelty charge here, so you can have the car owner paged back to their car and called out for it in the store. Plus, you know those $1 thermometers you buy at the dollar store? I’m the geek that carries a few around with a bunch of those “Don’t Cook Your Dog” Stickers and I will totally pop a thermometer through that open window AND sticker your car, plus I’ll totally come back to check on your dog 15 minutes later and call the SPCA f you haven’t returned. I’m a B@%$# that way.
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 8:23 am (366 days ago)Good for you Jodi! I’m the geek who carries around a rectal thermometer to take the dogs temp that is locked inside a car:)))
Sometimes we all have to be a bitch to get the point across:))
MelF
June 19, 2012 at 10:27 pm (365 days ago)Jen – You TOTALLY rock!
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:08 am (365 days ago)LOL:))))
MelF
June 19, 2012 at 10:26 pm (365 days ago)Jodi – LOVE this idea! Where did you get the stickers? I’m going to the dollar store to get those thermometers. Thank you for sharing such an excellent idea!
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:09 am (365 days ago)I’m wondering about the stickers too. Are they the ones from mydogiscool.com?
Jodi Chick & Kolchak
June 20, 2012 at 1:50 am (365 days ago)I got an entire kit sent from the UK from the company that started the “Don’t Cook Your Dog” Campaign. Here is the link: http://www.dogstodaymagazine.co.uk/orderitems.php
But…My Dog is Cool has these great fliers that you can print or buy with more info on the back! http://www.mydogiscool.com/b_flyer.php
Jet
June 19, 2012 at 6:04 am (366 days ago)Hey Leroy, Hey Sherman, Jet here. Hi Miss Jenn.
What a perfect ad. Thanks for breaking down what happens, not sure we would have been so specific. Here in the tropics, not only do people occasionally leave K9s alone in a hot car for a “moment”, they leave BABIES! OMG… We will be mindful of spreading the word, too. Must say, doesn’t happen often, however, it DOES happen.
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 8:24 am (366 days ago)OMG Babies in hot cars? I don’t know what people’s brains are made of that do these types of things!
Mango Momma
June 19, 2012 at 7:31 am (366 days ago)Bah! I, too, have confronted people who say “but the windows are cracked open!” Contrast that to a frantic owner I ran into at the vet one time. It was a very hot day but since her bitch was in heat, she came inside first to make sure the coast was clear. When she went back out, she discovered the keys were locked in her car! Yes the windows were cracked, but everybody (especially the owner) was frantic. She called her husband, the police, and AAA. Meanwhile, we all helped her construct a little shade canopy and were giving her dog water through the crack in the window. Of the 3, the cops arrived first, husband second, and AAA called off. Dog was only in the car about 20 minutes, but it was close.
I admit to locking the car at the vet even when I am just popping in to check if there is a room for Mango (since the vet is in a rather unsavory part of town) but after that, I am never doing it again even if it is going to be quick.
I don’t even take the boys for car rides in the summer. What if the car broke down? I’ve seen how fast Mango heats up even out in the sun, let alone in a stuffy car.
But, you are correct, people just don’t get it.
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 8:26 am (366 days ago)Uggh! we get this at the vet a lot to. There’s always a room available, if not I will move someone out if it is the difference of a dog being locked in a hot car.
I try not to take the boys for a ride in the car in the summer too. I am so afraid that the air conditioner is going to break! I need one of those portable fans like Carrie form Tales and tails has for her van!
melF
June 19, 2012 at 8:00 am (366 days ago)Amen sister! I think you are right Jen, people just don’t think that a few minutes or 20 minutes (which is a few minutes in their mind) is a big deal if the windows are cracked. I just confronted a guy and his girlfriend who had left their Boxer in a hot car with the windows cracked (and I do mean cracked) while they went inside and sepnt many, many minutes trying to pick out the perfect birthday balloons. The heat outside? low 90′s. WTH?
I told him a dog could die in 10 minutes in a hot car and he thanked me and then hopped in with his girlfriend and immediately turned on the air.
I wrote a post that was similar to how you described what a dog goes through in a hot car. Maybe I need to take that and your post and put it on cards so I can put them on people’s windshields. BTW – Target seems to be the popular place to leave dogs in hot cars here too.
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 8:30 am (366 days ago)OMG. stories like this break my heart, but at least you were there to educate the people! If we have to do it one person at a time then so be it:)
I have been thinking that it would be great if stores could post something on their front windows about the dangers of leaving dogs in hot cars. I bet if approached some stores would have no problem doing it, at least some people might see it!
MilShelb
June 19, 2012 at 9:03 am (366 days ago)YES! I am so glad you posted this. I shared it on my facebook page. I’m tellin’ ya, the sight of a dog in the car drives me nuts and breaks my heart. I hate that. I am such a weirdo about it I don’t even take my dogs to be left in the car when it’s cool outside. They are never left in the car. I just don’t understand why people would do that… of course, unfortunately, people never cease to amaze me.
~Maggie
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 11:55 pm (365 days ago)Thank you and thanks for sharing!
It breaks my heart and makes me angry to see a dog panting in a hot car!
Jodi
June 19, 2012 at 9:27 am (366 days ago)I will call animal control if I see a dog locked in a car. I need to pick up some bumper stickers and thermometers like Jodi Chick. People have no clue. I have only left the dogs in the car once when I ran into a convenience store. I parked in front of the store, left the car running with the heat on (it was winter) and darted in for milk. I would much rather do that, then come out to a frozen dog. Cars get cold in the winter as quickly as they get hot in the summer! Education is key.
I had to go to a town hall for work last week, as I pulled in a truck pulled in next to me and I saw the head of a dog in the back of the truck. The guy got out and I mean the windows were 1/2 an inch down. I asked him, if he was going to be there long and he said, no why? I said cause I worry about the dog, the truck heats up fast. He assured me he would be long. I did my biz (took about 3 -5 mins) went out, truck still there. Ran to post office (10 mins) checked back at town hall to make sure truck was gone and it was. I was panicking though….why bring your dog with you if you have to run in somewhere. Who knows that guy could have ran into a neighbor and started yapping it up. People are just dumb.
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 11:57 pm (365 days ago)Good for you Jodi, keeping an eye out and for being aware. I think people think they are doing their dog a favor by taking them for a ride in the car, they don’t stop to think about the temperature outside, and someone needs to step in and give them a little knock on the head!
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 11:58 pm (365 days ago)I meant to add that I wish our animal control was good about these things but they are not. It’s sad.
Two French Bulldogs
June 19, 2012 at 11:53 am (365 days ago)Mom has called the authorities twice. She’s says HBO words and talks of locking the human in the car
Benny & Lily
Jen
June 19, 2012 at 11:59 pm (365 days ago)I have said a few choice HBO words myself at times like this:)
Nichole
June 19, 2012 at 12:36 pm (365 days ago)As someone who has confronted several offenders over the years, gone into stores to have owners paged and called the police when no one shows up in a timely fashion, I couldn’t agree with you more on this topic and post. People are uneducated and don’t think, but what’s worse, when you try to explain what’s happening to their dog (hello, have you seen the boiling egg on the car dash?), they get angry and yell at you and just don’t get. Last year I actually followed one offender to another shopping center… at the second one, she took her dog with her.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:01 am (365 days ago)Oh yeah, I have been yelled at before and I have been told that they were going to call the police on me:)))))I followed someone once too.
jan
June 19, 2012 at 1:00 pm (365 days ago)I always feel like a peeping tom in parking lots, but I have saved a lot of dogs from misery.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:01 am (365 days ago)That is great that you have been able to help a lot of dogs Jan! Every parking lot needs a dog peeping tom:))
Julie
June 19, 2012 at 1:07 pm (365 days ago)This is one of those subjects that really makes me crazy – WHY drag your dog around in your car on a hot day? I don’t take Cali in the car if the temperature is above 70 . .she just gets too hot. Every year you hear a news story about someone leaving a baby or a dog in a hot car – it’s maddening!
You’re right – we can blog about it until our fingers bleed . .but the people that are risking their pets life are not reading blogs
I’m going to share this on facebook – thanks Jen!
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:03 am (365 days ago)I hear you. I only take the dogs in the car on a hot day if I have to, like going to the vet’s. So many dogs die each year because of this senseless act.
houndstooth
June 19, 2012 at 1:37 pm (365 days ago)We happened to be out and about some this weekend in the van and it was a lovely ninety degree day. What was not lovely was that the air conditioning started to not work. With the van moving it was bearable, but when we were stopped it was like being locked in a sauna. In two minutes I felt like I was dying. I don’t think people realize how quickly the temperature rises in a car in the summer — even with the windows wide open.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:04 am (365 days ago)I ad the same thing happen to me a few days ago. The dogs weren’t in the car but I was thinking what if they were? Lucky for me the air conditioner wasn’t broken, I just hit the wrong button:) (don’t tell)
kristi
June 19, 2012 at 3:20 pm (365 days ago)Well said sister jen! Common sense just seems to run short with some people and it always seems to be the animal that suffers!
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:05 am (365 days ago)Thanks big sis! Lucky you and I have common sense when it comes to dogs!
Kristine
June 19, 2012 at 3:42 pm (365 days ago)It drives me nuts too. I don’t think enough can be said about it. Like I said in my post last week, no one thinks it’s going to happen to them. People think they are invincible, that the dogs who die belong to other people. Maybe they just don’t realize how quickly things can get very serious and very deadly.
I am sure coming from you, someone who works at a vet clinic, it has a lot more power than from a blog. Hopefully that client of yours will make the safer choice next time.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:11 am (365 days ago)You are so right. People don’t think that it will happen to them and then it does, and they are left with a dog that is dead. So sad.
I don’t know if it has a lot more power or not. Sometimes I think people hear what they want to hear.
Daisy
June 19, 2012 at 5:52 pm (365 days ago)Amazing that as much as it is advertised, talked about, people who profess that they love their dogs just don’t get it!
XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & roxy
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:11 am (365 days ago)I know! It’s is crazy.
Misty Shores Chesapeakes
June 19, 2012 at 6:17 pm (365 days ago)Great post Jen!
I have left notes on windshields before and one time some people came to the lake to go swimming and left their poor dog in the car, you know they were going to be a awhile so the park rangers were called and I thought oh good things will be okay now…ha they were going to leave that poor dog too if I hadn’t been standing there watching them.
I do take my dogs but I provide plenty of ice, fans and all the windows and doors are open on my van, it’s usually for training so I am right there the whole time watching them.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:12 am (365 days ago)Oh no, they went swimming and didn’t take their dog. Now that is just wrong on so many levels. What is wrong with people?
Tony Erkeley
June 19, 2012 at 9:30 pm (365 days ago)Thank you Jen for sharing this information and providing the poster image which helps to underscore how keeping a dog locked in a car is comparable to an oven. I agree with you that most people don’t think it is a big deal if you just run in for a few minutes and keep a window cracked open… Hopefully your post will open up more eyes to this issue.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:13 am (365 days ago)Thank you for stopping by Tony. If this post opens up just one persons eyes, than I would be more than happy!
Amy@GoPetFriendly
June 19, 2012 at 11:11 pm (365 days ago)Well said, Jen. Education is the only way to stop this tragedy. Good for you for confronting the problem head-on!
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 12:14 am (365 days ago)Thanks Amy. The more we educate the better, right?
2 brown dawgs
June 20, 2012 at 7:49 am (365 days ago)Very good post. I once confronted some people who left their dog in a car at the post office. Outside temp 90 and the windows just cracked. I could see the dog was very stressed. I was thisclose to calling the cops when the people came back. I told them to go put on their winter coats and then I would lock them in a car and see how they liked it. They were not pleased with me, but oh well, maybe next time they will think.
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 11:00 pm (364 days ago)Well good for for giving it back to them! People just need to think about what they are doing!
Eva or sometimes Priscilla
June 20, 2012 at 8:06 am (365 days ago)We can never leave our dogs in the car here no matter it’s the first day or the last day of the year! It’s just too hot!
Jen
June 20, 2012 at 11:01 pm (364 days ago)I wish more people had the same thinking as you!
Kristy F
June 27, 2012 at 11:25 am (357 days ago)How about children! This is what I am trying to do about this problem. Please see my save a child campaign on Indiegogo.com called STOP LITTLE ONES FROM DYING IN HOT CARS take a look and see if we can together save a life.