The Dog Days of Summer, Keeping San Angelo Pets Safe

During the scorching summer months, here in West Texas, sitting in a car can be unbearably hot, and a vehicle's inner temperature, when sitting in the hot sun, can rise to about 129 degrees. For a human, that would be overwhelmingly hot, so why do people continue to leave their dogs in the vehicle with that kind of heat?

“Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate treatment,” said experts with texvetpets.org. “As a dog’s temperature rises above its normal 101.5 degrees, it can experience severe brain, kidney and liver damage. A body temperature above 105 degrees can also lead to a coma or even death.“

Even the asphalt and sidewalks can be too hot for the bottom of a dog’s feet, so there's no doubt dog's need a cool place for the hottest part of the day since heatstroke can happen in minutes. Experts say a dog should never be left in the car, even with the windows cracked, because it is the most common cause of heatstroke.

Although the cases are very sporadic, local animal hospitals do see more cases in the hotter months. Lori Winkler, a Veterinarian at Southside Animal Hospital, said “panting is a good indicator" of a heatstroke. "If the dog seems to not be able to catch his breath, or the gums are turning red, it is an indicator,” she added. The dogs that tend to have more problems with this are the breeds with shorter faces, or the brachycephalic breeds. These breeds (Bull dogs, Boston Terriers, Pugs, ect.) have a harder time catching their breath.

“As the temperatures rise in their body, it tends to start a cascade of events that may not become apparent until later on,” said Winkler. Owners could cool them down by putting them in room temperature water or setting them in front of a fan, but too cold too fast can also be a bad thing.

More severe symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, dog will collapse, small amounts of urine or no urine, rapid heart rate, sudden kidney failure, irregular heartbeats, shock, and other things could eventually lead to more internal issues that may lead to death.

For people who ignore these facts and leave their dogs in a hot car, punishment is based on various different situations, but animal cruelty charges are a possibility. 

"Leaving dogs in cars is a death sentence for them and against the law for you," said San Angelo Police Chief Tim Vasquez. 

The San Angelo Police Department put out a public service announcement about the protection of dogs during the hot summer days in San Angelo.

"If the dog is showing signs of distress, please call 911, but remember, don't break the window out unless it's a life or death situation," said Vasquez. For the full PSA by SAPD, click here. 

Some states have already set laws to protect animals trapped in hot cars, as indicated in the map above. People can even break windows open to save an entrapped animal in some cases. Additionally, owners can be charged with animal cruelty. Although people may run an errand or two that may last a little longer than expected, their dogs are the ones that take on the heat. It may have been unintentional, but tragedy can happen in minutes.

Last year, there were two incident reports regarding dogs left in overheating cars, and this year there has only been one so far. Tracy Gonzalez, public information officer for SAPD said, "These were actual incident reports. This does not include calls for service that did not result in a report. (An example would be if a passerby called dispatch, but the dog’s owner returned and/or left prior to police arrival)"

In August of last year, a San Angelo Man was arrested and booked for cruelty to a non-livestock animal and failure to provide shelter, which was a Class A Misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine not to exceed $4,000. The story can be found here. 

So as we enter into our first week of 100-degree weather this week, owners will want to keep dogs inside during the hottest part of the day in these hot summer months and out of their vehicles if they have errands to run and can't take them where they're going.