Leaving pets in hot cars is becoming a problem in the Region
Posted Jun 12, 2017 03:13:55 PM.
Last Updated Jun 12, 2017 04:44:53 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Another heat warning is in effect for the Waterloo Region and surrounding areas.
The spike in the weather has resulted in more calls to the Cambridge Humane Society, about people leaving their dogs in hot cars.
Inspector Tracy Laraway says leaving your pet in car for even a couple minutes is too long.
“The temperature inside a car acts like a greenhouse, it’s almost like a microwave so the dog will in essence cook from the inside out,” she says.
The guaranteed high today is 31 degrees and Peter Kimbell with Environment Canada says yesterday we hit 30.7 degrees.
He says the record was not quite hit yesterday and the record high for today is 32.8 degrees, which was set in 1949.
Laraway says by the time she receives a call about a dog trapped in a heated vehicle, the dogs been in the vehicle for about 10 minutes already.
“10 minutes can be all it takes, which is depending on the health, well-being of the animal, its fur length and its ability to cool itself,” she says.
Kimbell says the normal high for June is 23 degrees and says
Peter Kimbell with Environment Canada says the Region is under a heat warning and the criteria for being under one includes having at least two days of hot weather, with a daytime high of 21 degrees or more and an overnight low of 20 degrees or more.
Laraway says, “If a call goes through Animal Services, you can be fined up to $150 on the spot for leaving a dog in the car.”
“It still blows my mind that people still continue to put their dogs in the car and then stop and go somewhere. If you know that’s the intention that that’s where you will be going when you put your dog in the car, then you are completely 100 per cent at fault and will be subsequently charged,” she says.
Laraway adds even if you park in the shade, it does nothing to cool down your pet inside, it’s still just as hot.
Kimbell says the heat warning should be lifted tomorrow, with the temperature being 25 degrees.
