Leaving pets in the car is something that is hot news now. And the science is something we are all familiar with.  We all have been subjected to, our parents or a friend leaving us to sit in a car while they just run in and finish a quick errand. This is really true to those of us who sat in cars that didn’t have air conditioning. The first car I can remember my parents having air conditioning in was a 2-60. Two windows down going 60 miles an hour. (and I lived out in the country so we never went 60mph, cause of gravel roads and dust, that would have you still coughing 30 minutes after the ride) While we were in the car beads of sweat start and soon after we would get out of the car because any breeze would be better than sitting in there for a second more.

You see dogs don’t have the luxury of those beads of sweat. They have to pant to cool down. Much like pigs who don’t sweat like us to cool our body temperature down. In addition to that it might be only 75 degrees outside but those cars heat up on the inside and even if you leave the window down it doesn’t provide them what they need to cool down.

I know that we love our pets and really it isn’t the fact people are doing this on purpose. It might be accidents. Some one you haven’t seen for a really long time catches you on that short stop at the post office, which the conversation last a half an hour. Or maybe your child’s coach sees you on your trip in to grab a quick cup of coffee. Those short conversations mean that the temperature in that car is increasing.  Below you will find a chart that list the elapsed time vs. temperature.

As you can see even on days when we think it would be comfortable to be on a ride. Once those doors close and the air movement stops, the temperature starts to grow quickly. So we suggest leaving your pet at home! Let them enjoy the air conditioning at home!   petincar_heat_poster_high (Thanks to AVMA for both the poster at the left and the chart in the post!)

Sharing is caring!