Six Minutes.

Six minutes in 80-degree weather. Six minutes of frantic, heart-pounding, relief-seeking, agonizing, organ-failing misery. Six minutes is all it takes for your loved dog to die in a hot car. Even with the windows cracked and being parked in the shade. Even window tinting has not been shown to slow the temperature in your car significantly enough to save your dog’s life. Large dogs have been found wedged under the seat, trying to find relief from the relentless heat that builds up in your car. Even on mild days, which are frequent in the Pacific Northwest, the temperature inside your car can rapidly double. At 71.6°F outside, the car can easily reach more than 116.6°F inside within an hour.

Heat stroke in a dog can present itself as excessive panting, drooling, and being restless. They may vomit, have diarrhea and suffer seizures. 50% of dogs do not survive heat stroke. Those that do, may never be the same. They may suffer personality changes, organ weakness, and overall ill health. Some types of dogs fare better than others. All dogs are at risk though.

In the state of Washington, only a Police Officer can break into a car to remove a hot animal without civil recourse. Have you ever called 911 to report a dog left in a car that is clearly in distress? I have. We waited in misery, watching the dog pant and pace back and forth on the seat and jump down to the floor, trying desperately to find a cooler spot. Howling, barking, and whimpering while we poured water through the cracked windows to try to help cool the dog while he licked the water running down the inside of the window. We waited for 15 minutes prior to calling 911, just to see if the owner was just inside a store for a minute. We waited another 30 for the officers to show up. They waited even longer before breaking the window. When the owner came out, claiming to have only been gone for a few minutes, they were angry that their window had been broken. They were sure that their dog was fine. It wasn’t. It was rushed to the vet after we dumped water on a blanket from my car to prevent him from cooling too fast. The owner was incensed that they were being accused of negligence and animal cruelty for just running into the store “for a minute.”

Next time you “run” into the store for a “minute”, check your time. That minute is really more like 15 to 30 depending on the other people that you encounter. You may know exactly what you need and where it is, but you may end up standing in line at checkout for far longer than you realize. Check your time and see what “just a minute” really means. Does it mean that your dog will die or suffer horribly? No, maybe not this time. But know that there is always a chance.

We all love to take our dogs on adventures with us. We know the dangers of leaving dogs in hot cars. We scoff and tsk-tsk at news stories of dogs dying, thinking in outrage “How could they?” But in reality, it is fairly easy. You decide to take the dog for a hike, or a trip to the beach and on the way realize you need to stop at the store to grab sunscreen since yours expired 5 years ago. Or you decide that you should run into the store to grab munchies since this trip was impromptu. It will only take a minute and you have the AC blasting. Guess what, no one intends to take very long. No one intends to cause harm to their dog, it just happens. The AC-cooled air only lasts for a minute, then the timer begins. The oven is turned on, and you are risking the life of your companion. Just a minute turns into longer through no fault of your own. Six minutes for your dog’s body to start shutting down. Panting. Drooling. Whimpering.

Six minutes on an 85° day.

If your dog is riding in the back of the truck, remember that his foot pads will burn on the hot truck bed or bed liner. Be sure to provide a better surface and shade for your dog. The wind while moving may seem cool, but does nothing to cool down the truck bed.

Love your dog.

Author: Jarin S