ASK THE VET

THIS time of year always carries a massive advertising campaign on behalf of numerous animal welfare charities advising people that ‘dogs die in hot cars’.

I was surprised to be challenged on this fact by a client recently who did not believe that 10 minutes was long enough to cause a fatal increase in their dogs temperature. I decided to do some research to establish the facts. A study has shown that cars can act like an oven on a sunny day, with an average increase in temperature of 1 o C per minute within a car in the shade.

The upper lethal body temperature of a dog has been established at 42 o C. This is the rectal temperature of a dog at which tissue damage is likely to occur, which will be lethal to 50% of dogs exposed.

If the inside of your car is approaching 42 o C and there is no method of your dog cooling down it can rapidly lead to a fatal situation. If your car is reasonably hot when you leave it at 32 o C, your dog could quite easily die in 10 minutes.

The study showed increases in temperature of cars in the shade.

A car parked in direct sunlight is likely to heat up to fatal levels even quicker.

Based on these figures, a car at room temperature when you leave it in the shade can reach fatal temperatures within 20 minutes.

If you see a dog in a hot car, contact the police as a matter of urgency and take pictures or videos of the dog. In an emergency situation you may have a lawful excuse to break into the car to rescue a dog if you believe that the owner of the car that you damage would consent to the damage if they knew the circumstances.