Hot cars no place for pets

THE RSPCA is rescuing at least one pet from a locked car every two days on the Gold Coast, with some owners even leaving their pets behind when they visit the theme parks.

Spokesman Michael Beatty said the RSPCA had rescued 51 pets from hot cars in the past three months, which he described as “ridiculous.”

He said jobs included removing animals from cars parked outside Sea World, Movie World and Dreamworld. “People have tried to put the car under the shade, but they still don’t realise how dangerous it is,” he said.

Mr Beatty said one dog had recently died from being trapped inside a car, while another six died from heat stress after being left in the backyard.

“People think if you’ve left the window down a little bit it’s okay,” he said. “Even if you leave for just 10 minutes, the temperature can rise dramatically.”

RACQ head of technical and safety policy Steve Spalding said the peak motoring body had also been called out to rescue pets locked in cars 101 times on the Coast last year.

“A car will go from 30C to 40C in around seven minutes,” Mr Spalding said. “The medical people will tell you that 40C is the critical point.”

Mr Beatty said pets had died of heat stress when tethered in backyards because their rope became tangled, meaning they couldn’t reach shade and water.

He said they also saw dogs travelling on the back of utes without a protective covering for their paws. “There are some idiots who don’t put down floor covering and the dog’s paws are totally scalded on the hot metal,” he said.