Image Credit: UNSPLASH/ Tadeusz Lakota
July 30, 2020 - 7:00 AM
Every year, the BC SPCA gets around 1,000 calls to help pets who have been left inside a vehicle on a hot day. Now, they’ve started an online pledge to help spread awareness and prevent it from happening to any more animals.
“We know that people love their pets and would never knowingly put them in danger, but many pet guardians are just unaware of how quickly their pets can suffer when left in a vehicle in warm weather,” says Lorie Chortyk, general manager of communications for the BC SPCA in a media release.
“Even parked in the shade, with windows cracked open, the temperatures inside a vehicle can become deadly.”
This month, the organization is urging people to take the No Hot Pets pledge and encourage supporters to share the pledge on social media.
“The death of a pet left in a hot car is a completely preventable tragedy, and by taking the BC SPCA pledge people can help us raise awareness and save lives,” says Chortyk in the release.
In the release, Chortyk notes that dogs can’t sweat as humans do and therefore do not release heat from their bodies as quickly, which can quickly lead to heatstroke and heat exhaustion. Some signs of heatstroke include excessive panting, a fast or erratic pulse, salivating, an anxious or staring expression on their face, weakness, lack of coordination, vomiting, convulsions and collapse.
“Some dogs, including senior pets and those with flatter faces, experience even more challenges in hot weather,” Chortyk says in the release.
If you see an animal in a vehicle on a hot day, there are a few things you can do to help. If you notice it is in distress, call animal control, police or the BC SPCA at 1-855-622-7722. You can also take the license plate number and a description of the vehicle to nearby businesses so they can page the owner.
The BC SPCA release reminds people to not break a window to help an animal in distress. Doing so could harm the animal, and only police and BC SPCA constables have the authority to do so.
Click here to sign the pledge.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2020