Well folks, summer has "finally" arrived for those of us that wait all year for these hot, humid days.
The expression "dog days of summer" has a bit of a different meaning for us in emergency medicine. Before reading this blog, this is your official warning, it is a "soap box" blog.
On Saturday after going to the local farmers market and running a few errands, I spotted a car in the parking lot which had a dog in it. It was 77 degrees at 10 am. The windows literally were only cracked an inch at best. The dog in the car was 70 plus pounds. A bit overweight for the breed he appeared to be. My 10 year old son was the one who noticed him and how heavily he was panting and that his colored "did not look right". The dog was clearly uncomfortable and jumping back and forth from the front to the back seat trying to find some shade.
I took a picture of the license plate and went into the store asking them to make an announcement that the dog locked in this car was showing signs of distress. Which they did. I walked back out waiting for the owner to come out, they did not. The next and only other way I could think to do to help was to call the police. I gave the license plate number and a description of where the car was parked. I then decided to leave. Why? Like I said, I had my son with me and I had nothing good to say about the owner of that car and at that time with my emotions running high, did not trust myself as to what my reaction would be if the owner had come out. I can assure you that I would not have acted out physically, however there would have been a stern, one sided conversation if you will. I figured it was better to leave this to the police. I had also found out that someone else had already called the police and they were on their way.
I started thinking of what I would say to those people who continue to insist on taking their dogs with them everywhere they go during the summer months and then recalled that someone beat me to it. Dr. Ernest Ward from North Carolina made a great video documenting how quickly the temperature rises inside a car.
http://www.samaritanmag.com/1589/veterinarian-locks-self-hot-car-pet-experiment
http://www.seasidevet.com
I just do not understand WHY anyone would think it is "ok" to leave a dog in the car for "just 5 minutes". It just is NOT. It is irresponsible and selfish if you think your dog needs to be with you every second of the day that they just can not bear to be without you while you run to the store.
Heat stroke is completely avoidable. There is just no reason that a dog needs to suffer or die from it.
Here is a list of heat stroke symptoms:
http://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/common-emergencies/e_dg_heat_stroke#.UeRBZxbZWJU
Thank you to whomever posted this sign !
Here are some fun ideas of how to beat the heat and keep your K9 friends cool this summer:
I will now step off my soap box with one final plea... we live in a state where although it feels like we have two seasons, construction and winter, we have 4. Spring, summer, fall, and winter. All can be wonderful and we can enjoy them with our furry family members but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let's be safe !
