Toronto Area Urges Public Not To Leave Pets In Parked Cars

The Greater Toronto area is experiencing hot temperatures, which also means the heat can get pretty nasty in parked cars. CBC News reported Sunday afternoon that Barrie police have already received calls about dogs that are left inside parked cars.

The police are urging the public not to leave pets inside parked cars during hot days. It doesn’t matter if windows are intentionally left slightly open to allow air circulation; police said that doing so will not lower down temperatures inside the vehicle.

The Environment Canada website announced that Barrie had reached a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius by early afternoon of Sunday. CBC also reports that the weather agency recorded 23 degrees in Toronto that day.

Leaving pets in parked cars is old news and have caused hundreds of dogs to die from heat stroke every year, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. In the U.S., 16 states including Arizona, California, Illinois, and New Jersey have statutes that strictly prohibit leaving animals inside cars.

The Michigan State University provides a table of state laws for the 16 states. Most state laws highlight that the violation of law means leaving an animal unattended in a stationary vehicle. Moreover, the laws state that a person is violating the law if the conditions the animal is in will endanger its life.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Humane Society, or OHS, also reports receiving hundreds of calls each year about dogs left in cars on summer days. A parked car can easily become a furnace when temperatures rise, placing the animal in danger and making owners face criminal charges.

OHS said that if the weather agency issues a heat advisory, it does not only apply to dogs but other animals as well. Even during mild days, the temperature inside stationary vehicles can become deadly in a short period of time.

Panting, a dog’s way to cool down itself, does not work when left inside a car. The dog can only endure a body heat of 40 degrees Celsius for only a couple of minutes before its brain is damaged from heat stroke.

Most people think that it is fun to tag a dog along when running errands, but pets do not belong in parked cars. OHS reminds pet owners that if the weather is hot, it is smart to keep pets at home where fresh water and shade is readily available.

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