This morning it is -10 degrees F outside but my car feels cozy and warm (well tolerable at least). Why? The sun is shining bright today and the interior car temp is pleasantly comfortable for the middle of winter. Even on the coldest of days cars warm up quickly. You can imagine what it must be like for a dog sitting in a parked car during the summer time when temps top 90 degrees plus.
You see dogs can’t sweat like humans do. They have to pant to regulate body temperature. when stuck inside a car with hot temps rising and no air circulation they can get heat stroke fairly quickly. It doesn’t matter if you leave the windows cracked either.
A woman in New Mexico must not have been aware of this until an upset police officer taught her a valuable lesson.
Heat stroke may seem like no big deal if you haven’t experienced it but to dogs a change of only a few degrees to their normal body temp can quickly result in organ dysfunction, coma, permanent brain damage or even death.
I’m sure this woman would act much differently if she truly knew the dangers of leaving pets in cars on a hot day. In the video she laughs when confronted about leaving her dog in a hot car while running a quick errand.
Even when the officer pulls out a chart showing her after only 10 minutes with outside temps in the 90s the interior can easily reach 114 degrees. She laughs it off saying she understands. But does she really?
The officer has the perfect way to show the woman how serious he is while he writes her a ticket.
