Officer Zachary Miller left K9 Nyx in his patrol car for more than six hours parked outside the police department, even though police dogs are allowed inside the station. The outside temperature had gone from 53 (when the car was parked) to 86 degrees. Nyx died.
As you know, people sometimes take their dogs along on errands and then leave them in the car. But as the news repots show, this practice can turn deadly in a matter of minutes! The sun’s rays shining on a parked car (even in the shade) can quickly make it much hotter inside the car then it is on the outside. On a summer’s day of 85°F (30°C) , for example, even keeping the windows slightly open won’t stop the inside temperature from climbing to 102 degrees in 10 minutes, and to 120 degrees in 20 minutes. A dog whose body temperature rises to 107 degrees will, within a very short time, suffer irreparable brain damage — or even death. But a matter of minutes is also all that’s needed to stop these tragedies. Just take a “few minutes” to hand someone a hot car flyer or a few more minutes to talk to a business about posting a sign in their window or parking lot. There’s so much you can do to help keep dogs cool… read on.