Country music sensation Laura Bell Bundy braved the Nashville heat today to record PETA's latest "Hot Dog" TV spot. The public service announcement won't be released until next summer, but for now, you can check out the photos that we grabbed of Laura at the shoot.

Written by Shawna Flavell

111 Emergency / CC by 2.0

All K-9 officers have an inherently dangerous job, but when you're a canine K-9 officer, being cooked to death shouldn't be among the perils you face. Yet dogs—including police dogs—die every year after being left alone in cars on scorching summer days. An officer may enter a building to interview a complainant or to respond to an emergency call. The officer leaves the car running with the air conditioning on full blast, but in some instances the engine dies—and because the department has failed to fit the car with a warning device or auxiliary system, so does the dog. Already this summer, police dogs in Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama as well as a U.S. Customs drug-sniffing dog in Texas have suffered prolonged, panic-stricken deaths in patrol cars while their human partners stepped away.

PETA wants to prevent more deaths, so we've sent law enforcement agencies across the U.S. urgent information about heat monitoring and warning systems. Ideally, of course, dogs would never be left unattended in vehicles. But if police work should leave an officer with no other choice, these devices can save a dog's life—by sounding an alarm, paging the officer, starting the car's engine, rolling down a window, or popping open a door when the temperature inside the car begins to reach dangerous levels.

You, too, can help prevent animal 9-1-1s by ordering PETA's free "Too Hot for Spot" action kit. And remember, if you do see a dog who's been left in a hot car, take action: Call local police or humane authorities right away. While you're at it, ask your local police department to post an advisory to all K-9 officers.

Written by Paula Moore

theus50 / CC

One hot, humid afternoon in July, I was apartment hunting and checking out an old factory in Brooklyn that was undergoing renovation for loft rentals. As I entered the bathroom in one unlit, unfinished space, two pigeons flapped frantically in the darkness—apparently they were as startled by my presence as I was by theirs. The birds had found a way into the building but were unable to get out because the windows had been boarded up.

After tearing a board off a window, I managed to catch and release each of the frightened birds. Both of them paused on the scaffolding outside to allow their eyes to adjust to the bright sunshine and to take in fresh air before flying off into the distance. If I hadn't helped them out of that stifling, sawdust-filled space, they surely would have succumbed to the searing heat, as well as hunger and thirst.

Around that same time, a similar situation was unfolding in a small, rural town in Kansas. A distraught resident called PETA to report that countless birds were roasting to death in a dilapidated building that the city had recently boarded up. With summer temperatures climbing, we immediately contacted city officials and urged them to take action for the birds, but the person we spoke with told us that the city had bigger problems to deal with. Um, wrong answer.

We raced to place an action alert on our Web site, and we fired off a letter to city commissioners. Realizing that PETA and our caring members weren't going to back down, city officials acted. Less than 24 hours after our initial contact, the fire and police departments were sent to rescue the surviving birds. They provided them with water and tore holes in the roof to create escape routes and ventilation.

By not turning a blind eye to animal suffering, and by making a call to PETA, one "little bird" prompted the rescue of countless others from certain death.

Written by Karin Bennett

There's a story that's getting a lot of play in Canada right now about a humane society inspector named Tre Smith who has been suspended following what, based on all the facts I've been able to put together on this one, was nothing less than a heroic effort to save a dog's life in extreme circumstances.

Apparently, Smith responded to a call about a Rottweiler named Cyrus who was locked in an overheated car. Given that animals locked inside cars in the summer can die of heatstroke within 15 minutes, even on a relatively mild day, this was obviously a serious situation, and Cyrus was evidently slumped over and foaming at the mouth by the time the humane officer arrived. Smith reports that he smashed the car window to pull Cyrus out, and handcuffed the owner to the car so that he could rush the animal to the hospital rather than waiting for the police to arrive. He later told reporters:

The story gets a bit murky after that—apparently, the dog owner's neighbors were so enraged by his actions that someone took a swing at him, and the cops arrived to find the dude handcuffed to a car with his face bleeding. Which, well, nobody likes getting sucker punched, but nobody likes it when people leave their dogs to die either.

Based on everything I've heard so far, it sounds like Smith should be given a medal rather than being suspended. You can read more about the story here, and you can click here for some more info about why you should absolutely never, under any circumstances or for any amount of time, leave your dog alone in a parked car. Also, here's a picture of some happy dogs cooling off in a paddling pool.