Nationwide Crisis as Dogs Are Left in Hot Cars—PETA Provides Urgent Tips in Hibbing

For Immediate Release:
August 12, 2021

Contact:
Tapi Mbundure 202-483-7382 

A 3-year-old has died after he and his twin brother were hospitalized after they were found unresponsive and in distress from the extreme heat inside a locked vehicle in Hibbing, and similar reports about dogs being left in hot cars nationwide are rolling in at an out-of-control rate—and for some dogs, including a K-9 who recently died after being left behind in a patrol car, help comes too late. Already this year, 28 dogs have been reported dead from heat-related causes. (Figures are far likely higher, as most heat-related companion animal deaths go unreported.)

This week’s high temperatures put dogs at a high risk of enduring heat prostration and dying, so PETA is issuing an urgent warning to anyone with a dog: Never leave them inside vehicles, and please be sure to do the following:

• Touch the pavement before walks to ensure that it won’t burn dogs’ foot pads.
• Be alert to a long, curled-up tongue and heavy panting, as dogs cannot sweat as humans can and heat builds up inside their bodies.
• Walk only in the shade or on earth or grass, and neverleave animals alone (On Memorial Day weekend, PETA fieldworkers discovered the body of a dog who had died after being left chained up in the hot sun.)

PETA thanks Hibbing police and other rescuers for taking action and urges everyone to support the Hot Cars Act of 2021, which would require automakers to install technology in vehicles to detect the presence of an animal or a child and alert drivers when someone is in the backseat.

Anyone who leaves animals in hot cars or outside to suffer in severe weather may be prosecuted for cruelty.