‘Leave Anything Behind?’ Washington Prime Group Posts Hot Car Warning Signs

Real Estate Investment Trust Company Nabs Vegan Chocolates From PETA for Posters—and E-Mails—Alerting People That Hot Cars Can Be Fatal

For Immediate Release:
July 30, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA that dozens of dogs and children die every year inside sweltering vehicles, Columbus-based real estate company Washington Prime Group has taken action. The company posted warning signs on more than 60 properties reminding people never to leave anyone behind in a hot car and is also sharing the lifesaving message with its 750,000 customer e-mail recipients. Already this summer, at least 29 children and 39 dogs have died inside hot cars, and those are just the reported deaths.

“The yearly death toll of dogs and children who succumb to heatstroke inside locked cars is both tragic and utterly preventable,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is recognizing Washington Prime Group for potentially saving lives this summer with its urgent reminders that high temperatures can be deadly.”

On a relatively mild 78-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can quickly soar to up to 100 degrees. When children are left inside, their body temperature can increase three to five times faster than an adult’s, and because dogs cool themselves only by sweating through their paw pads and panting, they can suffer from heatstroke in mere minutes.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—advises anyone who sees a child or a dog inside a parked car to take down the vehicle’s color, make, model, and license plate number and call local humane authorities or the police. Don’t leave until the individual is safe—and if the situation becomes dire, do whatever it takes to save the child or animal. PETA offers an emergency window-breaking hammer, available here, to help equip people to jump into action if need be.

Washington Prime Group joins several real estate companies—including CBL & Associates Properties, Simon Property Group, GGP, and Macerich—that have posted warning signs about the dangers of hot cars.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.