Urgent: Please Include Animals in Hot-Weather Coverage

For Immediate Release:
July 22, 2022

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Because life-threatening temperatures are being reported across the country—and veterinarians are warning that they’re seeing an increase in heat-related animal injuries—PETA is offering vital advice to help ensure the safety of animals, who can quickly succumb to heatstroke if left outdoors or in a parked car. Already this year, 29 dogs have reportedly died from heat-related causes. (The actual figure is likely far higher, as most heat-related companion animal deaths go unreported.)

PETA urges people to be on the lookout for dogs who are in need of assistance, including those who may be experiencing heatstroke symptoms, and advises everyone 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 can’t sweat as humans can and heat builds up inside their bodies.
• Walk only in the shade or on earth or grass, and never leave animals outdoors in extreme heat or inside vehicles. 

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

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, visit PETA.org.