Heat, Cars, and Dogs: A Fatal Mixture

Depending on where you live, the end of summer won’t necessarily mean the end of hot, humid days. That’s why a reminder about dogs and cars is worth mentioning now.

You might have seen the story about the San Diego police officer who left his K-9 police dog in a closed car on a June day when temperatures reached 100 degrees. The dog, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois named Forrest, died of heatstroke while the officer was inside his home.

The San Diego district attorney’s office charged the officer with a misdemeanor under a California law that makes it a crime to leave a dog in a closed car on a hot day. The cop faced a six-month jail sentence.

The message should be clear to all dog owners: Dogs, cars and heat are a toxic mix. It’s never wise to park and leave your dog with the windows rolled up. I admit my own guilt on occasion, but I have always found a spot under a shade tree and left the windows half open so my Golden Retriever doesn’t become over-heated. And my stops have always been brief – never more than a few minutes to mail a letter or stop at an ATM.

But I’m even second-guessing myself now, especially after reading about the police dog. Newspaper reports say the officer was distraught over his loss; he recently pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of animal endangerment and is no longer allowed to work with canine units. He also must pay half the cost of replacing the dog, which was valued at $8,000, and has promised to help raise money to reimburse the police department for the purchase of heat alarms to be used in canine patrol cars.

But the dog is gone forever, and that’s a sad ending to the story.