What you need to know
According to a news release, dogs can overheat outdoors because they cool their bodies through panting.
Animal Care Services on Aug. 6 offered the following summer safety tips for pet owners, especially if a pet must be kept outside:
- Bring pets indoors on heat advisory days. Having a crate in the laundry area or in the bathroom can provide a cool, secure place for a pet that usually lives outside.
- Fresh water and shady shelter should always be available, as it is against local law not to have either essential for an outdoor pet. Chain tethers of any type are not allowed at any time of the year.
- Do not let a pet stay inside a locked vehicle with no protection from the elements for any length of time. The release states it only takes 10 minutes for a car interior to reach 102 degrees Fahrenheit on an average 85-degree day; in 30 minutes, that temperature can reach 120 degrees or more.
- Anyone who sees a pet locked in a hot vehicle should act immediately by taking down the vehicle’s description, including a license plate number, and have a nearby business or organization page the responsible motorist. If that fails, the person should call San Antonio Animal Care Services at 210-207-4738 or the San Antonio Police Department at 911. Per city ordinance, both animal care officers and the police have the right to break a vehicle’s window if an animal is endangered inside.
- Do not let dogs ride unsecured in the back of trucks, as it is illegal and unsafe as these pets face the same heat stroke risk as those locked in vehicles in addition to the risk of burned paws or accidental falls.
According to the release, heat stress symptoms include excessive thirst, heavy panting, glazed eyes, vomiting, restlessness, lethargy, fever, dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, profuse drooling or salivating, and unconsciousness.
Anyone seeing an animal showing signs of heat stress should gradually lower their body temperature, and quickly get them to a veterinarian, animal care services officials said.
