Life or Death Inside a Car - Car Temperature Pet Safety Chart
Dogs love to ride in cars, love to look out the window, bark at passersby (at least Angelo does)but most of us don't realize how hot it can get in a sitting car. And what do you do with them when you have errands to run on a hot summer day? The answer is leave them at home. To demonstrate that we have a Car Temperature Pet Safety Chart below.
It may seem OK on a hot day to take your dog on errands, taking them with you in the store. If you have one errand to one store where you can bring your dog, it's OK. For those days, I use a Shopping Cart Liner for my tiny dogs so they can sit in the cart basket and be clean and safe.
If you have only one stop and your dog likes to be carried, try our Cross Body Carrier to take them on that one errand.
But, if you have multiple errands, getting in and out of a hot car is tough on a dog. They don’t have good air conditioning systems. They don’t sweat and panting is inefficient. So repeatedly getting back in a hot car is very bad for them.
Worse yet is leaving them in a car when you run into a store. Even for a few minutes. The Palm Springs Animal Shelter did the math for me and created a Car Temperature Pet Safety Chart. Here’s what it's like inside your car on a hot day, even with a windows open.
Outside Temperature Temperature Inside Car
75 degrees 118 degrees
77 degrees 123 degrees
81 degrees 138 degrees
90 degrees 143 degrees
94 degrees 145 degrees
They stopped their calculations at 94 degrees but it has been a lot hotter than that in many places already this summer. And here in Palm Springs, CA its hotter than that almost all summer. But this certainly gives you the idea of how bad it will be in the car.
Let's stay safe out there this summer! Never leave your dog in the car.
To learn more about the Palm Springs Animal Shelter, check their website: https://psanimalshelter.org
