ANIMAL welfare workers have reported a 65 per cent increase in calls since 2014 from concerned members of the public reporting dogs left locked in cars.
The Scottish SPCA said it was “a common misconception” that Scotland doesn’t get warm enough to cause a dog distress when left alone in a car in the summer.
The charity’s chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “We are seeing an increased number of calls to our helpline proving that the public are also concerned about this issue.
“It also means that there is more for us to do to prevent it. Leaving a dog in a car can cause the animal great distress, and in some cases, lead to death.
“Studies have shown leaving the windows open only keeps the car cooler by around two degrees, which isn’t a significant amount when you consider that dogs are unable to sweat and therefore have no way to cool themselves down.
“Many people don’t realise that that even on warm, cloudy days, vehicles can effectively turn into ovens and dogs can overheat in minutes.
“Recent research showed that whilst 80 per cent of people wouldn’t risk leaving their dog alone in their car on a warm day, 20 per cent would feel comfortable leaving their dog for 10 minutes or more.
“Our message? Dogs die in hot cars. Don’t risk it. Leave your dog at home with plenty of water and the ability to keep cool.”
The Scottish SPCA has produced an advert on the dangers which can be seen on YouTube.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here