Humane Society warns about leaving pets in cars; 120 calls over last four weeks

Just because you leave your windows open or park in the shade on a warm day, the pet in your car can still be at risk.

That’s according to the Calgary Humane Society, which held some demonstrations Wednesday afternoon, showing just how hot a car can get even on a cloudy summer day.

In a span of 10 minutes, a vehicle with the windows down went from 22.3 degrees Celsius to 26, while another with the windows up went from 17.5 to 26.9 after the air conditioning stopped after two minutes.

In another vehicle parked in the shade with the windows up, it went from 18.6 to 28.5.

The Calgary Fire Dept. reports 120 calls of pets left in cars over the last four weeks alone, most of which were dogs.

CHS Senior Manager of Cruelty Investigations Brad Nichols said even though July and August are the busiest months, they start seeing the problem much earlier.

“We start responding to these things some years in April and into early October,” he said. “If you compile the numbers between us, CPS, CFD and Animal Services, you’re going to see a huge number.”

Nichols said the good news is the public is more cognizant of the issue, although it does happen too much.

“If you went looking for this kind of thing on a weekend just in a Safeway parking lot, you’re going to find it,” he said.

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