Hot car in cool temperature leaves one dog dead; tips on pet safety

A dog locked in a car died of heat exhaustion on Sunday in Palm Springs. Daniel Sumner with the Palm Springs Animal Shelter said even in cooler weather, animals aren’t safe in a locked car.

“We get direct sunlight even on cooler days. It can be very warm. Think of it like a solar oven, basically, in your car,” Sumner said.

Police say a dog left inside of a car for more than three hours in Palm Springs Sunday afternoon died of heat exhaustion on a 70 degree day. Police say the dog’s body temperature reached 104 degrees by the time police came in contact with the owner.

“The one witness that saw this… waited an hour to call the police. Unfortunately, waiting to see if they could locate the owner or someone else first even though he felt the dog was already ill or possibly deceased,” said Palm Springs Public Information Officer Sgt. William Hutchinson.

The owner, Brent White, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. Police are not releasing his photograph due to concern for his safety.

“If we had reacted quickly I think it would have been a lot safer,” Sumner said.

Under Assembly Bill 797, witnesses who find a dog in distress while locked in a car can call police and then take action.

“If you can say without a doubt, ‘Yes. This dog is in distress and if I don’t act now this dog is going to die, ‘you absolutely can as a civilian, as anybody who sees this, can break the window to the vehicle and [be] immune from civil liability,” Hutchinson said.

Sumner says pets should never be left alone in a vehicle.

“[There] can be as much as a 40- to 50-degree difference between what’s outside and inside. Especially out here because we have a lot of sunny days that may be chilly. But that sunniness warms up the car very quickly,” Sumner said.

Dog owners say they would take action if needed. But some said they wouldn’t know how.

“I would probably wait 20 minutes if the window was opened, you know, halfway. Otherwise, I would probably break the window right away,” Carol Nelson said.

“I would like to think maybe I could try and break the window by slamming it but I don’t know exactly how,” Ambika Castle said.

Police say having a rescue tool in your car can be handy but in a moment’s notice, people may have to improvise.

“Women, if you are wearing heels and the back of that heel is a solid metal piece you might be able to use that to hit the window and break it,” Hutchinson said.

Police say it’s important that people use caution when breaking a window for both their own and the pet’s safety. Also, if someone breaks a window to save an animal, they must stay at the scene until police arrive.

Sumner says leaving an animal in the car with the air conditioning on is not a safe alternative. He says the best solution is to consider leaving your pet at home if you are going to be away from the pet for an extended period of time.

More information on pet safety can be found here.