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Pets and Closed Cars - Deadly Combination in Summer Heat Leaving your pet in the car for just a couple of minutes on a summer day could be a tragic mistake. Speaking of Pets
June 6, 2009 by Mindy Norton Would you put your dog in a hot oven?

That's the picture on a new poster available from United Animal Nations, an organization dedicated to protecting animals in danger.

The message of the poster is that leaving your dog in a closed car on a warm day is no different from putting it in a hot oven.

Like me, you may have opened the door of a car that's been sitting in the sun and been surprised at how much hotter it seems inside!

You quickly start the car, crank the air conditioner on high and roll the windows down to let some of the heat escape.

If it's that uncomfortable for you, imagine that you're a dog trapped in that closed car and you can appreciate the image of the dog in the oven on that poster.

Even with the windows slightly cracked, on a moderate 85-degree day the temperature in a car can climb over a hundred degrees in just a few minutes.

In less than thirty minutes it can top 120 degrees. A dog's normal body temperature is around 101 to 102.5.

Once an animal's body temperature gets over 106 degrees, very quickly its systems begin to malfunction, causing liver damage, brain damage, even kidney and heart failure, and death.

And because a dog's primary cooling mechanism is panting, there is no relief to be found in the super-heated air inside a closed car.

To help educate pet owners about this problem, United Animal Nations has created a website called My Dog Is Cool.com, where you will find tips on how to keep your pet comfortable and safe this summer.

You can read about the symptoms and treatment for animals suffering from heat stroke.

There are several items available for download, including the poster that says, "A Hot Oven or a Hot Car – It's the Same Thing".

There is a printable flyer to distribute warning others not to put their pets at risk by leaving them in the car, even for a few minutes.

Who knows? By helping to spread the word about the danger of leaving a dog (or cat) in a closed car on a hot day, you may be a real life saver this summer, when you're speaking of pets.