Most folks consider their pets to be equal members of the family; we care for them, ensure that they’re always satisfied and worry our heads off when they’re sick or in distress.
If you’re a dog owner, you already know how awesome it is to have such an energy ball around you. They fill your life with endless love and entertainment; you’ll never get bored – and the way they greet you, whether you’ve popped out to the nearest shop or have been away for weeks, is very soul-stirring.
However, having a furry friend also comes with a ton of responsibilities – especially during summertime. Heatstroke, for instance, is an extremely dangerous condition, yet a fair share of owners still fail to provide a comfortable environment for their pets.
The RSPCA, or the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare, and they’ve recently turned to their official TikTok account to show what dogs go through when trapped inside a hot car.
More info: TikTok
Every pet owner must take extreme caution during summertime
Image credits: Robert Howie (not the actual photo)
“If you see a dog in distress inside a hot car, call 999 immediately” – The RSPCA recently uploaded a video to their official TikTok account showing what dogs go through when ditched inside hot cars. It got over 75K likes, as well as heaps of comments showing respect to the officer for bringing awareness to such a heartbreaking matter.
This RSPCA officer trapped himself in a car to show how dogs suffer on hot days
Image credits: rspca_official
The officer started off the video by revealing that he was going to show just how bad it is to be locked in a car during hot weather. At the beginning of the experiment, the temperature inside the car was a little bit over 23°C (or 73 Fahrenheit), and the man said that he was going to be making an update every couple of minutes.
Image credits: rspca_official
On the 5th minute, the man came back with an update, saying that he tried to make a three-minute-long video; however, the camera experienced some complications due to it being too hot.
The people involved had to move it to get it to work again, and since the start of the video, the temperature had flown up to over 95°F.
Officer’s next update was at the 10-minute mark. He said that he’d started to feel his heartbeat and that his breathing was heavier.
Image credits: rspca_official
The man said that the temperature continued to skyrocket and reached a whopping 110°F. Later, when the timer passed 15 minutes, the car began to feel like an oven, and the RSPCA officer was bright red and dripping with sweat.
Image credits: rspca_official
When it hit the 17-minute mark, the temperature soared past 122°F.
The officer then went on to say that this short period of time isn’t even as long as a shopping trip for some – so he hopes that this was an eye-opener for pet owners who think that their dogs are able to withstand this sort of environment.
Image credits: rspca_official
Bored Panda contacted the RSPCA, and a representative, Suzanne Norbury, agreed to answer a couple of questions:
We asked what a passerby should do if they see a dog trapped in a hot car, to which the woman replied: “When reporting incidents relating to specific dogs being left in hot cars, we always urge people to dial 999 and ask for the police, as they can often attend much more quickly than ourselves. Additionally, police officers also have the power to enter a vehicle to remove an animal from danger.”
Image credits: rspca_official
The woman then added: “If the situation becomes critical for the dog and the police are too far away or unable to attend, many people’s instinct will be to break into the car to free the dog. It’s only natural for animal lovers to take action when they see a dog in distress in a hot car.”
“We urge people to tell the police what they intend to do, why, and to take images/footage of the dog and the names and numbers of witnesses to the incident, in case they need to defend their actions later.”
BP also wondered if there’re any official heat-related car death statistics, and Suzanne said: “I’m afraid we don’t have numbers for how many dogs have died in hot cars. As a charity, we only hear about a percentage of the incidents with dogs in hot cars because of people calling the police in the first instance, but each year we do sadly hear of dogs that have died as a result.”
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTok users shared their thoughts
