August 17th, 2009
|
The dog days of summer are upon us. When the weather heats up, so do the efforts to keep America’s dogs out of parked cars. Every year, beloved family dogs die waiting in sweltering parked cars for their people to return. And it’s no wonder. The inside of a car heats up very quickly and even more stunning is this result: a cracked car window barely slows the temperature rise at all.
There’s something we all can do to help pup passengers everywhere. Share the free resources from www.MyDogIsCool.com. See how outside temperatures compare with the inside temperatures of an automobile in varying temperature and download “Don’t Leave Me in Here, It’s Hot! Fliers” to have on hand if you spot a doggie in a parked car. Woof Report is a free weekday email newsletter with pup-perfect dog care tips, news, products & more! Sign up at www.woofreport.com or become a Facebook Fan. |
Don’t just leave some damn flyer – call 911 and animal control, and stay there till they come…. take pictures of the car and dog and send them to law enforcement.
Barry – bravo! That is exactly correct. Call 911. Have an animal welfare check. That is the safest route for all involved.
I’d just like to add that if more stores would be ‘pet friendly’ there would be less chance of this happening. I have my 5# Mi-Ki in his carrier, and people think it is a purse. We go in stores, and no one knows he is there, since I have taught him that in the carrier, he is not to bark. Occasionally, he will bark and people get a surprised look on their face, but no one has kicked me out of their store. In this economy, they had better not turn me (and my $$) away. I can always find somewhere else to spend it!!
Hell NO,
I’m not leaving a freakin flier, I’m beaking an window, rescuing the animal and calling the police!!
A “flier”, ARE YOU CRAZY???
I’M SURE THE DOG WOULD APPRECIATE A NOTE ON THE WIND0OW WHILE IT’S DYING!!!!!
Hi all – the point of the dog tip was to raise awareness of the dangers of leaving dogs in parked cars. The site referenced http://www.mydogiscool.com is very useful in learning just how hot parked cars get, regardless if the windows are cracked and even in cooler temperatures.
The flyers presumably are to be used if a person sees a dog left in car in general (because one can assume the owner is not aware of the risk). The flyers are certainly not to be used for a dog left in a hot car or in distress – that goes entirely without saying – any conscientious dog parent knows that and what steps to take in an emergency.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the week’s tips!
I had lost my previous dog Kizzy to cancer and thought I could never do it again, but getting on the internet, I found the Boxer Rescue. I started to read the stories of these beautiful dogs and decided to call. Once they did the background checks and the house visits, they decided I could get a boxer. I had it planned to get a boy, pick him up that weekend and everything was good, but it didn’t turn out like that. I received a call from the head of the boxer rescue, asking me if I would consider taking a “white female boxer.” I told her no, I wanted the male, but an hour later, she called again to say, “This girl is in dire need of a home, the foster home she is in, the two other dogs are biting her and taking her food, she needs you.” Well, she broke me down, I was so sad for her, I said ok. That weekend I drove to Downingtown, and first saw my Beautiful Clara Bella. Her name was Clara, but I didn’t think that was right for her. She was beautiful, at least to me. She got in the car, and she sat against the back seat the entire way. She laid her head against the seat and just sat there so quiet and so sweet. I loved her, from the moment I saw her, I loved her and I think she loved me.
She fit into my home perfectly. She loved paper, so anything I had laying around, I needed to move, as she would grab it, run with it and by the time you got it back, it was wet, soggy, tore up and/or eaten. Clara Bella loved everyone, and she thought that everyone should love her. She was a big girl, a little lazy, but she deserved to be spoiled and anything she wanted I gave her. Her favorite place was her love seat, each morning, when I left for work, she would be laying there, with her little head on the pillow and when I got home at night, I looked straight into the living room, and there she was, her little head laying right on the pillow. She was my angel.
Clara Bella had some very unique things that she could do. She could actually sound like a car engine, and could say Mama. While I ate, of course she would stand there and look at me. I would say to her “make your sound” and the sound she would make, she would do it over and over and over, each time, getting a little more of my food. She knew how to get food, and how to get attention. Oh, how I miss that sound.
She loved riding in the car, she would put her face against the window and everyone driving by would look over and smile and wave. She always drew attention to herself, (she was beautiful) and she was unique, and that’s why people loved her.
Clara Bella was in very good health, but one day in cleaning up the yard, I thought that there were worms in the poo. I immediately took the sample to the vet, who said, “she has a MILD case of worms” and put her on Drontal Plus, four 60 mg. tablets, which were way more than what she should have had. Of course I didn’t know that and by 5 p.m., she was projectile vomiting. I immediately called the emergency vet, who told me, “it’s fine, she must have a sensitive stomach.” I was so scared, and asked over and over what could be happening. I found out too late, the pills had eaten through her stomach and the bile from her stomach was coming up through her esophagus. The next day back to the vet, however, he didn’t question the pills he had given her, he took her temperature (normal), took blood (normal), took x-rays and came back telling me she had fluid around her lung, had severe arthritis, had ear infection, and started her on more pills, Previcox, Bactrim, Lasix. These pills, they hurt her so much, she vomited so bad, so much, so hard, that after a week, she couldn’t stand, she couldn’t walk, but still the vet said, “oh, take her off Bactrim” that could be causing the vomiting. Each time I called the vet about the vomiting and the smell of bile, they said, “oh, that’s normal, it’s ok.” Well, it wasn’t ok. That Saturday night, she vomited so much, that she fell down, and I couldn’t get her up. I called the neighbor crying and we lifted her into the car, and to an emergency vet, where she received iv fluids, shot for pain, shot to coat her stomach, shot of antibiotics. She was so sick, and so dehydrated, but home she came, and the next day, she seemed a little better. But, the damage had already been done, the pills had hurt her so badly, that nothing was going to help.
The next morning, I called the vet, who originally gave her these medications, and I cried, as I had spent nearly $1000 already and I didn’t have much more to spend. I told him Clara Bella didn’t want to get up, it was 10 a.m. and never in her life has she stayed in bed that long. I told him she had labored breathing and would not get up. He told me that I should keep giving her the Lasix, which I shouldn’t have done. She was dehydrated again, but I didn’t know it. I am stupid, I trusted him, and I gave her the lasix. I kept a syringe filled with cold water and squirted that in her mouth so that she could have a little fluid. Oh my poor Bella, her breathing was labored and I called the vet back again. He was cold and short with me, and said, well, you will have to write a check for her care, as we don’t do credit.
I somehow got her out of bed; it took all my strength, as she was 96 lbs. I got her down 17 steps and into the car. When I arrived, the two vet techs came out with a gurney and lifted her onto it. Her breathing was so bad, and she couldn’t stand. They took her back, x-rayed her, and that’s it. They told me that they thought she had lung cancer. Unbelievable, not my Clara Bella. The sad thing is, they knew my money was low, and they didn’t even treat her that day, they gave her no iv fluids, no shot for pain, nothing. I cried, I didn’t know what to do. I asked what the chances were for her to get well, and was told, “It will be costly, you will have to leave her here for a week on IV fluids, and then take her to an oncologist.” They felt she should be put down. I fell on my knees and I cried, I begged her to forgive me. I didn’t know what to do; I was all alone and had little money to help her. I begged her to please forgive me and know that I loved her with all of my heart. They put my Clara Bella down that day. It tore out my heart, and I felt like I would die right there with her.
I came home that day and I started to research the medicine, the side effects, (which I was never advised of). I then got her records and x-rays (which they were very hesitant about giving me) and two weeks later I took them to another vet. The spots on the x-rays, they weren’t lung cancer, they were fat pockets, the fluid the first vet said she had around her lungs, was not fluid, it was fat, and normal fluid. The lasix pills were dehydrating her, the Drontal and Previcox pills had eaten her stomach lining and she was aspirating into her esophagus. That was what happened to her, all because of the medicine.
No one checked her that day, or helped her, they didn’t want to do much for her, as the vet had already said that I needed to write a check and they would hold it for a week, so I guess they figured I didn’t have a lot so they would do as little as possible. My Clara Bella died for what? It’s been over a month, and I am still so heartbroken, I loved her more than life itself. My house is empty and quiet and I still talk to her. Hopefully, I can get justice for Clara Bella, justice so that the vet can not make another mistake and hurt another animal. It’s hard; I have my information, but no one to help me. I want no money, I want no law suit, and I want justice for Clara Bella. She was an angel, and she didn’t deserve to die.
Flyers, my a**! If I see a pet in a car whether the windows are rolled up or down(there is still the danger of a missing pet or accidental disengage of the transmission), I have no compunction about marching into any business establishment and having this situation announced over the their intercom. Many customer relations are happy to comply. I have done this several times and got an immediate and sorrowful response from the pet owner. Some are too embarrassed to say thank you, but that’s not important. If necessary, I have no problem smasing the window, getting the license number and calling the authorities.
The resonsibility for the protection and safety of pets belongs to all of us.