“Every year our Inspectors are called to incidents where dogs have died or are near death because of the heat,” said RSPCA Qld spokesperson Michael Beatty. “In this case both dogs were tethered and it appears they became entangled. A dog can survive for days without food, but in these temperatures, if they don’t have shade or can’t reach water they’ll die. We’ve seen cases where a rope or a chain has become entangled in furniture or plants and that can be fatal. It’s far better to make the yard or courtyard secure and then it won’t be necessary to tether the dog in the first place. We would also recommend that there are at least two to three containers of water in case one gets knocked over.”
“Since the beginning of November we’ve had 483 calls reporting heat stress and so far this year we’ve had 1,202 calls about dogs being left in hot cars! If it’s thirty degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can potentially rise to well over forty degrees in less than five minutes. We tested a light coloured sedan and the temperature rose to 57 degrees in twelve minutes. Any animal left inside would have been dead.”
If you see an animal in distress, contact the RSPCA’s 24/7 Animal Emergency Hotline 1300 ANIMAL
