Dogs left in hot cars along the Grand Strand. Here’s why just a few minutes is too long
It was just a couple of minutes!
Running a quick errand with a pet might seem like a simple task, but even those few minutes in the car alone can prove dangerous for the hairiest of family members.
“I don’t think they understand how fast it happens,” Horry County Animal Care Center Director Kelly Bonome said about rising temperatures.
The danger is the same to animals as humans, Bonome said. As dogs face dehydration they will pant to try and cool themselves, Bonome said, and then become lethargic.
“That animal has nothing but the air inside and that heats up very quickly,” she said.
Bonome demonstrated last week when outside temperatures were in the mid-70s, but a thermometer was registering more than 120 degrees inside the vehicles parked at the county’s shelter.
People shouldn’t leave their pets in cars for even a few minutes, Bonome said. The danger goes beyond health in a hot car, the animal could switch the cars into gear as well.
Myrtle Beach police rescued two pups from hot cars last week. Officers went to a Seaboard Street parking lot around 12:15 pm. Tuesday to find a pitbull locked in a Nissan Altima with windows cracked about an inch. The outside temperature was 81 degrees and inside was 100 degrees, according to a police report.
Police estimated the dog was in the car for about 30 minutes, according to the report.
The owner, Angela Hawks Skipper, 53, returned to the car and insisted she did nothing wrong. Police charged her with mistreatment of animals.
Around the same time, officers also went to a Little River Road parking lot and found two dachshunds in a minivan with windows only slightly cracked, according to a police report.
Debra Ann Basel, 60, returned to the vehicle and said she was with a patient for about 40 minutes. She was also charged with mistreatment of animals.
By the time dogs found in hot cars are transported to the Animal Control Center, their condition is often improved as they have been inside an air-conditioned vehicle for transport, Bonome said. Staff checks the pet’s temperatures, works to cool the animal down and provides fluids.
“When I was on the road I would pour water over them, because the water would help have a cooling effect on them,” Bonome said. “Whatever it takes to get that body temperature back down.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2019 at 1:25 PM.
