SPCA concerned about dogs being left in cars in Bay of Plenty

SPCA team leader inspectorate Alex Jones with 10-week-old Cookie the huntaway cross. Photo / Andrew Warner

On a hot day, it can take just 10 minutes for a dog left in a vehicle to overheat.

It is an issue local SPCAs usually see a spike in between the summer months of December and March but this year there is added cause for concern due to dogs living in cars in Rotorua.

SPCA team leader inspectorate for Rotorua and Taupō Alex Jones said there had been several cases where dogs- not allowed in hotels being used as emergency housing with their owners - were being left to live in cars.

"Normally, it's something we see more during summer as we have higher tourist numbers and people think it's a great idea to take their dogs with them everywhere they go. It ends up consuming quite a large number of our callouts during the summer holiday period.

"We have seen it increase already this year, particularly with the motels around Rotorua and Taupō, just with dogs living in cars. People get concerned because they see them in there and they call us.

"It's been manageable during the cooler months but obviously there's not a whole lot of options for them so it's going to be a big task come summer, to deal with these or find alternate options."

Jones said even if the windows were down, as the weather got warmer it was not enough to stop a dog overheating.

"They don't regulate their temperature like we do, they require to pant and sweat through the pads of their feet which is really hard to do in a car heated up like an oven."

When SPCA workers did get called out to deal with a dog in a vehicle, they often found themselves in a hostile situation, she said.

"Our call centre tries to obtain as much information as possible; how long the vehicle has been there, if the windows are down, whether it's in the sun or shade and how the dog is behaving.

"We attend and if the dogs are at a point where we consider they are suffering from heat distress, we can actually remove them from the vehicle. Often, if it's not quite at that point we'll attempt to contact someone and notify them to come back to the vehicle.

SPCA team leader inspectorate Alex Jones with 10-week-old Cookie the huntaway cross. Photo / Andrew Warner

"Usually we see these dogs in a town situation, at tourist attractions or the mall, and it can be quite heated. We have callers wanting us to do something straight away, people wanting to smash windows to get the dog out. Then you have the owner of the dog who is quite upset that we're looking at removing their dog or embarrassed that they've had a call."

Often, it was not simply a case of getting the dog out of the car and giving it some water. The heat distress could have long-lasting effects on the animal.

"The next 24 hours after a dog suffers heat distress are really critical because sometimes the symptoms aren't initially seen and people think it's all okay. However, the dog can go downhill, they can get lethargic and start vomiting or have blood in their urine or faeces which essentially means the organs have given up.

"It can be 24-48 hours afterwards that a dog dies as a result, that's the big concern for us."

Jones urged dog owners to reduce the chance of putting themselves or the SPCA in a tough situation by planning ahead.

"Often it comes from a really good place, people really love the dogs that they are taking to town. It's all well-meaning situations but it doesn't take much for you to get sidetracked or a trip into the supermarket to take a little bit longer. The sun changes or the wind stops and it can turn quite dangerous really quickly."