PETA Offers Tips on Keeping Animals Safe During Severe Weather
Brisbane — As scorching heatwaves and heavy flooding hit Queensland, PETA is offering urgent guidelines for caring for animal companions and protecting all animals during adverse weather conditions.
These tips can save lives – would you please share them with your readers?
- Walk dogs only in the morning and evening, and keep them indoors during peak heat hours, avoiding hot paved roads and never running. Unlike humans, dogs can only sweat through their footpads and cool themselves by panting. Soaring temperatures can cause heat stress, injury, or death.
- Provide water and shade. When outside, animals must have access to fresh water and ample shade, and the shifting sun needs to be taken into account. Even brief periods of direct exposure to the sun can have life-threatening consequences.
- Never leave dogs in hot cars. Even for short periods with the windows partially rolled down, locking dogs in parked cars or walking them on hot paved roads puts them at risk of deadly heatstroke. Dogs trapped inside hot cars can succumb within minutes – even if a car isn’t parked in direct sunlight.
- Act fast if you see a dog in a hot car. If you see a dog showing any symptoms of heatstroke – including restlessness, heavy panting, vomiting, lethargy, and lack of appetite or coordination – get them into the shade immediately and lower their body temperature by offering them water, applying a cold towel to their head and chest, or immersing them in tepid (not ice-cold) water. Then immediately call a veterinarian.
- Use a cooling vest or mat. Dog-cooling equipment, such as wearable vests or bed mats, come in a range of materials and prices and help prevent overheating. Simply freeze or soak the items in cold water to keep dogs comfortable while on a walk or lounging. Placing bottles of cold water in a dog’s bed also works.
- During flood warnings, do not leave your animals outdoors, tied up or confined in any way, as they will be trapped and unable to flee rising waters.
- If you need to evacuate, never leave your animals behind to fend for themselves. They aren’t equipped to survive disasters any better than humans are.
- Place small animals in secure carriers, and keep dogs leashed. Frightening sounds and unfamiliar surroundings may make them bolt. Take water and food bowls, your animals’ favourite toy or blanket, a towel and enough food to last them at least a week.
- Stay alert and save a life. Keep an eye on all companion animals who are kept outdoors. Make sure they have adequate water and shelter. If you see an animal in distress, provide them with water for immediate relief and contact humane authorities right away.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.au and follow the group on Facebook andInstagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli [email protected]
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