PETA Offers Tips on Keeping Animals Safe As Heat Rises
Perth – As scorching heatwaves and wildfires are set to hit Perth, PETA is offering urgent guidelines for taking care of animal companions during a time of extreme weather conditions.
These tips can save lives – would you please share them with your readers?
- Walk dogs only in the morning and evening, keep them indoors during peak heat hours, and avoid 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, dogs trapped inside hot cars can succumb to heatstroke within minutes – even if a car isn’t parked in direct sunlight.
- Never transport animals in the bed of a ute: this practice is dangerous because animals can be catapulted out of a truck bed on a sudden stop or strangled if they jump out while tethered. The ute bed floor can also burn their sensitive paws.
- Avoid hot paved roads: in summer, asphalt temperatures can reach 60 degrees Celsius, causing pain, burns, permanent damage, and scarring on dogs’ paws after just a few minutes of contact. Walk on grass where possible, and avoid walking in the middle of the day.
- 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.
- Residents in areas affected by smoke and falling ash should keep animals indoors and avoid all outdoor activities, such as running with dogs. If visibility is less than 8 kilometres, smoke has compromised the air quality and reached unsafe levels.
- Animals should never be left tied up or confined to crates, pens, or hutches, as they’ll be trapped and unable to flee from smoke and fires.
- 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.
Anyone who evacuates and intentionally abandons their animals to burn, suffocate, or starve may be prosecuted.
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 and Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli [email protected]
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