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They say that dogs are a man's best friend
and its safe to say Queenslanders love pets of all shapes and sizes
They rely on us for food,
shelter and safety, but despite this RACQ was called to rescue pets trapped in hot cars
more than 800 times last year
So, how dangerous is leaving your pet in a vehicle?
We decided to do a little experiment
with the help of the RSPCA
and a four-legged friend named Buddy
But, there's a twist
instead of leaving Buddy in the car, we decided to see how the owner would go when
the shoe's on the other foot
So we've cooled the car down to about 24 degrees, we put the
windows down a little. So let's see how Gav goes in the back seat
It's been a minute now, it's still quite comfortable, it's starting to get warm but its bearable at the
moment
People just don't
seem to understand how
hot a car can actually get
even with the windows down
and if the car's actually out in 30 degree heat
and you've got a dog in there
windows slightly down or not
there's a very good chance that they could die and unfortunately we just see it every year
We're at 3 minutes now and it's really hot in here
I'm starting to sweat a lot, my clothes are sticking to me and
it's actually getting harder to breathe, you can just feel the heat in the
car and it's -
you wouldn't want to be in here too long that's for sure
So Gavin, tell us how you went
Well look at me
I just couldn't wait to get out
it's even cooked my phone
After temperatures rose from 24 to 40 degrees in less than 6
minutes
we had to pull Gavin out for his own safety.
It's not hard to imagine how your pet would suffer if they were placed in the same
situation
In the time it takes to go to an ATM, or buy a cup of coffee, you could be putting a
beloved member of the family in terrible danger. If you see an animal that's been left in
the car and it does look
distressed, the first thing you need to do is get it out
people really need to understand
the dangers of leaving a pet in a car in the heat
Don't leave your pet in a vehicle
for any length of time
and if you are an animal lover, why not adopt one of the hundreds of pets just like Buddy
through the RSPCA's Adopt A Pet Program.