The B.C. SPCA has had 591 calls to rescue pets locked in overheating cars during the first seven months of 2017.
“The numbers are definitely up this year,” said spokesperson Lorie Chortyk.
“They were lower in May because we had such cold weather but as soon as the hot weather came the numbers skyrocketed.”
Spokesperson said that the weekend of July 29-30 alone saw 23 calls; triple the number of calls compared to the same weekend last year.
Every year, dogs suffer and die because the are left in a parked car—even for just a minute. Parked cars are deathtraps for dogs: On a 25 degree Celsius day, the temperature inside a parked car can soar to 37 in just minutes, and on a 32 degree Celsius day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 42 degrees Celsius in less than 10 minutes.