With the bitter cold finally behind us, thoughts turn to summertime fun with friends and family. Perhaps taking the dog along on the car ride that (you think) won't take too long...maybe a few other stops along the way...after all, he/she can just wait in the car and they will be fine, right?
WRONG.
Vehicles are like mobile ovens in the warmer temperatures, and how quickly the interior temperature rises is shocking. For example on a 75 degree day, after just 10 minutes the interior temperature can rise to a balmy 94 degrees!
The Madison Police Department gets multiple calls per day about people leaving animals (usually dogs) in the car at places like the mall, grocery stores, etc. City ordinance prohibits leaving an animal in a car for 15 minutes – factor in the time the animal has already been in there before the concerned citizen made the call, and you are easily over 20 minutes...meanwhile the temperature is rising – after 20 minutes the interior is up to 104 degrees on our sunny 75 degree day.
Madison City Ordinance 24.04(5) – Leaving an animal in a vehicle more than 15 minutes $187.00 MCA
