Akita’s (just like any other dog for that matter) don’t release body heat as effectively as humans do. Dogs are therefore much more susceptible to hot temperatures.
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My Akita dog Kensho likes to sunbathe but he has always access to shade and fresh water. He has a choice.
Dogs in a car don’t have that choice! Every year countless dogs die after being locked inside cars while their owners shop or run other errands. On a summer day, a car can turn easily into an oven. This is because cars act as greenhouses, trapping the heat of the sun. |
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A dog locked inside a car is the cause of too many preventable tragic deaths. Dogs can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time before they experience brain and nerve damage, heart problems and finally death.
Don’t think you can leave your dog inside when a window is open, or when a fan is working… it’s not safe! See this table to lookup the inside temperature of a car compared to the outside temperature.
See below for a tragic article that was released today by United Press International:
ARNOLD, Mo., June 25 (UPI) — Seven high-priced show dogs, including a top Akita, died after being left by their handler in a hot van for more than five hours, police near St. Louis said.
A Siberian Husky survived but had kidney failure and might be euthanized, veterinarian Dr. Laura Ivan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“I’ve never seen such a horrific act in my lifetime,” Ivan said.
She called the deaths of the dogs — including three golden retrievers, a Dalmatian, a different Siberian Husky, a Malamute and the top-ranked Akita — a “horrible, tragic accident.”
Mary Wild, 24, a paid handler, was not charged in the deaths, although a sheriff’s department report will be turned over to the Jefferson County prosecutor, police said.
Wild told police she left the dogs in a cargo van in the driveway around 1 a.m. CDT Monday and went to bed after returning from a dog show in Iowa, police said.
She explained she put six electric fans in the van to keep the dogs cool. She said she also left a van door open and the van’s windows partly open, Capt. Ralph Brown of the sheriff’s office told the newspaper.
She told police she checked on the dogs around 4 a.m. and they appeared fine, Brown said.
But about 6:30 a.m., all eight dogs were in distress, Brown said. Five were breathing, but not responsive. The other three could raise their heads.
The National Weather Service said the outside temperature at 1 a.m. Monday was 83 degrees and 80 degrees at 6 a.m.
Investigators were trying to determine how hot the inside of the van could have gotten.
Wild did not return phone and e-mail messages from the Post-Dispatch requesting comment.
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