MASON CITY — A Heat Advisory is in effect for the entire state of Iowa until 8 o’clock tonight as heat index values of up to 105 are expected today, and combined with the high humidity may cause heat-related illnesses not only for humans, but also can have an impact on animals.
Sybil Soukup with the Humane Society of North Iowa says having your window cracked in your vehicle does absolutely nothing to help your pets. She says they’ve experimented with a thermometer in a car in the Humane Society’s parking lot. “The car with the windows closed, the car got up to almost 140 degrees in a matter of 20 minutes. That will kill your pet., your pet will die in that kind of environment. Cracking the windows lowered that temperature by about two degrees, so it does not matter. On a day like today when it’s just humidity, I don’t know if it makes much difference, because that humidity is just so hot.”
Soukup says if you see a pet in a vehicle, don’t immediately take matters into your own hands. See if the vehicle is running, and if it is not, don’t try to break the window out to rescue the pet, call law enforcement to help assess the situation. “It’s illegal, and you could get charged with destruction of property. What I would do is call the police department in my community. They will send out an officer who can then can determine if a window needs to be broken or not, and they will take over and they will find the owner in the store or restaurant or whatever.”
Soukup says pets that are kept outside or left in parked cars are very susceptible to heat stroke, injury and even death in extreme conditions.
