For the Love of Dogs’ Daze

Before I get started with this week’s entry, I want to report on a tragedy and clarify a thing or two. Several of you wrote in remarking on the timeliness of my recent warning, regarding the dog that was killed after running out into the street from the Stuyvesant Square park’s dog run. A terrible tragedy to be sure, and some of you cursed the circumstances which led to it, believing it was a negligently opened gate. In this case, however, it is my understanding that the dog’s owner walked out the run with the dog deliberately off leash, whereupon the dog ran into the middle of East 15th Street as its very last act. But, it was my posting on the dangers of walking your dog off leash that this case harkens to, not the one about dog run gates. Sad, either way.


For the Love of Dogs’ Daze

So it’s the summer season again. With it a whole new selection of things for me to gripe about. But this one’s easy and it’s been done again and again. Yep, it’s all about dog safety in the heat.

We all know, but many still seem to ignore, the dire warnings about leaving dogs in your hot automobile during the summer. Heck, there’s even an emo band named for it. No, I’m not kidding. Go ahead and Google “Dogs Die in Hot Cars.” I’m not much of a fan and never really have figured out what “emo” means. But still.

Anyway, I think there are other heat risks that are more routinely ignored:

First, there’s simply walking around on an extremely hot day with your dog. The danger is greater than you know. Dogs are low to the ground and New York City streets radiate heat like a clay oven. I’ve even seen dogs' feet stick into the softening tar as we cross the street. I’d never dream of walking through New York barefoot like my dogs do, but I can’t imagine how horrible that must feel. But, yeah, the dog’s got to go out, do his business, etc. Well, fine. Keep it to the shady side of the street at a time of the day when there is a shady side (e.g. not when the sun is straight overhead), bring water for him to drink with you, and when you get home either use a towel or the tub to wet his undercarriage – that’s the part that’s really, really hot. And stay out a fraction of the time you’d normally stay out. A few summers back, in the midst of a terrible heat wave, I heard about two different bulldogs who collapsed and died due to heat exhaustion. Yes, that’s right: collapsed and died. Bulldogs were man crafted/evolved for purposes other than basic survival (barbaric sport, in fact). Their short snouts and under bites do not lend well to the whole respiration process. If you have a bulldog, don’t go out in the heat — period. Go out, let her pee, take her back in. Wait til it’s dark for further activity, and make sure she stays cool.

The other summertime dog risk is air travel. If your dog is small enough to travel in the cabin with you, go ahead I guess. It’s a bit decadent, but whatever. But, if your dog is of a size that it has to travel in the cargo hold, don’t do it! ASPCA research has shown that 5,000 pets die or are injured every year in airplane cargo bays. Every year! That’s crazy. And guess what those injuries are like? Imagine: severe burns from being close to engine parts; severe overheating from temperatures above 140 degrees while the plane sits on the tarmac (and causes brain damage in your pet); suffocation; and all kinds of ugliness from sudden loss of cabin pressure. Want to take a shot at torturing your dog? This is how you do it.

There are plenty of boarding services, or friends you with whom you can leave your dog. If you’re going away for longer than a couple weeks and really need to have your dog with you, then drive wherever you’re going. Seriously. Unfortunately, Amtrak doesn’t yet allow dogs, but hopefully one day they will. There’s also the brand new “Pet Airways” (look it up, I’m not going to shill for them by giving them a direct link here – not til they start paying me to do so) which allows any size pet to fly in the main cabin. If you’ve got to do it, this is the only way. Just don’t put your pet in the cargo hold. Please. I’m asking on behalf of your dog.