Please Don't Cook Your Dog

Summer brings plenty of opportunities for fun but a dog, (or child!), in a car on a hot day is a recipe for disaster. 

(Courtesy of metafilter)

Consider the chart below which illustrates how quickly the interior of a car can heat up.

Even on a relatively mild 70 degree day, the temperature inside a car reaches 89 degrees in just ten minutes.

Tissue and organ injury begin at an internal body temperature of only 104 degrees. In the 85 degree temperatures we've had this month, that's the temperature inside the car 10 minutes after you've locked it and run into the store for a quick errand. Why take a chance you choose the "wrong" check out lane with the new cashier and a customer in front of you with unpriced items and 28 coupons?

And if you think cracking the windows makes a difference, think again. Related tests with single and multiple windows left open to varying degrees revealed little difference in the speed of the temperature rise or the ultimate temperature reached.

If you love them, leave them home or take them in with you.



Estimated Vehicle Interior Air Temperature v. Elapsed Time

Elapsed time	Outside Air Temperature (F)
	70	75	80	85	90	95
0 minutes	70	75	80	85	90	95
10 minutes	89	94	99	104	109	114
20 minutes	99	104	109	114	119	124
30 minutes	104	109	114	119	124	129
40 minutes	108	113	118	123	128	133
50 minutes	111	116	121	126	131	136
60 minutes	113	118	123	128	133	138
> 1 hour	115	120	125	130	135	140

Courtesy Jan Null, CCM; Department of Geosciences, San Francisco State University