As summer weather heats up, pet owners are reminded to not leave their animals in cars.
Lakewood-Busti Police ticketed a citizen for leaving his dog in the car for over an hour without food or water at Lakewood Cinema 8 on Saturday, June 11.
According to the ASPCA, temperatures can rise by as much as 20 degrees in a vehicle in less than 10 minutes. Dogs cope with being hot by panting but unfortunately, as the temperature in the vehicle rises, panting is not enough to cool them down and they can become dehydrated, develop heatstroke or even die from the heat.
In New York State, laws were expanded in 2019 to allow firefighters and EMTs in addition to police to break into a vehicle to rescue an endangered pet from an extremely hot or cold car.
Until the law change, only the police could escape liability for damaging a vehicle in order to rescue a pet.
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