July 20, 2024 • 11 mins
The heat and humidity have been downright oppressive at times around New England lately, and it's hard for humans to stay cool in such conditions. For dogs and cats, it's much more complicated thanks to their thick fur and body development. Each summer, many pets come down with heatstroke, or even die, because they are left in a hot car - even for just a few minutes. Dr. Edward Schettino, President and CEO of the Animal Rescue League of Boston, talks with Nichole about their "Too Hot for Spot" campaign and offers some critical tips to help keep your pet safe.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend, where each
and every week we come together andtalk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live.It's so good to be back with you
again this week. As always,I'm Nicole Davis. You know, for
the past few weeks, it reallyhas felt more like we've been living in
Tallahassee or New Orleans than Boston.Heat is one thing, but this souper
(00:29):
humidity just takes it to a wholeother level. It seems. For our
pets, it doesn't really matter ifit's dry or humid when it comes to
hot days. If they're in ahot car, it can take just minutes
for them to get into a lotof trouble. The Animal Rescue League of
Boston once again out with its tooHot for Spot education campaign. They're hoping
to help pet owners keep their friendscool and safe all summer long. On
(00:51):
the show with us now to talkabout this, we have doctor Edward Scatino.
He is the President and CEO ofthe Animal Rescue League of Boston.
So doctor, it's great to haveyou here. How did this campaign come
to fruition in the first place.So this is our tenth year of our
Too Hot for Spots Summer safety campaign. I wish we are not marking our
tenth year, but however, there'severy year, there's many incidences of people
(01:11):
leaving their animals in hot vehicles,most with tragic results. It all began
when the law passed in twenty sixteen. In twenty sixteen, what happened was
the law in Massachusetts prohibits the confinementof any animal in a motor vehicle when
extreme heat or cold could reasonably beexpected to threaten the health of the animal.
(01:33):
And so when that law passed,we realized we needed to mobilize and
act to inform people of how importantthis is, how important it is because
a lot of people don't not realizethat if they're running an errand on a
hot day, they may not realizethat even if the temperatures outside is about
eighty degrees, they may park theircar, roll down the windows a little
bit, do whatever they need todo for a few moments, and not
(01:57):
realize from eighty degrees on the outsidetemperature temperatures can rise in a matter of
minutes to over one hundred and twentydegrees inside the vehicle, and we respond
to many of these cases. Wewere one of the organizations that help get
this law passed, and this publicservice campaign is just to remind people year
over year over year that it isa very dangerous situation. People should plan
(02:20):
ahead if their plan on bringing theirpets flits them somewhere. Yeah. Absolutely,
I talk to people about this andI say, look, would you
leave your child in the car?Would you sit in a hot car without
the AC on? And of coursethey say no, I wouldn't do that,
And so I say, well,why would you let your pet do
that? Especially because you know petshave fur, they sweat differently. Tell
us a little bit about how petsreact to those temperatures. Dogs cannect cool
(02:42):
their bodies as effectively as humans,and it makes them more succeptible to heat
stroke. Heat stroak is dangerous.It's life threatening. As the bodies the
pets core temperature increases, they willgo into shock and eventually organ failure.
Symptoms include heavy panting, lethargy,glazed eyes, salivation, lack of coordination,
deep red or purple tongue, anddogs can even lapse into unconsciousness or
(03:05):
seizures. So, as you mentioned, dogs are more susceptible than people.
But a lot of folks don't understandor realize that even a couple minutes with
the windows cracked in the car couldreally be a life threatening situation for their
bed. Sure timing is everything,and you know, God forbid, something
happens and you are maybe in theparking lot and you see an animal in
a vehicle. It's clearly in distress. Here in Massachusetts, do we have
(03:29):
the legal protection if we decide tosmash the window and get the pet out?
That is a wonderful question and theanswer is yes. So what happens
first? If you're in a situationand you've identified an animal in a vehicle
and you're a concerned for that animal'swell being, the first thing you need
to do is try to find theowner and call nine one one. If
you're an able to find the ownerto open the door to free the pet
(03:52):
from the vehicle a nine to oneone as long as you have them on
the phone, typically nine one oneresponse very very fast. However, if
they haven't really responded and you arevery very much concerned about the animal's well
being, you have the ability ofentering the vehicle while on the line.
With nine one one good You haveto have the good faith and reasonable belief
(04:13):
that entering to the vehicle is necessaryto prevent the imminent danger or harm to
the animal, and you cannot useexcessive force that is necessary to enter the
vehicle. So whatever it takes toenter the vehicle to free that animal,
to protect that animal's life, youhave the legal ability to do so.
But nine to one one needs tobe on the phone with you. That
makes sense completely. Certainly, we'renot telling people go smash windows left and
(04:34):
right, but there are legal recourseshere to make sure that you can protect
these animals in case you do seethem in a case of danger. And
it happens all the time. AndI really would encourage people that if they're
planning their day, it has beenexcessively hot this summer, as everybody knows.
As you're planning your day, pleasethink about where you're going. Can
you bring your pet with you ornot? Even just running a few errands
(04:57):
could be very detrimental for your pet'slife. So maybe leave your pet at
home in a climate controlled environment withplenty of water, and not bring your
out and not bring your pet withyou, or have somebody be with your
pet in the vehicle or just beingable to walk, to walk your pet
as you're inside running your errands.So just be mindful and think about your
day ahead of time. Yeah,absolutely, So, you know, walking
(05:17):
the dog is something I worry aboutin these very hot temperatures. I see
people walking their dogs on the streetand I think about the sidewalk, how
hot it gets and their pads.When is a good time to walk your
animal during such heat and humidity.I would think about it as you would
think about yourself. If you're exercisingoutdoors and it's so hot, you would
want to go out in the morningbefore the heat really begins, or after
(05:41):
the sun goes down in the latein the early evening. And one test
you can do is take your handand to the back of your hand,
place the back of your hand onthe asphalt and see how hot it is.
That's what your pet is feeling.And to really be considerate and think
about if your pet's walking on asphaltin the middle of the day when it's
extremely hot, they could burn theirpads. Suggest I would walk in the
shade, walk in grass areas,be very very careful about the asphalt.
(06:03):
Yeah, and if you do haveto leave the pet outside for whatever reason,
it's really important to make sure thatyou set them up for success.
Here. You give them hydration andthe shade as well, one hundred percent
same as you just you'd want theshade, you want hydration. You want
to make sure that you're taking intoconsideration what they need because they, as
I mentioned before, they cannot cooltheir bodies as effectively as we can,
(06:26):
and so they are way more succeptible, especially in these hot and humid conditions.
So just think about your day aheadof time. Ten years now since
the start of Too Hot for Spotover at the Animal Rescue League. Are
you noticing that it's having an impact? Are people listening? Are they taking
this to heart? That's a verydifficult question. Every year we have reports
(06:46):
of animals being left in hot cars. This year already, I'm sure many
people have seen on the news somereally tragic results of being pet left in
a hot vehicle. Every year wesee this, I'm hoping it is making
a difference. I'm hoping it isreminding people and preventing it from happening.
And I also hope that it's alsoempowering the public to take action if they
(07:10):
see something, do something, andthey have the legal recourse to do so.
Yeah, and we're talking not justabout the cars, but dogs may
be tethered outside and you notice,maybe you're at work and you've left and
come back and the dog is stillthere. I mean, it's just noticing
what's going on around you. Yes, one hundred percent, and please call
us. We are here for youat the Animal Riscue EGO Boston. If
(07:31):
you do happen to see an animalthat is tethered outside or an animal you're
concerned about, you can call us. You can call on our website.
We have some phone numbers. Youcan call a law enforcement department or field
services department and just report something.You could be anonymous if you choose to,
and we will go out and wewill check on that pets well being
and make sure that pet's being welltaken care of and protected, and we'll
(07:55):
speak with the owner and most ofthe time everything's okay. But for your
own peace of mind, and pleasefeel free to reach out to us.
We're more than happy to go outand just to make sure. And I'd
like to believe that most people whoaccidentally leave the dog in the car,
maybe they make a mistake when itcomes to heat safety. It's not malicious.
They just get caught up and youknow, all of a sudden,
you're not thinking about it one hundredpercent. I don't think people understand the
(08:18):
temperature, how hot hot it canget inside their vehicle. We did a
demonstration here just yesterday. Yesterday waseighty seven degrees. We had a thermometer.
It was eighty seven degrees in thesun. We put the thermometer inside
the vehicle. The windows were cracked, as most people would do for their
dog. Within two minutes it wasone hundred and twenty degrees in the vehicle,
(08:41):
and people would not sit in thevehicle at that temperature. So I
don't think people understand how quickly itheats up. And I don't think people
also realize if you're running, ifyou're running into a store to do something
very fast, nothing is very fast, and the time goes by and you
can come back to a really tragic, really something really tragic happening to your
bet. Well, let's try toavoid that happening. You've got great information
(09:03):
on your website. Tell us moreabout what you have on the website and
how people can find you. Forthat info. Our website is Wwwarlboston dot
org. On our website you canfind information about our three animal care and
adoption centers in Boston, detam andon Cape Cod and Brewster. You can
learn more about our community services,our community programs to help folks provide that
(09:26):
narycare to their pets with our mobilevehicles, your main law enforcement department,
our field services department, or advocacy. People can sign up to volunteer to
foster, to supply some supplies forus. So we have a great website
with all the resources we provide toour community. Every year we help over
twenty thousand animals and we are here. We are a community resource really looking
(09:48):
at the root causes of why animalsare being surrendered and providing resources to help
keep pets and people together in homesand out of animal shelters. And how
can people support what you're doing?I mean, obviously you've got we at
least three operations going, lots ofanimals. They all have to get fed
and treats and toys and all thatgood stuff. How can people help you
keep that going? People can helpby donating on our website, there's a
(10:11):
donate button you can donate. Youcan donate, donate finances, you can
donate through supplies that we need.We list it on our website. People
can donate their time. We haveover fifteen hundred volunteers and foster families throughout
all of our shelters. We alwaysneed more volunteers and foster families, so
donating your time is very much somethingwe need, so please go on our
(10:33):
website you can see how you canhelp them. There's many different options for
everybody, so please reach out andfind the right thing that fits for you
because we definitely depend on the publicto support everything that we do. All
right, Doctor Skatino, thank youso much, and thank you to everybody
at the ARL for helping teach peopleto keep their pets safe this summer as
we deal with this heat. Itis my pleasure. Thank you so much
(10:54):
for this opportunity, and everybody justplease keep your pets safe in the summer
and hot cars. Just be becautious and be aware. Have a safe
and healthy weekend. Thankfully, notso human and sticky out there this time,
so enjoy your weekend and have asafe and healthy one, and please
join me again next week for anotheredition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis
(11:15):
from WBZ news Radio on iHeartRadio
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend, where each
and every week we come together andtalk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live.It's so good to be back with you
again this week. As always,I'm Nicole Davis. You know, for
the past few weeks, it reallyhas felt more like we've been living in
Tallahassee or New Orleans than Boston.Heat is one thing, but this souper
(00:29):
humidity just takes it to a wholeother level. It seems. For our
pets, it doesn't really matter ifit's dry or humid when it comes to
hot days. If they're in ahot car, it can take just minutes
for them to get into a lotof trouble. The Animal Rescue League of
Boston once again out with its tooHot for Spot education campaign. They're hoping
to help pet owners keep their friendscool and safe all summer long. On
(00:51):
the show with us now to talkabout this, we have doctor Edward Scatino.
He is the President and CEO ofthe Animal Rescue League of Boston.
So doctor, it's great to haveyou here. How did this campaign come
to fruition in the first place.So this is our tenth year of our
Too Hot for Spots Summer safety campaign. I wish we are not marking our
tenth year, but however, there'severy year, there's many incidences of people
(01:11):
leaving their animals in hot vehicles,most with tragic results. It all began
when the law passed in twenty sixteen. In twenty sixteen, what happened was
the law in Massachusetts prohibits the confinementof any animal in a motor vehicle when
extreme heat or cold could reasonably beexpected to threaten the health of the animal.
(01:33):
And so when that law passed,we realized we needed to mobilize and
act to inform people of how importantthis is, how important it is because
a lot of people don't not realizethat if they're running an errand on a
hot day, they may not realizethat even if the temperatures outside is about
eighty degrees, they may park theircar, roll down the windows a little
bit, do whatever they need todo for a few moments, and not
(01:57):
realize from eighty degrees on the outsidetemperature temperatures can rise in a matter of
minutes to over one hundred and twentydegrees inside the vehicle, and we respond
to many of these cases. Wewere one of the organizations that help get
this law passed, and this publicservice campaign is just to remind people year
over year over year that it isa very dangerous situation. People should plan
(02:20):
ahead if their plan on bringing theirpets flits them somewhere. Yeah. Absolutely,
I talk to people about this andI say, look, would you
leave your child in the car?Would you sit in a hot car without
the AC on? And of coursethey say no, I wouldn't do that,
And so I say, well,why would you let your pet do
that? Especially because you know petshave fur, they sweat differently. Tell
us a little bit about how petsreact to those temperatures. Dogs cannect cool
(02:42):
their bodies as effectively as humans,and it makes them more succeptible to heat
stroke. Heat stroak is dangerous.It's life threatening. As the bodies the
pets core temperature increases, they willgo into shock and eventually organ failure.
Symptoms include heavy panting, lethargy,glazed eyes, salivation, lack of coordination,
deep red or purple tongue, anddogs can even lapse into unconsciousness or
(03:05):
seizures. So, as you mentioned, dogs are more susceptible than people.
But a lot of folks don't understandor realize that even a couple minutes with
the windows cracked in the car couldreally be a life threatening situation for their
bed. Sure timing is everything,and you know, God forbid, something
happens and you are maybe in theparking lot and you see an animal in
a vehicle. It's clearly in distress. Here in Massachusetts, do we have
(03:29):
the legal protection if we decide tosmash the window and get the pet out?
That is a wonderful question and theanswer is yes. So what happens
first? If you're in a situationand you've identified an animal in a vehicle
and you're a concerned for that animal'swell being, the first thing you need
to do is try to find theowner and call nine one one. If
you're an able to find the ownerto open the door to free the pet
(03:52):
from the vehicle a nine to oneone as long as you have them on
the phone, typically nine one oneresponse very very fast. However, if
they haven't really responded and you arevery very much concerned about the animal's well
being, you have the ability ofentering the vehicle while on the line.
With nine one one good You haveto have the good faith and reasonable belief
(04:13):
that entering to the vehicle is necessaryto prevent the imminent danger or harm to
the animal, and you cannot useexcessive force that is necessary to enter the
vehicle. So whatever it takes toenter the vehicle to free that animal,
to protect that animal's life, youhave the legal ability to do so.
But nine to one one needs tobe on the phone with you. That
makes sense completely. Certainly, we'renot telling people go smash windows left and
(04:34):
right, but there are legal recourseshere to make sure that you can protect
these animals in case you do seethem in a case of danger. And
it happens all the time. AndI really would encourage people that if they're
planning their day, it has beenexcessively hot this summer, as everybody knows.
As you're planning your day, pleasethink about where you're going. Can
you bring your pet with you ornot? Even just running a few errands
(04:57):
could be very detrimental for your pet'slife. So maybe leave your pet at
home in a climate controlled environment withplenty of water, and not bring your
out and not bring your pet withyou, or have somebody be with your
pet in the vehicle or just beingable to walk, to walk your pet
as you're inside running your errands.So just be mindful and think about your
day ahead of time. Yeah,absolutely, So, you know, walking
(05:17):
the dog is something I worry aboutin these very hot temperatures. I see
people walking their dogs on the streetand I think about the sidewalk, how
hot it gets and their pads.When is a good time to walk your
animal during such heat and humidity.I would think about it as you would
think about yourself. If you're exercisingoutdoors and it's so hot, you would
want to go out in the morningbefore the heat really begins, or after
(05:41):
the sun goes down in the latein the early evening. And one test
you can do is take your handand to the back of your hand,
place the back of your hand onthe asphalt and see how hot it is.
That's what your pet is feeling.And to really be considerate and think
about if your pet's walking on asphaltin the middle of the day when it's
extremely hot, they could burn theirpads. Suggest I would walk in the
shade, walk in grass areas,be very very careful about the asphalt.
(06:03):
Yeah, and if you do haveto leave the pet outside for whatever reason,
it's really important to make sure thatyou set them up for success.
Here. You give them hydration andthe shade as well, one hundred percent
same as you just you'd want theshade, you want hydration. You want
to make sure that you're taking intoconsideration what they need because they, as
I mentioned before, they cannot cooltheir bodies as effectively as we can,
(06:26):
and so they are way more succeptible, especially in these hot and humid conditions.
So just think about your day aheadof time. Ten years now since
the start of Too Hot for Spotover at the Animal Rescue League. Are
you noticing that it's having an impact? Are people listening? Are they taking
this to heart? That's a verydifficult question. Every year we have reports
(06:46):
of animals being left in hot cars. This year already, I'm sure many
people have seen on the news somereally tragic results of being pet left in
a hot vehicle. Every year wesee this, I'm hoping it is making
a difference. I'm hoping it isreminding people and preventing it from happening.
And I also hope that it's alsoempowering the public to take action if they
(07:10):
see something, do something, andthey have the legal recourse to do so.
Yeah, and we're talking not justabout the cars, but dogs may
be tethered outside and you notice,maybe you're at work and you've left and
come back and the dog is stillthere. I mean, it's just noticing
what's going on around you. Yes, one hundred percent, and please call
us. We are here for youat the Animal Riscue EGO Boston. If
(07:31):
you do happen to see an animalthat is tethered outside or an animal you're
concerned about, you can call us. You can call on our website.
We have some phone numbers. Youcan call a law enforcement department or field
services department and just report something.You could be anonymous if you choose to,
and we will go out and wewill check on that pets well being
and make sure that pet's being welltaken care of and protected, and we'll
(07:55):
speak with the owner and most ofthe time everything's okay. But for your
own peace of mind, and pleasefeel free to reach out to us.
We're more than happy to go outand just to make sure. And I'd
like to believe that most people whoaccidentally leave the dog in the car,
maybe they make a mistake when itcomes to heat safety. It's not malicious.
They just get caught up and youknow, all of a sudden,
you're not thinking about it one hundredpercent. I don't think people understand the
(08:18):
temperature, how hot hot it canget inside their vehicle. We did a
demonstration here just yesterday. Yesterday waseighty seven degrees. We had a thermometer.
It was eighty seven degrees in thesun. We put the thermometer inside
the vehicle. The windows were cracked, as most people would do for their
dog. Within two minutes it wasone hundred and twenty degrees in the vehicle,
(08:41):
and people would not sit in thevehicle at that temperature. So I
don't think people understand how quickly itheats up. And I don't think people
also realize if you're running, ifyou're running into a store to do something
very fast, nothing is very fast, and the time goes by and you
can come back to a really tragic, really something really tragic happening to your
bet. Well, let's try toavoid that happening. You've got great information
(09:03):
on your website. Tell us moreabout what you have on the website and
how people can find you. Forthat info. Our website is Wwwarlboston dot
org. On our website you canfind information about our three animal care and
adoption centers in Boston, detam andon Cape Cod and Brewster. You can
learn more about our community services,our community programs to help folks provide that
(09:26):
narycare to their pets with our mobilevehicles, your main law enforcement department,
our field services department, or advocacy. People can sign up to volunteer to
foster, to supply some supplies forus. So we have a great website
with all the resources we provide toour community. Every year we help over
twenty thousand animals and we are here. We are a community resource really looking
(09:48):
at the root causes of why animalsare being surrendered and providing resources to help
keep pets and people together in homesand out of animal shelters. And how
can people support what you're doing?I mean, obviously you've got we at
least three operations going, lots ofanimals. They all have to get fed
and treats and toys and all thatgood stuff. How can people help you
keep that going? People can helpby donating on our website, there's a
(10:11):
donate button you can donate. Youcan donate, donate finances, you can
donate through supplies that we need.We list it on our website. People
can donate their time. We haveover fifteen hundred volunteers and foster families throughout
all of our shelters. We alwaysneed more volunteers and foster families, so
donating your time is very much somethingwe need, so please go on our
(10:33):
website you can see how you canhelp them. There's many different options for
everybody, so please reach out andfind the right thing that fits for you
because we definitely depend on the publicto support everything that we do. All
right, Doctor Skatino, thank youso much, and thank you to everybody
at the ARL for helping teach peopleto keep their pets safe this summer as
we deal with this heat. Itis my pleasure. Thank you so much
(10:54):
for this opportunity, and everybody justplease keep your pets safe in the summer
and hot cars. Just be becautious and be aware. Have a safe
and healthy weekend. Thankfully, notso human and sticky out there this time,
so enjoy your weekend and have asafe and healthy one, and please
join me again next week for anotheredition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis
(11:15):
from WBZ news Radio on iHeartRadio
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