A sunny day in Juneau means temperatures in a closed-up car can soar in a hurry.
With Thursday’s temperatures over 70 degrees, CBJ Animal Control was busy rescuing dogs from vehicles.
In fact, on warm, sunny days, Animal Control Director Matt Musslewhite says officers spend most of their day doing welfare checks on animals in cars.
It doesn’t take really warm temperatures to cook a car – and your pet – if the windows are closed:
“One of the vehicles that we looked at today, and ultimately removed the animal from the vehicle, the inside temperature was recorded as a 134 degrees,” Musselwhite says. “So it doesn’t take very long for the temperatures to rise in a vehicle that is out in the sunshine with no windows open.”
Juneau police helped the animal control officers get into the locked vehicle.
Musslewhite says if you must to leave a pet in your car or truck, park in the shade, provide plenty of fresh water and make sure windows are open enough that fresh air will flow through the vehicle, but the animal cannot escape.
