The provincial government is considering toughening animal-cruelty laws to make it easier to rescue pets from overheated parked cars. Leaving a dog in a car on a hot day is a stupid thing to do, but it isn鈥檛 the only cruelty thoughtless pet-owners inflict on animals.
Stronger laws can help in some circumstances, but no amount of regulation can substitute for common sense and education.
Special Const. Erika Paul of the Victoria branch of the sa国际传媒 SPCA welcomes the province鈥檚 move 鈥� she has seen first-hand what happens when dogs are left in hot cars 鈥� but she says people need to be aware of other ways in which pets are put at risk.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of emphasis on dogs in hot cars,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut little emphasis on people taking their dogs out on hot pavement,鈥� a situation that can burn the animals鈥� paws and endanger their health.
鈥淵ou should feel the pavement with your hand,鈥� Paul said, to ensure it will be comfortable for a dog.
鈥淧eople seem to think as long as a dog is with them, they鈥檙e OK,鈥� she said, but some dogs, particularly brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds, are especially vulnerable to heat. 鈥淚t drives me crazy to see someone walking a brachycephalic dog in midday.鈥�
Taking your dog for a run is usually a good thing, but that, too, can go awry. Paul told of an incident where a dog owner was out on an ATV with his two golden retrievers running behind him. The dogs died of heat exhaustion.
YouTube is loaded with funny videos of animals, but if you take a second look, the animals aren鈥檛 usually laughing. What humans find comical is often stressful and dangerous for animals. It might be cute to dress a cat in doll clothes and watch it dash about in panic, but it鈥檚 no fun for the cat. It鈥檚 worth a laugh or two to see a dog run full tilt into a glass door it thought was open, but the dog could be injured.
鈥淚t comes down to education,鈥� said Paul. 鈥淚n my experience, people who own pets too often become self-proclaimed experts. They have always had a cat or a dog, so they close minds to the notion that they should change.
鈥淲e have evolved exponentially over the last 10 or 15 years in understanding sentient beings, on the psychological effect caring and training have on animals.鈥�
Pets can be valued family members, providing companionship and unconditional love, but pets should not be thought of as people. Much cruelty is inflicted, often unintentionally, when people forget that pets are not humans, but animals with different needs and vulnerabilities.
