Scorching Temperatures Put Outdoor Pets At Extreme Risk

Great Plains SPCA (GPSPCA), a no-kill animal shelter in the Kansas City area serving 4,000 pets annually, has issued an urgent warning to pet owners and animal advocates in the Kansas City metro area about the risk to pets during this life-threatening heat wave.

GPSPCA is making a plea to the public to do everything to keep animals safe, including protecting their own pets by bringing them inside, giving them shade and water when outside, reporting dogs in danger to their local animal control agency (here) and following the Kansas “Good Samaritan” law which allows a citizen to break into a car to save a pet in danger.

GPSPCA’s HERO Team (Humane. Empowerment. Resources. Outreach.) will provide supplies to owners of pets in need including tarps to create shade, crates to bring pets inside, water bowls and other supplies. Requests can be made at hero@greatplainsspca.org.

GPSPCA Chief Executive Officer, Tam Singer, said, “The hot humid weather that we are experiencing is extremely dangerous. Animals are very vulnerable and cannot help themselves. We must be their advocates. This is a serious and critical situation.”

The only way a dog or cat can cool itself down is by panting and when there is only hot air to breathe, the animal overheats quickly. The physiological process of overheating includes clotting disorders, multi-organ failure, and then the brain overheats, seizures result and the animal’s body shuts down and the animal dies after immense suffering.

About Great Plains SPCA

Great Plains SPCA is a no-kill animal shelter in Merriam, Kansas serving 4,000 community pets annually. Great Plains SPCA works to save, protect and improve the lives of animals, while strengthening the relationship between pets and their human companions by providing humane sheltering, adoptions, community outreach and behavior and training.