Editor:
Re the letter "Thanks for the concern" (Coast Reporter, Sept. 28), the writer should be learning from the experience and filing it away for future reference rather than defending her position. Her letter was timely as I was going to write in after observing yet another dog "resting" in a hot car one day. Let me state that this is not an attack on the writer, for I have no doubt that she loves her dog, which makes it even more tragic when one's beloved pet dies in a hot car.
Dogs cool themselves by panting and releasing heat through their paws. On a hot summer day, the air and upholstery in your vehicle can heat up to temperatures that make it impossible for dogs to cool themselves - this can happen in a matter of minutes. Let's face it, when we pop inside to do something quickly, it always takes more than a matter of minutes. Dogs do not have the wherewithal to breathe through one of the little cracks that are left for them. To all of you who have taken your pet along on a warm (not just hot) day, turn off your engine, open the windows a crack and sit in your car for five to 10 minutes and see how hot it becomes for you. This is exacerbated for a dog given how their cooling system works - even in an underground parking lot.
Thank goodness for those people who leave notes. I have the numbers for the Sechelt and North Shore SPCAs programmed into my phone and will use them. If the response time is not fast enough and the distress is great enough, I have a hammer, which I will also use. Everyone, please: learn from someone else's loss so it doesn't become yours.
Carolyn White, Sechelt
