Council teams up with charity to prevent dog deaths

To tackle the issue of canines being left in cars this summer, Stafford Borough Council has teamed up with the Dog’s Trust.

Parking officers will be checking for dogs left alone in vehicles and will report to the RSPCA or Police if necessary, as well as posters and leaflets are being displayed around council-run car parks. The initiative is part of the Dog’s Trust’s ‘Dogs die in hot cars’ campaign

Every year the RSPCA and police receive thousands of reports of animals being left alone in cars on warm days – with many people wrongly believing it is fine to leave a dog in a car if the windows are open slightly or they have parked in the shade. The Trust say a car can become very hot really quickly even when it doesn’t feel that warm – for example  when it’s 22℃ outside, the inside of a car can reach a huge 47℃ within an hour.

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Councillor Frances Beatty, Cabinet Member for Economic development and Planning, at the Borough Council, said: “It is horrible to think of a family pet in distress and suffering from the effects of being left trapped in a car in hot weather. So I am pleased we are working with this charity to make sure people are aware of the dangers – and also for parking officers working on our behalf to report any issues which could potentially avoid a tragic incident.”

For more information visit https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/news-events/issues-campaigns/hot-dogs/