{"id":42167,"date":"2025-06-24T20:46:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T20:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/?p=42167"},"modified":"2025-10-24T19:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:09:49","slug":"why-you-should-never-leave-your-dog-alone-in-a-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/why-you-should-never-leave-your-dog-alone-in-a-car\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Never Leave Your Dog Alone in a Car"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re running a quick errand, and aren’t allowed to bring your dog inside with you, you may be tempted to lock the car doors and leave them behind for a bit. But it is never<\/em> safe to do so—even on seemingly mild days, leaving a dog in a parked car carries a serious risk of causing illness or death. <\/p>

That’s why the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) offers this simple, emphatic advice<\/a>: “Never leave your pet alone in a parked vehicle, no matter what the outdoor temperature or how long you think you’ll be gone.”<\/p>

Here are the details.<\/p>

Cars heat up quickly.<\/h4>

The temperature inside of a parked vehicle rises rapidly, even when it’s not hot out.<\/p>

The AVMA has a chart on their website detailing these temperature increases, and the takeaway is this: even on a 70-degree day, the inside of a car will reach triple digits in approximately 20 minutes. These temperatures put dogs at a serious risk of heatstroke, which can be fatal.<\/p>

“Leaving your pet in a parked car, even for a few minutes, can be fatal,” says Alex Schechter, DVM, founder of Burwood Veterinary in Michigan<\/a>. “Heat builds up fast, and animals can’t cool themselves like we do,” Dr. Schechter explains. “Unfortunately, we see it too often—and it’s a completely avoidable situation.”<\/p>

Even if you think you’ll be right back, don’t risk it.<\/p>

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Cold days aren’t safe, either.<\/h4>

When it’s too cold out, dogs left in parked cars can develop hypothermia. Think about how frigid your car feels when you first climb into the driver’s seat on a freezing day.<\/p>

There’s a good chance it’s illegal for you to leave your dog in a parked car.<\/h4>

We know that you don’t need any motivation beyond your dog’s wellbeing to take them with you when you leave your car. But it’s worth noting that, in many cases, leaving a dog in a parked car is a crime.<\/p>

According to the Michigan State University College of Law<\/a>, “31 states have laws that either prohibit leaving an animal in a confined vehicle under dangerous conditions or provide civil immunity (protection from being sued) for a person who rescues a distressed animal from a vehicle.” They also note that, even in states without these specific laws, people who leave dogs behind in parked cars can be found guilty of animal cruelty for doing so.<\/p>

Protect your dog.<\/h4>

If you know that your dog won’t be allowed at your destination, plan ahead and make sure that they stay safe. That could mean leaving them in a climate-controlled home with company and fun things to do. It could mean driving with a friend who can take them for a walk while you go shopping. Or it could mean rescheduling your errand for another time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even if it\u2019s not hot out, and even if you crack the window, leaving your dog in a parked car is extremely dangerous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":42182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[416],"tags":[349,221],"class_list":["post-42167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellness","tag-conditions","tag-safety"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42167"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42193,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42167\/revisions\/42193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}