Protect Children, Pets in Cars as Heat Rises Outside

The heat was beating down up and down the coast Wednesday.

Drinking lots of water is crucial but what some people might forget is to protect pets and children from the heat in cars.

So far this year in the United States there have been 17 heat-related deaths of children in vehicles.

Even though it was hot outside Wednesday, 5-year-old Shammy was one cool dog.

Her owner Kathy Dolinar knows that when the heat rises, the best thing to do is make sure her four legged friend is comfortable.

“She just got back from Hendry’s Beach and had a wonderful time at the beach playing with the dogs,” she said.

One thing pet owners shouldn’t do is leave animals in the car because it’s even hotter in there.

“A car that’s locked up, inclosed on a 78 degree day, can go over 100 degrees within three minutes,” said Capt. Gary Pitney, of the Santa Barbara City Fire Department.

It’s not just animals who are at risk; children and seniors are susceptible to the rising temperatures too.

“You hear about people thinking about running in the grocery store for a minute, I have two adult kids 30 and 27, they never stayed in the car. They were always in the store with me no matter what the temperature,” said Dolinar.

Pitney suggests people should keep an eye out when the heat rises.

“We want to do this as a community. We want to be looking out for people or animals that might need our help and alert the proper people, in this case call 911 if you see something that’s an emergency,” he said.