Thank you, Caitlin, for bringing this issue to the forefront.

When my dear terrier-mix was alive but getting on in years, my fiancé walked him to meet me after my meditation class. The summer evening was warm and muggy. I was happy to see my “boys,” but as we were walking back home, I noticed that Scrappy was panting more than usual, his tail was down, his ears were back, and my fiancé (who had the leash) was constantly tugging on him to keep up with us.

I told him we needed to slow down. He thought Scrappy just wanted to sniff and not be cooperative. I knew differently. He was in distress. I insisted that we slow way down. We stopped in the shade of a tree and let him sit. He was better after that as we slowly walked home. My fiancé agreed that we did the right thing.

If we are feeling the heat and humidity, so are they!

I think I’ve reblogged maybe two or three posts in my 4+ years of blogging. I’m reblogging this one, Caitlin!

broadsideblog's avatarBroadside

By Caitlin Kelly

Dogs! Let's keep them safeDogs! Let’s keep them safe

Sometimes, as a journalist, I get to write a story I know is going to help a lot of people.

This is one.

I discovered the story when I recently read a friend’s status update on Facebook; their beloved terrier had almost died of heatstroke. Not, as everyone knows now, locked inside a car.

Out walking, or hiking, or running.

The world is hotter than ever; temperatures today in California are up to 105 Fahrenheit.

And our dogs want to keep us happy — they won’t stop running, even panting so hard they might burst — until they’re in very rough condition. By then it can be too late, and they’re already in organ failure, sometimes soon to die.

Dogs are dying of heatstroke. The symptoms are easy to miss.

Please make time to read my story and tweet/reblog this one.

Here’s…

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