Don't leave dogs in hot cars

A few minutes in a hot car in the middle of summer can be dangerous for your dog. Even when temperatures are relatively mild - say the low 80s - the temperature in your car can soar to over 100 degrees.

Last week, the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce received several reports from concerned citizens about a dog left in a car for about 45 minutes. It turned out that the dog was OK, but Chamber Director Erin Borla says that the Chamber will take action in such cases.

"We'll do everything in our power to contact people in the businesses around where the vehicle is - which we did (in last week's case) - and then we'll call the sheriff's office, just for the safety of the animal," she said.

The pet owner in last week's incident was not particularly appreciative of citizens' interest in the plight of his dog, but one of the complainants told Borla that it was a big issue for him, because he knew of a couple of dogs that had died in hot cars in Eugene.

The Humane Society notes that dogs can't sweat; they pant to keep cool, but if the air they breathe is overheated, they can quickly suffer heat stroke.