Animal shelter volunteers, pets cope with summer heat

FLORENCE — As forecasters offers heat advisories for the hottest weather so far this summer in South Carolina, they also are reminding people to look out for their pets.

HEAT SAFETY TIPS

• Increase your intake of non-alcoholic, non-carbonated, caffeine free beverages such as water and juice. Wear clothing that is light in color and loose fitting.
  
• Avoid the outdoors during extreme heat. Stay out of the sun.
  
• Stay in an air-conditioned environment if possible. Shopping malls offer relief if your home is not air-conditioned.
  
• Check on the elderly. They are especially susceptible to heat related illness.
  
• Eliminate strenuous activity such as running, biking and lawn care work when it heats up.
  
• Eat fewer foods that increase metabolic activity/heat. Proteins are an example. increased metabolic heat increases water loss.
  
  -- NOAA
  

At the Florence Area Humane Society, volunteers are dealing with keeping the dogs and cats cool, coping in a facility without air conditioning.

Shelter workers said animals are more sensitive to this weather than humans, and can overheat much easier.

“It can just affect them so quickly and so that’s why we're keeping an eye on them,” shelter manager Katy Hollingsworth said. “They can just be fine one minute and then all of the sudden they’re panting and they have heat exhaustions. It can just get real bad.”

To keep their animals safe, the Florence Humane Society is saving water bottles, putting them in a freezer and then placing them in the water dishes. They’ve also placed fans indoors, are keeping their animals in the shade and taking the dogs on shorter walks. According to Best Friends Animal Society, asphalt can get hot enough to burn the pads on a dog’s feet.

“We’ve got to watch out for them. It can be deadly if you’re not careful,” Hollingsworth said. “The heat can get to them so fast. I mean. they have a fur coat on. It’s hard for them to regulate their temperature,”

The humane society advises pet owners to make sure any outside animal is in a shaded or covered area and has plenty of water. It also recommends not keeping any pet outside for extended periods of time.

One of the most life-threatening mistakes people can make is to leave pets in a vehicle during hot weather, according to Best Friends. Dogs and cats can’t perspire, as humans do, to cool themselves off via evaporation, so they have to pant to cool themselves.

White cats can also become sunburned if they lay in the sun too long. And even indoor cats can get sunburned through a sunny window, Best Friends said.

The humane society shelter is located at 1007 Stockade Drive, off of National Cemetery Road, in Florence and is open from noon to 5 p.m. every day except Wednesday and Sunday. Call (843) 669-2921 for more information on how to adopt a pet, volunteer at the shelter or donate funds and supplies.