Austin, Texas – With record-breaking high temperatures expected this weekend in Texas, animals can quickly succumb to heatstroke if left outdoors. In the past two years, there have been at least 114 hot weather-related animal deaths—and these are just the ones that have been reported. Most aren’t.
Anyone who leaves animals outside to suffer in severe weather may be prosecuted for cruelty.
The following tips will help keep animal companions safe in hot weather:
Keep animals indoors. Unlike humans, dogs can sweat only through their footpads and cool themselves by panting, so even brief sun exposure can have life-threatening consequences. Anyone who sees animals in distress and is unable to help should note their locations and alert authorities immediately.
Never leave an animal inside a hot vehicle. Temperatures can quickly soar in parked cars, and a dog trapped inside can die from heatstroke within minutes—even if the car is in the shade with the windows slightly open, which has little to no effect on lowering the temperature inside the car. PETA offers an emergency window-breaking hammer for help with intervening in life-or-death situations.
Avoid hot pavement. When outdoor temperatures reach the 80s, asphalt temperatures can climb to 140 degrees, causing pain, burns, and permanent damage to dogs’ paws after just a few minutes of contact. Walk dogs on grass whenever possible, and avoid walking in the middle of the day. Never run with dogs in hot weather—they’ll collapse before giving up, at which point, it may be too late to save them.
Pet microchips are small, permanent identification chips that are about the size of a grain of rice. They are injected between the shoulder blades with a needle, and the process is about as quick as a vaccination. Most pets go through the one-time process without so much as a squeak. The estimated cost to implant and register a microchip ranges from about $25 to $75. However, VIP Petcare charges only $19, with free lifetime registration.
VIP Petcare microchips are internationally recognized and meet ISO requirements (International Organization for Standardization). This promotes compatibility between chips and scanners. VIP Petcare uses universal scanners, which read multiple microchip frequencies sold by different microchip manufacturers.
Your pet’s microchip ID code, just like your pet, is one of a kind. When your lost pet is taken to an animal shelter or veterinary clinic, they will scan your pet for a microchip and read its unique code. This code is stored with your pet’s profile and linked to your contact information.
Registration and keeping your contact information updated is just as necessary as microchipping. VIP Petcare automatically registers every recorded and implanted microchip into the found.org database within five days. Found Animals Microchip Registry is a free, national, nonprofit database that was conceived in support of a single belief: all lost pets need to find their way home.
Identification tags can become lost quickly, and tattoos may not always be legible. Only about 15% of dogs and 2% of cats without permanent identification return home to their owners. Approximately 9 million companion animals are admitted to shelters in the U.S. every year. Many of these are euthanized because their owners cannot be found.
Only a pet microchip can offer a genuinely permanent identification. Hundreds of thousands of pets have returned home thanks to a chip.
The American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Hospital Association, and the Humane Society of the United States all recommend microchipping.
State College, Pa. – PETA’s Compassionate Fire Department Award is on its way to Alpha Fire Company for its swift rescue of a dog named Skye, who toppled into a sinkhole after running off when her guardians let her off her leash during a walk on Monday. The couple searched for their missing dog until Wednesday morning, when they heard faint barking coming from a sinkhole, where Skye had fallen 15 feet. Firefighters quickly rushed to the scene, lowering Assistant Chief Dennis Harris into the hole with a rigged dog harness to retrieve Skye, who was lifted to safety and reunited with her family. She was taken to a veterinarian for a checkup and found to be uninjured.
“These determined firefighters were all that stood between this dog and a slow, lonely, agonizing death,” says PETA Senior Director Colleen O’Brien. “PETA encourages caring people to take this story as inspiration to come to the aid of animals in need.”
PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way,” is sending the department a framed certificate, a box of delicious vegan cookies, and a copy of The Engine 2 Diet—a Texas firefighter’s 28-day plan for staying in prime firefighting shape with plant-based meals.
PETA reminds all dog guardians to keep dogs on leashes at all times during walks and to ensure that their yards are secure with sturdy fencing and no open manholes or pipes. While outdoors, guardians should walk their animal companions with a leash and a comfortable, secure harness and keep a close eye on them.
for its swift rescue of a dog named Skye, who toppled into a sinkhole after running off when her guardians let her off her leash during a walk on Monday. The couple searched for their missing dog until Wednesday morning, when they heard faint barking coming from a sinkhole, where Skye had fallen 15 feet. Firefighters quickly rushed to the scene, lowering Assistant Chief Dennis Harris into the hole with a rigged dog harness to retrieve Skye, who was lifted to safety and reunited with her family. She was taken to a veterinarian for a checkup and found to be uninjured.
“These determined firefighters were all that stood between this dog and a slow, lonely, agonizing death,” says PETA Senior Director Colleen O’Brien. “PETA encourages caring people to take this story as inspiration to come to the aid of animals in need.”
PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way,” is sending the department a framed certificate, a box of delicious vegan cookies, and a copy of The Engine 2 Diet—a Texas firefighter’s 28-day plan for staying in prime firefighting shape with plant-based meals.
PETA reminds all dog guardians to keep dogs on leashes at all times during walks and to ensure that their yards are secure with sturdy fencing and no open manholes or pipes. While outdoors, guardians should walk their animal companions with a leash and a comfortable, secure harness and keep a close eye on them.
It was a lovely spring day many years ago when a teenager was riding in the passenger seat of a racecar hauler that was being driven through rural Iowa on its way to a race. Gazing serenely upon the passing view, she observed pastoral scenes of cows, young calves in tow, grazing tranquilly on fresh green grass.
It was a familiar sight: the backdrop of her life in small-town Midwest America. But suddenly it struck her. Although not familiar with the unbearably gruesome details of the slaughterhouse, she intuitively understood the future that lay ahead of these gentle creatures. The connection between those rest stop burgers and these mothers with their babies, once made, could never be undone. She never ate meat again.
That teenager was me. That was my moment of clarity.
Giving up meat was easy for me—much easier than enduring the questions, jokes, taunts and sneers slung at me due to my choice. Because of the ridicule hurled my way, I was low-key about it, quietly trying to eat vegetarian options without notice or fanfare. I got so tired of answering questions about what I did and didn’t eat and why I did or didn’t eat it. (No, I don’t eat fish. Yes, they are animals.)
Back then I didn’t proselytize. The choice I made was right for me, but I didn’t push my values on anyone else. I just wanted to eat in peace.
It took about ten more years for the next moment of clarity: The animals just wanted to live in peace. At that point I gave up leather. I also began donating to animal rights organizations, adopting pets from shelters and rescues and respectfully talking to friends about eating meat, hunting, fishing and countless other activities that hurt animals.
As my voice became stronger, my use of animal products diminished even further. And then, one day about five years ago, my husband and I decided to go vegan. Overnight. Done. It seemed the natural progression for me: the next step. I thought it would be much easier for me than for my husband, who wasn’t even vegetarian. I had a lot to learn.
The first person I turned to was Ingrid Newkirk, who had become a close friend. She immediately sent us several books by Dr. Neal Barnard, another good friend. They were a tremendous aid—a sort of instruction manual. While they contained some recipes, their value was more in the instructional guidance they offered.
We followed the steps proscribed in one of Neal’s books. First, we cleared the refrigerator and cupboards of everything that wasn’t vegan. Anything unopened was donated, the rest either fed to the dogs or tossed out.
Next, we went to the supermarket to restock the shelves. It took us ages to shop that day because we had to carefully scrutinize the labels on every single item. We were astonished to see how many items were made with milk. We could hardly find a loaf of bread at our regular supermarket. We felt defeated before we’d even begun. This wasn’t going to be as easy as we’d thought.
We persevered. My husband sampled a few brands of faux meat, but after 30 years of a vegetarian diet, that didn’t interest me. We looked through vegan cookbooks for interesting dishes. There were hits and misses. We struggled with the transition for a while.
One night, just as we were finishing chores on the farm, a vegan friend and neighbor who likes to cook brought us a couple servings of the black bean lasagna and Thai salad she had just made. That turned the tide for us. So there were delicious vegan entrees, after all! Modifying her recipe a bit, we’ve made the dish many times, especially when we have guests for dinner. Everyone loves it, whether they’re vegan or not. That led, in turn, to other recipes, more experimentation and additional sharing.
There were setbacks as we learned the vegan lingo that led to us eliminating additional items from our shopping list. I already knew that gelatin and marshmallows are made with beef tallow (although the nutritional label won’t tell you so), but we discovered that casein, a dairy product, is a common ingredient in many foods and some lecithin comes from meat, dairy or eggs. Label reading became trickier.
Vegan items are often stocked in the organic section at the supermarket, but organic doesn’t mean meat- and dairy-free. Nor does vegetarian. Few products carry a vegan label (although I wish the FDA would insist that they did; it would be so much simpler!)
We had to remain vigilant to avoid items with meat and dairy. We became detectives, investigating the food we considered putting in our mouths for hidden animal products. We began eliminating foods when their labels read “may contain milk.” If the producer couldn’t be sure, neither could we.
It’s easy enough to prepare vegan meals at home. However, it’s been tougher on my husband when he travels with the race team, often stuck at a race track until late at night, or stranded at some hotel in a foreign city—or country—with limited options and no transportation. Then there are the countless late nights at the race shop, when they order pizza that he can’t eat. I’m proud of him for sticking to it, taking his lunch to the shop, stashing granola bars in his backpack to nosh while the rest of the team is dining on take-out.
Despite some bumps and detours, the road has become easier with time as new habits develop. We’ve made new vegan friends and found out that a few we already had are now vegan too. Everyone has a favorite dish or recipe or restaurant they’re eager to share. Ingrid sends us vegan care packages every year with new yummies to tempt us and teach us that eating a plant-based diet is healthy, tasty and completely doable. As my neighbor said, it can be a fun challenge to figure out how to “veganize” a recipe.
It’s certainly easier—and more acceptable—to be vegan these days than it was when I first gave up meat 35 years ago. I no longer have to hide my dinner plate or feel like an imposition at the company Christmas party. I’m no longer embarrassed to inquire about the ingredients, or to politely decline if they include animal products.
Now I’m more apt to ask others why they eat meat when there is so much documentation of its adverse health effects and the devastating impact of animal agriculture on our environment … and, of course, for me perhaps the most important aspect of it all: the suffering it causes animals.
Reading labels has become second nature. Neal was right about retraining taste buds. I don’t miss Parmesan cheese. (Yes, we eat pizza without cheese and we like it.) I know I’m healthier since I gave up candy. I also know I feel better about us because we are not contributing to animal cruelty or global warming. There is no cruelty on our plates.
I ask everyone to join us—for your own health, for the future of our planet and for the innocent animals whose lives are so unjustly stolen in the name of cuisine.
