BCCA has released an article with a few statistics of their call volume concerning not only pets locked in cars, but children as well. Most of them are thankfully accidental lock-ins, but the danger is still present whether you meant to or not. It is comforting to know, that if you do call your affiliated branch of CAA or AAA, they drop everything right away and send someone ASAP to unlock your vehicle.
A quick summary of their key points are:
- If its been said once, its been said a millions times : never leave a child or a pet alone in a car.
- Temperatures in a locked car can skyrocket to 40 or 50 celcius in less than 20 minutes.
- A child or pet can suffer heat stroke or sever dehydration in less than 40 minutes in a hot car.
- Remember that buckles on seats can be extremely hot to the touch, my kids carseat buckles that go between their legs get so hot I have to make sure it doesn’t burn their bare legs.
- Make sure you remove all children and pets from the vehicle when you arrive. Make a note to check everywhere. I was paranoid taking my baby nephew to the zoo with us one hot day this summer, because its easy to forget what you aren’t used to taking, aka that third child for me. I made a point of always checking to make sure. You would be surprised how easily you forget!
- Consider if you really need your pet to go with you, sure they enjoy the car ride, but then what are you doing with them while you are in the store?
- Always lock your car, this can prevent not only theft, but then your children can’t climb in and play.
- Call your AAA or 911 right away if your kids do get locked in a vehicle.
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