Effects on Animals

Dogs

Cruelty and neglect of dogs globally is an animal welfare crisis – Urgent Education & Policy Change is Critical Zone of Comfort 10-20 Degrees Celcius (50-68F). At 23 Degrees (75F) there is Unsafe Potential. At 26 Degrees (80F) Dangerous weather is developing for your dog. Caution particularly if outside.

Unfortunately many owners of dogs don’t even consider that their pets and working dogs are susceptible to issues relating to prolonged exposure outside of their comfort zones to heat & cold.

While heat/cold pain is more common in summer/winter, it can occur at any time throughout the year even when the weather is mild. Dogs have a limited ability to sweat (paws, nose) and pant as a means of cooling their bodies using the evaporation of moisture from the tongue and mouth. This means that dogs overheat very quickly and can suffer heat pain/heat stroke in hot and even warm conditions. Because they’re not able to regulate their temperature as easily as we are, it’s critical that we provide them temperate, sheltered environments with good air flow and uninhibited access to clean water.

Urgent Education is needed to advise dog owners how to avoid needless suffering and to act quickly when they see the warning signs.

Excessive Panting, Drooling/Salivation, pale gums, increased heart rate, diarrhea, vomiting,

How to keep your dog cool and what to do if your dog overheats and suffers heat pain. If your warm – your dog is already feeling hot and you need to take action!

Plenty of Drinking Water must be availabe at all times, Airconditiong/Fan, Place a Wet towel over the dogs body, A cool not cold dog bath/flat bucket of water should be available in warm months to cool the dogs paws or for bathing.

What are the effects of prolonged exposure outside of a dogs comfort zone?

Organ Failure
Sudden & Painful Death – Cardiac Arrest
Compromised Immune System
Respiratory Disease
Lethargy & Tiredness
Loss of bladder control
Diarrhea
Fainting
Seizures, Coma

Heat & Cold reference images for dogs

Warning: The gallery below contains images of animals suffering and in great distress

Tethering or Chaining your dog

Animals Need Shade are joining Humane Animal Welfare groups around the world to educate policy makers and the public about the scientifically proven dangers of unattended chaining/tethering of dogs. The climate crisis has made the need for urgent change critical.

Dogs around the world including Australia can spend days, weeks and sometimes their their whole lives on the end of a rope or chain. Many of these dogs live a life of endless suffering with no adequate protection from the blazing sun, hail, freezing cold -sometimes with no shade shelter at all. Many dogs are dying and yet policy makers continue to sit in air conditioned offices. This cruel practice is now banned in many counties within the United States and other countries, such as Malta, have now banned dog chaining as it has been proven that it is impossible to monitor how long a dog/s are confined on a chain. (https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/watch-it-is-finally-illegal-to-chain-dogs.690813) Sadly Australia and other countries are still negligent in offering protection to dogs. Dog chaining is detrimental to the physical and mental well-being of any dog. Many chained dogs are deprived of adequate food and water, shelter, and veterinary care, and their social needs are ignored. They frequently die of illnesses related to heat pain/heatstroke, heart attacks and other organ failure in countries around the world battling the high temperatures that have now become commonplace. In winter they succumb to exposure. Internal and external parasites often feed on these animals year round who are more commonly neglected when chained. In the summer, flea and tick infestations and the added suffering brought on by flystrike are especially severe for chained dogs, who have no escape from them.

SAVING PUBLIC MONEY

Many countries do not provide routine inspections after an initial complaint is made (eg, Queensland, Australia). If no one else complains again after an initial complaint the dog will continue to suffer. This poor policy does not protect dogs the way in which public expect. Banning dogs on chains saves public money and the need for routine inspections. Thousands of calls come in every year for dogs suffering on the end of a rope/chain without adequate or no protection at all from blazing sun/hail/rain/wind chill. Come on policy makers we can do better!.

Figure 1. Distribution of dogs by complaint code.- Reference: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/5/282/htm

PD-Poor dog condition (27.9%, N = 29,982)
IF-Insufficient food and/or water (26.3%, N = 28,265)
NE-No exercise/confined/tethered (25.9%, N =27,913)
AB-Abandonment (20.1%, N = 21,626)
PL-Poor living condition (18.7%, N = 20,162)
NT-No treatment (17.6%, N = 18,963)
CR-Cruelty (15.5%, N = 16,661)
NS-No shelter (12.7%, N = 13,682)

Animals Need Shade are proud to support the movement to Ban Dog Chaining in Australia – For more information please visit http://www.bandogchaining.org