Hot cars are deadly for pups. Within a few minutes, a car can become overwhelmingly hot and dangerous, regardless if you leave the windows cracked or not. There are lots of web pages that show graphs of the way that cars heat up. There are YouTube videos of people showing how the temperature raises in the car quickly. I'm not going to go over that information. I'm going to give you some first hand experience on dogs and hot cars.

In 2013, the pet sitter with whom we trusted our dog, left our dog in her car. It was July, and the temperature was 98 degrees. She somehow "forgot" that she had our long-haired, 60 lb. German Shepherd in her black car that she'd parked in her driveway in the blazing sun. While this pet sitter sat inside her air conditioned house, Kismet died alone in her car.

My vet, in an attempt to comfort me, told me that Kismet's death was quick. As you can imagine, it didn't help me feel any better. In fact, this the first time that I've written about Kismet's death. And, as I sit here with tears streaming down my face, I can see her food bowl, which, almost 5 years later, I still can't bring myself to move.

The repercussions of what happened with Kismet affected our other dog, Karma. Karma couldn't live without his big sister, and died 24 days later of a broken heart. Within less than a month, I lost both of my pups.

Now, whenever I'm in a parking lot and I hear a dog barking in a parked car, I have a visceral reaction. Luckily, in Massachusetts, there are laws against leaving dogs in cars. If you find yourself in a situation where you see a dog trapped in a hot car, do something. Don't let another dog die alone in a hot car.