The mercury may be tipping 40 degrees in the direct sunlight, but inside a parked car it is easily beyond 50 degrees.
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With the next three days likely to bring the city into a heatwave, experts are warning against leaving children or animals inside vehicles – even for just a minute.
“Police are responding to various locations in Wagga to reports of children being left in cars, locked in cars and being left unattended,” said Wagga’s detective inspector Phil Malligan.
“It’s a serious offence, and the inherent dangers of that is obviously that a child could die very quickly being left in a car.”
As a test situation, The Daily Advertiser left a thermometer inside a car at midday on Wednesday.
Outside the car, the temperature sat at 37.1 degrees. But inside the car, the mercury quickly rose from 20 to 50 degrees, within 10 minutes.
As dangerous as it is for a human child, Wagga veterinarian Lynne Bodell says the risk to life may increase for fur babies.
“Anything above about 20 degrees outside, in a car that’s like an oven,” Dr Bodell said.
“Pets don’t sweat like humans do. They pant to cool down, so even in direct sunlight, they struggle because they just can’t cool down like we do.”
All animals fell the acute stress of heat anguish, but Dr Bodell says dogs are at the greatest risk at this time of the year.
“Dogs actively want to be with you. In some cases, they’ll actually get heat stroke rather than leave your side,” she said.
“I can tell you a story that I saw a couple years ago, where a dog chased after his owner’s ute for a fair way, and then [the dog] ended up dying of heat exhaustion.”
Brachycephalic dog breeds – including pugs and bulldogs – are more susceptible to hot conditions.
“They don’t breath as well as other dogs at the best of times, so when it’s hot they just can’t pant enough to cool down,” Dr Bodell said.
“Overweight dogs also tend to feel the heat a lot.”
But even when an animal has been given plenty of air, heat stroke may still strike.
“The ground can be way too hot for animal paws,” said Dr Bodell.
“The general rule is, if you can’t walk on it with bare feet, they shouldn’t be on it either.
“People think putting their dog in the back of a ute is OK because they’re getting that cool breeze and all that fresh air, but they’re literally standing on a burning sheet of metal.”
As police continue to crackdown on the offense, they are calling on the community to remain vigilant.
“Call Triple 0 straight away and get emergency services responding to that location,” said detective inspector Mulligan.
“If a vehicle door can be opened to let air in the car.”