7 out of 10 dog owners concerned about their dogs' ability to stay cool during heatwaves
August 24: New polling by Round Our Way shows a majority of dog owners are worried about the impacts high temperatures are having on their pets — 87% of respondents said they adjusted when they walk their dogs when temperatures hit over 20 degrees.
Round Our Way worked with Peter Wright from Channel 5’s the Yorkshire Vet to explain the risks dogs face under hot temperatures.
The story was featured in iNews.
According to polling by Opinium commissioned by non-profit Round Our Way, nearly seven out of ten dog owners (68%) are concerned about their dogs' ability to stay cool in high temperatures. The poll shows that 49% of respondents are ‘a bit worried’, and an additional 19% ‘very worried’ about this issue.
The polling results also show that due to concerns about warm weather 87% of respondents adjust the timing of their dog walks when the temperature exceeds 20°C, and 84% of dog owners reduce the duration of walks in such weather.
There is an increasing body of evidence showing that the UK is getting warmer and that this is directly linked to climate change. The Royal Meteorological Society’s most recent State of the Climate report found that UK temperature extremes are changing much faster than average based on 1960 to 2022 UK daily average maximum and minimum temperature and that the UK's record warm year of 2022 and unprecedented July heatwave were both made more likely by climate change.
A study cited in the IPCC’s 2002 impact, adaptations and mitigations report showed that more than 35% of all heat-related deaths in the UK between 1991 and 2018 were caused by climate change. And a World Weather Attribution report in July 2022 found that the temperatures of 40°C the UK experienced in 2022 would have been extremely unlikely without human-caused climate change.
The polling results further show that:
Dog owners are most concerned about tick and parasite diseases, with 70% citing this as a top worry.
This is followed closely by concerns about heatstroke symptoms (67%)
62% say they are worried about damaged paws from hot pavements
58% say they are worried about overheating in cars
51% say they are worried about sickness caused by increases in flood water
51% say they are worried about their dogs being more agitated and aggressive due to high temperatures and air pollution
50% say they are worried about overheating in homes impacting their dogs
46% say they are worried about their dogs getting sunburnt
Roger Harding, Director of Round Our Way, a not-for-profit supporting people impacted by climate change in the UK, said:
“This data shows that dog-owners are rightly worried about how their pets will weather the increasingly hot summers we now experience thanks to climate change.
“In addition to heatwaves, dogs also have to contend with increased threats from pests that were once rare in the UK, but are thought to be more common as a result of climate change. Dogs are particularly vulnerable to Lyme Disease, a condition that is carried by ticks, affects animal lungs and can be very serious.
“This is another sign that everyday life in Britain is really starting to be impacted by climate change. We need our political leaders to ensure the country is better prepared for more extreme weather and tackle the fossil fuel pollution that is causing it in the first place.”
Case studies
In July 2023 Sarah* and her friend went for a walk in London with his eight-year-old dog, a Chow Chow called Bear.
She said it was a sunny day “but only about 18 degrees, normally we wouldn't take him out on days above 20 as he’s so fluffy he struggles in hot heat. But that day wasn't one of those days”.
Sarah said the much-loved pet was “panting a lot but it wasn't unusual and he would stop, lay down and refuse to move every now and again, but that's also not unusual behaviour for him. After maybe an hour or so, his panting started to sound a bit gruff, I’m not sure how to explain it”.
The two friends stopped to give Bear more water “and then decided to go to the nearest pub to find him some shade and a cool floor to lie down on. But as we were crossing the road he collapsed, his panting was faster and his tongue seemed limp”.
Sarah and her friend frantically “tried to get him up, to move him to the path, he wasn't moving. We'd used all his water at this point and some passersby stopped to offer theirs. We didn't know what to do but assumed it must be heat exhaustion so in my panic I started googling what to do. Advice was to pour water on paw pads and nose”.
More people were stopping to try to help and give advice, Sarah added. She ran “to get more water from the pub, we were in panic mode. At this point I think we thought he just needed a break and a lie down and he'd be ok, when really we should have taken him straight to the emergency vet. By the time we did take him, the vet looked extremely concerned. The rest is a blur. I know the vet explained his temperature was really high and told us various things they were going to do but none of the information registered with me as I was crying so much”.
Bear died within an hour of arriving at the vet. “I wish I could tell you exactly what they said, but I haven't wanted to bring it up to my friend since it's been too painful.”
Sarah wishes “we had known more about dogs and heat. It's getting hotter and hotter, I worry that more people will lose their beloved dogs as temperatures rise, if they don't know enough about what to do and what not to do. That's why I am talking about Bear. I don't want others to go through this trauma, it was horrific”.
Peter Wright, Channel 5 Yorkshire Vet:
“I don't think any of us have failed to notice that it’s getting a lot hotter. What are the implications for our four-legged friends? The implications can be immense…for instance, we don’t want to be walking out on pavements and tarmac where they can get their feet burned very easily and white dogs and white cats can get sunburn, particularly on ear tips, and also over a longer period of time they can be quite prone to skin cancers.
“We also need to consider heat stroke, this can happen wherever animals can’t get away from the hot midday sun in particular, they tend to drool more, salivate more, and pant, and this can then lead to much more serious problems like seizures or even death, over a relatively short period of time
“There are various sensible things we can do, like we don’t go out for walks in the midday heat, we go early in the morning or later at night when it’s cooler, it is vital and common sense.
“Never leave them in the car, never, ever, not even for a few mins, in the hot sun it can be fatal.
“And climate is changing throughout the year, the winters are not as severe and this allows other creepy crawlies like ticks to be a problem and this can cause tick borne diseases so come spring in particular we should use measures to repel tick bites, which is best to consult your vet about.”
