A driver has been reported after police discovered a dog was left inside a vehicle during extremely hot weather.
Officers stated that they saw the canine while dealing with a separate incident at Keele Services on the M6. According to the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) the pet had been left in the parked car at a point when the mercury had reached 36C.
The force has added that the occupants of the car were inside the services at the time the dog was spotted. As a result of the incident, the vehicle owner has been reported for animal cruelty offences, Stoke On Trent Live reports.
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Posting on Twitter, the CMPG said: "While officers were dealing with an incident at Keele Services they noticed a car parked up with a dog inside it in 36c temp whilst the occupants were inside the services.
"Please don’t leave animals inside cars in this temperature as it's always hotter inside the car. The driver of this vehicle has been reported for animal cruelty offences."
It is widely known that leaving a dog in extremely hot cars without any ventilation or cooling is dangerous because they can only cool themselves down by panting and sweating through their paw pads. In fact, it's so hard for dogs to cool themselves down that leaving a window open or a sunshield up is often not enough to keep the car efficiently cool.
If you spot a dog left in a car during extremely high temperatures, your first point of action should be to call 999 so the police can inform the RPSPA if animal welfare assistance is needed. Furthermore, you could call the RSPCA 24-hour cruelty line for advice on 03000 1234 999.
But, if you believe the animal is in immediate danger, you should always dial 999 first.
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