Summertime to many means water skiing, fishing, camping, and vacations. However, this is also the season for long hours of sunlight, heat, and humidity. If you’re hot and uncomfortable, think how your pets must feel with their fur coats.

The law requires that all animals be provided food, water, and shelter.

Food in sufficient amounts to maintain good health is crucial. However, many pets won’t eat much due to the heat.

Shelter for outside pets to protect them from the elements such as wind, rain, and even hail at this time of the year. But just as important is shade, artificial or natural, which should be available to provide relief from direct sunlight. Pets confined in direct sunlight in the summer can overheat and all species of domestic animals are susceptible to heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion or heat stroke results when the body’s heat regulating mechanism fails under conditions of high temperature, high humidity, and/or poor ventilation.

Wisconsin state statute requires that indoor housing of pets shall be adequately ventilated by natural or mechanical means. Keeping in mind not all households have air conditioning units, fans will work. At times it may be cooler to tie your pet under a shade tree when it is 85 degrees outside versus 95 degrees in the house. Ambient temperature required for good health by a short-coated toy breed dog will be neither hot nor cold, while very young or sick animals have little tolerance for cold or heat, and dogs with relatively short or broad heads such as the English bulldog have little tolerance to the heat. You should know your pet and use common sense.

Water is a necessity and should be provided in large amounts during these hot summer months. When animals are denied adequate access to water, dehydration results. We should remember dogs sweat only through its paw pads and its tongue. This is why we should walk our dogs early in the morning before the day and the pavement or black top become too hot.

Many people like to take their dogs along for a ride when running errands. But you could be risking their lives. Did you know that on a hot or very warm sunny day, the inside of your car heats up very quickly? On an 85 degree day, for example, even with the windows slightly open, the temperature inside your car can climb to 102 degrees in 10 minutes and to 120 degrees in 30 minutes. A dog’s normal body temperature is 101 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. A dog can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time before suffering irreparable brain damage or even death. Some people do not think this applies to them since they will be out of the car only a few minutes. But try this, park your car in the sun, turn it off, roll up the windows and sit there for two minutes. Now you be the judge…is a "few minutes" okay? Leave your pet at home.

Please help you pets enjoy the summer months as you will by following the above-mentioned easy common-sense tips.

For more information, contact the Ordinance Enforcement Department at the Marshfield Police Department or call 384-0814.