The temperature inside a vehicle can reach intense levels putting people and your pet at risk of serious illness or death in less than 10 minutes, even on a day that doesn’t seem that hot to you.

Over 900 children have died inside hot vehicles since 1998. The inside of a car heats up very quickly and death can occur within 10 minutes. Children’s bodies heat up 3 to 5 times faster than healthy adults.

This includes pet heat safety also. Animals can die of heatstroke within 15 minutes. Cracking the windows does not help, the inside still gets dangerously hot. During hot weather, keep your pets at home.

If you see a pet in an unattended vehicle, do not leave until the problem has been resolved!

Federal data shows about 2,300 fatalities last summer with death certificates mentioning the effects of excessive heat. That’s the highest in 45 years of records. Be smart!