Every year dogs in cars are cooked - literally, from the inside. Please join our campaign - it unites the dog-loving world and aims to encourage zero tolerance to dogs ever being left in hot cars and prevent any more dogs dying in this horrific way.
The need for a fresh campaign was identified shortly after the most recent tragic deaths of the two police dogs. The tremendous public anger was transformed into something positive. Editor of Dogs Today magazine, Beverley Cuddy together with designer Judith Broug honed a concept which hit a chord with dog lovers worldwide. News of the campaign quickly spread via social media and was even backed by Twitter supremo Stephen Fry who retweeted how people could get their own posters and stickers.
campaign supporters
The passion of pet lovers on social media gave birth to this campaign and things really got very busy indeed when Stephen Fry highlighted it to his 2.98 million followers. Celebrity endorsements from the likes of Victoria Stilwell, Jilly Cooper, Antony Worrall Thompson, Ian Dunbar, Allen Parton, John Burns, Sarah Whitehead, Peter Neville, Richard Allport and Patrick Burns followed.
We've been inspired and delighted by the support we've had from charities like Dogs Trust, RSPCA, National Animal Welfare Trust, Wood Green, Blue Cross and organisations like the Kennel Club, PetPlan, APBC and online retailers Mutley & Mog and many more.
latest news ....
latest support: The Kennel Club bring out the Don't Cook Your Dog movie
latest poster - now in Polish ... click here
The case which inspired this campaign has come to court.
On October 12th '11 in Bromley Magistrates Court, former PC Ian Craven was
banned from owning dogs for three years after he left his two dogs to bake
alive in his car on one of the hottest days of the summer.
An RSPCA statement said the dogs would have experienced substantial
suffering.
Initial reaction on social media to news of the sentence has been regret
that a lifetime ban at the very least was not imposed.
We quote from the BBC report:
"On 26 June he left the four-year-old Belgian Malinois called Chay and a
six-month-old German Shepherd called Tilly in his vehicle on one of the
hottest days of the year.
"Prosecutor Andrew Wiles said temperatures that day went from 16.1C (61F) at 7am to 22.2C (72F) by 11am, in the shade.
Craven arrived at about 7am with the dogs in a black plastic cage in the
back and parked in front of the main building, in an area with no shade. The court was told he had intended to kennel the dogs while spending the day at the Olympic Village in east London. However, Craven forgot and when he realised several hours later he rang the centre to alert them.
Mr Wiles said: "He was pursued by his colleague, who said he appeared to be in a panic, he was pacing up and down, and heard to say 'I've killed my dogs'."
The court also heard in a previous incident in 2004, Craven had left a
spaniel in a hot car at Keston that also died.
Mr Wiles said Craven underwent an internal investigation and pleaded guilty to offences detailed in the code of conduct for police officers and was reprimanded.
RSPCA chief inspector Dermot Murphy said: "Ian Craven, for the second time, left dogs in his vehicle on a hot day and forgot about them.
This is an unacceptable action and one that is aggravated by the fact that
he was a professional dog handler and trainer at the time."
Sentencing him at Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Daphne
Wickham said: "I accept it has brought your illustrious career as a
sergeant to an end, it may have damaged your wife's career and your
reputation with all those around you, and that in itself is a punishment."
Don't Cook Your Dog campaign shortlisted for Campaign of Year
The Don't Cook Your Dog campaign was shortlisted by British Society of Magazine Editors for the campaign of the year award, unfortunately we didn't win the actual award but Beverley was given the rare "Highly Commended" status, which very much was an excellent result, and one we are very pleased with.
Read more and see the competition... (extenal link to BSME)
New "ALL-YEAR-ROUND" Poster
We have created an all year round poster, since we are heading for warm days, even outside the Summer period. (Click here to download)
"...there are many dog owners out there who think because it is between November and March the car can't become hot enough to fry your dog and as we all know, even on a hazy day in winter the inside of a car can become very hot if dogs are left for long. Coupled with warmer winters (forget last year) we have all seen dogs in the supermarket car park quite distressed on sunny winter days when the owners have left them with no ventilation at all and when asked why their explanation is simply because it is winter and they thought the rules regarding leaving a dog only apply for summer months" - Anne Hemmings (dog trainer) from Suffolk
Thames Valley Police
"...We welcome your efforts in campaigning to raise public awareness of the dangers of leaving dogs in cars during warm weather. Where appropriate we will intervene to ensure the welfare of any animal..."
Association of Chief Police Officers
Great news! - Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales & Northern Ireland is fully behind our campaign.
latest endorsements ....
"The NDWA is very concerned about dogs suffering on hot days and we welcome this initiative to highlight the dangers..."- National Dog Warden Association
"Tesco are keen to support the communities our stores are part of. With Community Champions at over 300 stores throughout the UK, they play an active role by raising awareness and helping their customers & community members ..." - Briony Rutt, Community Plan Project Manager, Tesco
Jilly Cooper, well known writer and her lovely dogs make a stand!!!
"...With over 35 year's experience of keeping the nation's pets healthy, we believe that this is a vital campaign to stop the needless cases of dogs dying..." PetPlan - Pet Insurance
"You'd think everyone would know not to leave animals in hot cars, but we're still seeing tragic cases of dogs dying completely unnecessarily..." - Nigel Gibbens - UK Chief Veterinary Office, Defra
It really is heartening to see how the doggie world can pull together on an issue like this. Read more...
car experiment : TempErature rising
The car experiment was done by Kate Price, owner of the famous Olive the Pug, on a sunny Saturday in July. And the results are shocking! Obviously there is not a dog in the car!
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11.15 AMCar in sun front two windows open |
11.15 AMOutside temperature: 29° Celsius |
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11.20 AM [in car]31° Celsius / 2 front windows open |
11.25 AM [in car]40° Celsius / 2 front windows open |
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11.30 AM [in car]40° Celsius / 2 front windows open |
11.30 AMNow opened 4 windows to typical height |
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11.40 AM [in car]45° Celsius / 4 windows open |
On back shelf of car in direct sun, all 4 windows open. It only took a few minutes to reach over 50° Celsius |
