Here's how it progresses: First, the dog pants hard, trying the only way it can to cool off. As the temperature rises and the dog realizes it's in trouble, it becomes frantic, tries to get out, scratching at windows or digging at the seat or floor. It's an awful moment, the dog's moment of realization. "If you want to compare it to humans," says Messonnier, "it would be this: The person is too hot, stifling, feeling trapped. But a person knows things can be done," like smashing a window or blowing the horn for help. Dogs, of course, panic, since they can devise no strategies other than digging desperately. They often bloody themselves in this effort to survive. Some have heart attacks.
The panic doesn't last long. Very quickly the dog goes prostrate, begins vomiting, having diarrhea and lapsing into unconsciousness. Organs are disintegrating. "All organs function properly within a certain temperature range, and when body temperature reaches a certain level, organ cells begin dying. There's inflammation, white blood cells rush in … a cascade of things happens in minutes," he says. Liver, brain, kidneys are dying.
StruckBySmoothCriminal_GitEmSteveDave
12:10 PM on Thu Jun 25 2009