As summer heats up, it’s tempting to bring your pet with you on car rides around town. Sadly, many people believe that cracking a window is enough to keep their dogs cool in the car while they make a quick stop—but they couldn’t be more wrong. When it’s 80 degrees outside, your car will be a staggering 114 degrees in less than 30 minutes.
Even in cooler weather, the inside of a car may be as much as 20 degrees hotter than the outdoors—easily reaching 90 degrees on a 70-degree day. A shady parking spot, bowl of water or even an open window are insufficient measures to counteract the deadly effects of these temperatures.
Dogs can’t cool themselves down as easily as people, and once they overheat, they can suffer extensive organ damage or die. In Washington state, it is illegal to “leave or confine any animal unattended in a motor vehicle or enclosed space if the animal could be harmed or killed by exposure to excessive heat, cold, lack of ventilation, or lack of necessary water."
To help get the word out, we’ve created a hot weather safety graphic, and below are some quick tips for keeping your pets cool and safe.
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Quick Tips
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Never leave pets alone in a hot car, as internal temperatures can spike immensely. Even if you have the AC on or a window cracked, pets are at risk of heat stroke or organ failure.
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If you have AC at home, use it! Fans don't work as well but should be used if you don't have an air conditioner. Put a bowl of ice behind a fan to blow cool air. You can even set up a “cooling station” in a shady spot with a fan blowing, ice packs, and a bowl of water.
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Ice packs or frozen water bottles are great for your dog to rest on and keep cool. Kid pools are also great for when hot dogs need a dip.
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When going for a walk, be sure to test the temperature of the asphalt, as it can cause real damage to your pet's feet and will be hotter than the outside temp.
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Flat faced animals such as Pugs and Persians are more susceptible to heat as they can’t pant as effectively. Very young and senior animals, as well as those with heart and lung conditions, are also likely to be more affected.
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Symptoms of overheating include excessive panting, difficulty breathing, increased heart rate, increased respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor, collapse, seizures, bloody diarrhea, vomiting and elevated body temperature.
If you see an animal in distress on a hot day, please try to locate the owner or call 911 and stay with the animal until help arrives.
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APS-FH Now Offers Pet Cremation Services
Pet loss can be traumatizing, heartbreaking, stressful,
and often an expensive endeavor.
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APS-FH is pleased to announce that we have partnered with Radiant Heart After-Care for Pets to provide compassionate and affordable cremation services to our San Juan Island community residents.
Radiant Heart is a Bellingham, WA based pet-only funeral home with on-site cremation services. Having worked with Radiant Heart, we know they offer personal and respectful care for you and your pet. They provide eco-friendly cremation options as well as many additional products and services to honor your pet.
Radiant Heart visits APS-FH multiple times a month, therefore our loved one’s cremains are always returned in a timely manner. Cremation services are currently available to all community members regardless of income status; prices range depending on the type of cremation (communal vs. private), size of the pet, and any additional services requested.
Call APS-FH to learn more about this new service, and visit Radiant Heart’s website to learn more about their process.
It should be noted that APS-FH does not currently offer euthanasia services to owned pets. Any pets brought in for cremation services will have had to pass away naturally or humanely euthanized by your regular vet.
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Dog Yard Safety & Hygiene Project Update
Daily exercise is critical for the physical and
mental health of shelter animals.
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While cats and kittens cavort around multilevel platforms inside, dogs need to go out to the exercise yard. The dog yards at the shelter had poor drainage and, during the rainy season, were muddy with pooled water contaminated from feces. This posed a health hazard for the dogs. The large wood chips in the yard could not be cleaned and sanitized to eliminate parasites and disease and were rough on paws. In addition, many dogs like to eat wood chips which poses choking risk and can be dangerous when ingested. |
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In 2021, APS-FH began a campaign to raise funds to complete excavation work to improve drainage and to install K9 Astroturf in the shelter’s dog yards. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we were able to complete the project this spring. |
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We now have beautiful “ForeverLawn” turf in both dog yards and what a difference it has made for the dogs and the staff! As you know, it continues to rain, so it is wonderful that the dogs no longer come in from the yard covered in mud and must be wiped down or bathed after yard-play. Dogs can go outside for longer periods of time because staff are no longer need to stay out with them to assure that they don’t eat wood chips. Little dogs never liked the wood chips, but they do love the turf. You can see in the photos how much all the dogs are loving romping and playing on the new turf. And, best of all, the drainage is vastly improved, and the new turf is easy to clean and sanitize so no more hazardous health conditions. |
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We are immensely grateful – the dogs and the staff thank you! |
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Treasure Hounds finds a Forever Home! |
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Treasure Hounds, an upscale re-sale shop for home décor, furniture and collectibles, supports the animal shelter. After five years of renting space in Friday Harbor APS-FH had the opportunity to purchase the current location at 365-C Spring Street. Spacious and conveniently located, it is the perfect setting to shop the vast array of gently used treasures.
Many thanks to those in the community who donate their household items and to our dedicated and creative volunteers who run the shop! All proceeds benefit APS-FH providing general operating income and funding for special community projects such as the Pet Food Pantry, Trap/Neuter/Return program and Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic.
Whether you are redecorating your home, moving, or simply clearing out seldom used items, it might be time to visit (or donate to) Treasure Hounds. Free pickup is available for large items. For more information email: treasurehounds@apsfh.com
Shop or Drop Off Donations
Thursday through Sunday ~ 10am to 4:30pm
365-C Spring Street, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
(360) 298-9058
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Happily Home Photography Exhibit |
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An APS-FH photography exhibit is currently being featured at the Community Theatre’s Gallery, in the lobby area. The show highlights some of the many dogs and cats, puppies and kittens who were compassionately sheltered and cared for at APS-FH and then adopted into loving homes.
That’s our own Diana O’Brian behind the camera. Diana’s photography and videography talents and her keen eye and natural abilities have helped to capture the hundreds of beautiful eyes, adorable faces, and heartwarming adoptions that have taken place at the shelter over the years. We think this exhibit really highlights her work and the many personalities of her subjects.
We hope you will see, as we do, how wonderful each of these animals are. Their incredible ability to forgive the hardships they have experienced and to open their hearts to love again is remarkable. We stay in touch with our adopters and get to hear about the many ways they touch the lives of the people who take them home. It is often a mutual rescue.
We would especially like to thank Lori Stokes for her support with this project. The exhibit is located in the Community Theatre lobby. The exhibit is free and open for viewing from 11:00 – 2:00, Tuesday through Friday. The exhibit runs through the end of July.
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Do you enjoy taking photos of your pet? APS-FH is planning a community-wide pet photo contest. More information will be available in the very near future! |
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San Juan Community Foundation Virtual Fair |
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The San Juan Community Foundation will be back hosting their Fair Grant Program to support the many-non-profit organizations in our community. This year, the Grant Program will be offered both on-line and in-person at the Fair.
APS-FH is excited to once again be participating. We hope to raise $10,000 to help provide medical care for over 500 shelter animals.
The Virtual Fair will run Wednesday, August 17 through Saturday, August 20.
Please watch for more information as we get closer to the event!
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In mid-January, we were contacted by Okandogs (a non-profit organization supporting homeless dogs in the north-central Washington area) to assist with a litter of 11 puppies. Not having the capacity to take all 11 pups, we reached out to Orcas-APS to see if they could help with this transfer. Fortunately, they said yes! |
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Cindy and Hans Koch, mutual friends to both APS-FH and OkanDogs, paired up with the Seattle Mariners’ Manager Scott Servais and his wife Jill to help with the transport of these puppies. Jill Servais has a profound amount of knowledge and dedication to animal rescue work and had recently been acquainted to OkanDogs and their desperate need for help in their region.
The Servais’ joined the Koch’s on their private jet to travel over to the OkanDogs to see the situation firsthand. On their way back, they arranged to bring a litter of pups to NOAH, as well as splitting up the litter of 11 puppies between APS-FH and Orcas-APS. Friday Harbor was the final stop, where a lovely reception and tour of APS-FH were given to the rescue crew.
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Overall, the event was a major success, and it was a great show of partnerships, donors, and supporters coming together to learn about one another as well as assisting with animals in need. |
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Furry Factoid
The Dog Days of Summer?
Have you ever wondered where the expression “the dog days of summer” comes from? You may think it is a reference to the hot, dry, all in all miserable days of summer that are not “fit for man nor beast.”
But actually, the answer is in the stars!
The phrase is in reference to Sirius – the Dog Star. Sirius is the brightest star in earth’s night sky. During the Dog Days of Summer (July 3 – August 11), the sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius. In summer, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. On July 23rd, Sirius is in conjunction with the sun and it is so bright that the ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the combination of the sun during the day and the star at night was responsible for the extreme heat during mid-summer.
They referred to this time as diēs caniculārēs, or “days of the dog star.” Which eventually translated into just “dog days.”
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If you are an Amazon user you can make a difference while you shop! |
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Sign into your Amazon account, click this link and shop! At checkout, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to APS-FH. |
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