Clark County Community Development Learning Lab

0:00 My name is Caitlin Daniel. I'm an animal control officer for Clark County Animal Protection and Control, and I'm going to be talking about animal safety in summer. So this is a graph of some of the calls that we have. The first column is going to be summer, May through September, and the second is going to be like a fall/winter, October through February. It's broken down by types of calls that we receive. We receive more calls in the summer months when it's warmer, things like animals at large, cruelty and neglect complaints, so animals without food, water, and shelter, aggressive animals, injured and distressed. That can be something like animals left in a car, possibly a loose animal that's been hit by a car or

0:55 is injured some other way, noise complaints such as barking, confined animals, so an animal that was at large that somebody in the community has caught, or complaints about livestock. We're going to be talking about distress signals, so how to tell if an animal is in distress, animals in vehicles, good Samaritan laws that were put into place this last year, and paws on pavement, so how heat affects paws, sheltering requirements, fireworks, water safety, lost and found pets, and some resources and contacts at the end. So some contributing factors to summer distress is temperature. Typically when we're talking about dogs in cars, around 70 degrees is when we start getting concerned. Higher the temperature, the more dangerous it becomes. Things like sunlight, whether an animal is in direct sunlight or in the shade can be a difference of sometimes up to 10 degrees. Type of car if an animal's

1:52 in a vehicle, some cars have dog mode, so things like Teslas, some Rivians, some Kias, some Hondais all have a version of dog mode where it's temperature controlled. I know Teslas read out what temperature it is on their screen if they're left in there, so if you see a dog in a car, pay attention to what kind of car, see if it's running. The weight of an animal can also be a contributing factor. Animals that are severely overweight or underweight have a harder time regulating their body temperature than an animal of a healthy weight. Exercise, an animal that's used to routine exercise is probably better equipped for summer weather, but if you over exercise it, they can become tired or distressed. Animals that are dehydrated are typically more prone to distress, they don't have as much to work with. Stressed out animals, whether it's an animal that's normally anxious or is in a stressful situation, if it gets loose, people are chasing it, that can amp up their distress in the heat. Age, very young animals, puppies, kittens, very old animals, they're

2:51 a little bit more prone to distress one way or the other. And then breed, so specifically dog and cats breeds that are brachycephalic or have a flat face, so animals like a Frenchie or a pug or cats like a Persian, they typically have smaller noses and don't breathe as well in general and the heat can kind of exacerbate that. So some signs of distress, we have a dog that's in the floorboard of a car, the car was reading at 108 degrees, and we have a cat that was in an RV and the RV was reading at 119 degrees. You can see both of them don't look great, they did both survive, but the dog is in the floorboard trying to find shade in the coolest part of the car, and the cat, you can see his eyes are two different sizes, his mouth is open and panting and changing color which is not common for cats, cats don't pant unless there's something really wrong. Some signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, excessive panting, drooling or agitation, this isn't just a dog barking in a car, typically

3:51 it's, you know, sticking a nose to a cracked window, looking for a way to get out, pawing at it, generally seeming more than just a dog that's barking at somebody passing by. Dark red or pale gums, it can kind of go either way, so looking for a change in mouth and gum color, vomiting and diarrhea can happen, they kind of lose bodily function as they get too hot, stumbling or collapsing or neurological symptoms such as seizures, seizures don't always look like convulsions, it can sometimes look like air chomping, their eyes moving weird, then laying down and paddling kind of like they're swimming, all of those can be symptoms of seizures from overheating. If a cat's panting, it's a problem, cats don't pant unless they're severely stressed out or severely overheated, they don't cool down the same way dogs do. And then anything over 104 degrees of internal temperature is severe brain damage and that would be the move over to heat stroke from heat exhaustion, so when you pass that threshold, it's very much an emergency.

4:49 To cool down, water is a great way to cool an animal down, offering small sips of water, putting some water on them, moving them to a shaded area, whether that be shade under a tree, moving them to a different location, sometimes it can change by up to 10 degrees and get them out of that direct sunlight. Air conditioning, whether it's in a home, in your car, if you're pulling them out of one car and putting them into another, fan and airflow, getting some air onto them to help that temperature come down and then a cool towel under the neck or legs, it's going to cool down the brain and the heart which are going to be the really important parts. How hot is too hot? We have these warning pamphlets, so sometimes if it's not quite at the threshold, we'll give these to people as information. We talked about 70 degrees, that's when we get concerned about dogs being in vehicles, there's a lot of different things that come with that, it's are they in direct sunlight, how long have they been there, it's not an exact science, but 70 degrees is the general threshold of when we start to get

5:48 concerned. This shows what the outside temp is in 10 minutes depending on the condition, at 75 degrees you could reach 100 degrees inside of a car, it happens pretty fast. The warmer it gets, the quicker it gets warm in there, so there's a little bit of variation at 85 degrees, 5 minutes, that's 90, that's half the time from 10 degrees below and only a little bit of a difference. If it's 100 degrees outside, kind of like weather we've been having recently, in 15 minutes it's 140 degrees inside of a car. So cars exacerbate the temperature for outside, it does not take very long for them to get very hot. We're going to be talking about some RCWs, which is the revised code of Washington. I'm not an attorney, I'm not your attorney, this is not legal advice, this is animal protection controls interpretation of some of these laws that have passed and that are used.

6:43 So the revised code of Washington, RCW 16-52-205-2A, it's animal cruelty in the first degree, which is a felony. As it relates to this, it's a person is guilty of animal cruelty in the first degree when except as authorized by law or provided in see of this subsection, he or she with criminal negligence exposes an animal to excessive heat or cold and as a result causes substantial and unjustifiable physical pain that extends for a period sufficient to cause considerable suffering or death. So this is animals being left outside in a heat wave with no shade. Dogs in cars where it's hot and they get injured or become deceased, all of that falls under this, which is why they put another law into place to help protect them. So we're going to be talking about RCW 424, specifically 404 is a removal of vulnerable person or domestic animal from the vehicle. Some definitions that will be used in here

7:41 is domestic animal. So dogs, cats, other small animals, or large animals that are domesticated that could be kept as household pets. It doesn't apply to livestock. So things like cattle hauling trailers or large trailers that haul, you know, chickens, things like that don't necessarily apply. The middle picture there is a pig in a car. Sometimes those are kept as household pets. So that could apply in this scenario. Motor vehicles, they mean a vehicle that is self-propelled or a vehicle propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated on rails. So most of the vehicles you see outside classify as a motor vehicle. There are requirements regarding removing animals from vehicles. So 424406 is removal of vulnerable person or domestic animal from a motor vehicle. And it talks about the civil liability for vehicle damage. A person who enters a motor vehicle by force or otherwise

8:37 for purpose of removing a vulnerable person or in this case a domestic animal is immune from civil liability for damage to the motor vehicle if the person does the following things. So there's five requirements. First requirement is going to be determining if it's locked or there's no reasonable method for a person or domestic animal to exit the vehicle without assistance. So in this case, if the window's all the way down and it's a big dog, it could probably jump out itself. Even if it's unlocked, if the doors are closed, windows are up or cracked, dogs don't have thumbs, cats don't have thumbs, they can't let themselves out. So determine is the animal able to get out by itself if nobody intervened. Second requirement is having a good faith and reasonable belief based upon known circumstances that entry into the motor vehicle is necessary because the vulnerable person or domestic animal is in imminent danger of suffering or harm. So based on the things that we talked

9:35 about for knowing if an animal's in distress, are they doing those things? Are they panting? Are they pacing? Are their gums changing color? Are they having neurological issues? Determining if they have that and you think that they're going to suffer harm or become deceased is really important to know if you need to take the next steps or not. Third step is going to be ensuring that law enforcement is notified or 911 is called before entering the motor vehicle. So you've determined the animal can't get out on its own, it's in distress, it's having a problem. Calling 911 is going to be the quickest way to get ahold of any law enforcement animal control, anybody who might show up to respond to this. Number four is using no more force to enter the vehicle than necessary. So if the door is unlocked, that's going to be the easiest. Open a door, let it out. If the window is cracked and you can get in, get something in to unlock it and bring them out, that's easiest. Breaking a window is going to be last resort and then no more force than necessary.

10:32 Don't break all windows, break one window and then kind of go from there. Number five is remaining with a vulnerable person or domestic animal in a safe location in reasonable proximity to the vehicle until law enforcement, animal control or other first responders arrive. So this doesn't mean that you can't start cooling them down, move them to shade, put them in your car with the air conditioning, give them water, but you need to stay on scene until somebody arrives to get the animal from you. We came up with some ABCs. So A is assess if the animal is in active distress. So panting, pacing, you know, it's down, it's having some neurological symptoms, it's obviously not doing well. B, be willing to take images or videos of what's occurring. Evidence is really important if you can take pictures or videos of the animal in distress. Obviously we don't expect you to be able to take the temperature inside of the car, but having something to provide to us is very helpful. C is call 911. It's going to be the fastest way to get help,

11:32 whether that's animal control, the sheriff's department, the police department, somebody to come out and help you. D is don't leave. If you have the option to stay there, that's super helpful. Be as descriptive as possible. Having a description of a four-door white sedan at the mall doesn't help us very much, but if you can tell us what store you're at, how many spaces back, a landmark, make and model of a vehicle, license plate, or you can stay there so we can call you if we can't find you. It helps get help there faster. And then E is enter only if necessary. Not all dogs are friendly. We would hate for somebody to enter a vehicle, get bitten. It kind of exacerbates the situation. Just because the dog is barking does not necessarily mean it's distressed, so you kind of have to use a little bit of judgment on that. Another thing we see is people taking their dogs out for walks, especially on nice days. Paws and pavement don't always mix. A good rule of thumb is a seven-second rule. It's taking the back of your hand, putting it down on the sidewalk

12:30 if you can hold it there for seven seconds comfortably. It's probably okay to take your dog for a walk. If you can't, it's probably too warm. You typically see this around 77-degree days or higher. Things like sidewalk, asphalt, the road, any of those things. Avoiding peak hours can be really helpful, so taking your animal for a walk earlier or later in the day, kind of avoiding the midsection of the day when it's hottest. Letting them walk in grass or shade. A lot of sidewalks have grassy, shaded areas on the side of them if you're going to take them for a walk and try to convince them to walk over there. And then they make things like paw wax and boots that cover paws, so you can't always see paw wax, but the boots you can definitely see. Easiest ways, if you're concerned, to have a conversation with somebody and see what's going on, and then if there's a bigger issue, definitely let us know. Another thing we see a lot is shelter. What is adequate shelter? Things like a dog house, your house,

13:26 anything that provides shade can sometimes be reasonable. Covered dog runs or other, it doesn't necessarily have to be pretty, it just has to be functional. You want to provide them an area to get out of direct sunlight, and you want the shelter to be appropriate for the weather we're experiencing that day. So, depending on the day, it could be a very mild, you know, 75 degree day, slightly overcast. A shade tree is probably reasonable shelter for that. That same tree in the winter when it's raining would not be considered adequate shelter, so it's dependent on the day and the weather and what's going on. We also see a lot of this in the summer, so it's truck beds and open windows, dogs riding unrestrained in truck beds happens quite frequently. We do have county and city code that addresses this. It's slightly more strict than the state RCW. So, Clark County Code 8110708. It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to transport or confine any living animal

14:25 on the outside part of a motor vehicle, except when attached to or enclosed in the vehicle by a harness, leash, cage, or other enclosure, which protects the animal from falling or being thrown from the vehicle and which prevents the animal from leaving the vehicle while unattended. The outside part of a motor vehicle includes a running board, fender, or hood of any motor vehicle or the flatbed of a truck and/or the open portion of the bed of a pickup truck. So, animals that are unrestrained can jump out, they can fall out. Things that a lot of people don't think about is it's hot in there, a lot of truck beds are made of metal or they have black liner sprayed into them, they get very hot very quickly. Typically, things like this happen and it's an accident, nobody thinks it's going to happen to them until it does and it doesn't usually have a great outcome. Things like tethers, if you're going to measure them, make sure you measure them correctly. Typically, you attach them to a harness or a collar that's measured to the front half of your dog. It doesn't help if they're turned around, they're longer on the back half. So, trying to measure it appropriately

15:25 if that's the way you're going to confine it. City of Vancouver is very similar in its writing. The only difference is it removes firm incorporation. Same rule applies as far as a person, it's unlawful for them to transport a dog in that manner. While it's not unlawful to have a dog inside of your vehicle with your window all the way down, we also recommend against that if your dog can fit out the window, you know, it goes after a squirrel or it likes tires, it jumps out, it becomes a problem. We recommend not leaving your window open any more than just what their head can fit through to avoid accidents or, you know, having them in a kennel or something secure like that. In the case of a car accident, it really helps protect them. We also know that a lot of dogs like to go swimming, whether that's in a pool in your backyard or the lakes or the rivers or anything like that. Definitely teach your dog how to swim unassisted. So, you want to make sure that they can get on or off your boat, on or off your dock, up and down the stairs of your pool, anything

16:24 like that definitely helps them be a little bit more self-sufficient so you're not having to help them in and out. Monitor swimming conditions, you know, if you're out somewhere where there's boats, watch for wakes, you know, if you're going to take them to the ocean, things like tides. Just make sure that it's a safe area for them to swim because it can change very quickly. Purchase a life jacket just in case. You don't want to be stuck without one. Even if your dog can swim, it's always safer to have one than to not have one. Give your dog breaks. Like anything else, it's exercise, especially if your dog's not used to it. They can be having a lot of fun, but they can become very tired very quickly, so giving them breaks and making sure that they're okay and checking back in on them is very important. And then update your vaccines. Leptospirosis is recommended. It's not necessarily a core vaccine. It's kind of an additional recommendation. If you have an active outdoor lifestyle, it definitely helps protect them in this area. And then don't let your dog drink unknown water. Specifically in this area, we typically have algae blooms. Those

17:22 can be toxic to dogs, and they can be toxic to dogs very quickly, so monitor where you're at. Keep them away from those. If you don't know, it's better to let them not drink it. And then don't assume your dog can swim. Not all dogs can swim. Some have to be taught to swim, so check in, especially if it's a new pet to you. Make sure that you have that if that's what you're looking to do with them. And then don't leave your dog in or near water unattended. Just like anybody else, things with water can go bad very quickly, so make sure you keep an eye on them and what they're doing. With the Fourth of July coming up, we see a lot of fireworks. This is one of the busiest times for us with dogs being able to get out. Do they get scared? Staying inside is a great way, letting them out early. It's better to clean up an accident in the house than to have to go try and find your dog, so stay inside as much as possible. Provide distractions. Music, TV, movies, chew toys, you know, treats, things like that can help distract your dog. Making sure you're updating your microchip, your ID tag and licensing, and having updated information, especially

18:21 with the county, is helpful. If you find a dog with a tag, we can get them back to you. It's only as good as the information you provide, so if you've moved or you've changed your phone number, try to have that updated before this season. And then consulting a veterinarian early. A lot of dogs require transitional medications and medications to help them calm down on the Fourth of July, so making sure you get into your vet to get those filled, make sure you have enough of them. A couple days before and a couple days after the Fourth of July is not a bad idea, just to make sure you have enough. If you have a new pet, you don't know how they're going to do, getting them into your veterinarian, consulting about these things, having things prepped just in case your animal is afraid of fireworks and noise is definitely very helpful. And then securing fencing and gates. So if you have the option to go in and out of a back door that leads to some kind of a yard that has fencing to it, use that over the front door. You have a secondary line of defense. Make sure gates are locked, latched. That helps in case anything does happen. It gives you

19:14 a little bit more time. And then in the case you do lose your pet, make sure your microchip and license information are updated. Make sure they have them on a properly fitted collar. Those help get them back the quickest, especially if they're still, you know, in the neighborhood and one of your neighbors can pick them up and get them back home to you. If that's not the case, check the Humane Society for Southwest Washington. They have a lost and found page. So animals that are brought in, either by Good Samaritans, Animal Control, the police or the Sheriff's Department, they go there. So check in, check in frequently. It's updated often. Posting in local lost and found pet groups. There's a lot of them, especially on Facebook. Things like Next Door and Ring can also be super helpful to people in your local community. And then filing a lost pet report with Petco Love Lost. So when pets are brought into the shelter, they often reference lost pet reports to see if they can help get your pet back home to you. And then search your local area and talk to your neighbors. Sometimes pets don't go very far, especially when they're scared. So talk, see if anybody's

20:12 seen it, see if anybody saw it, which way it headed last and get the word out there. And then some licensing information. So we have the QR code for Clark County pet licensing as well as the website. The website's super helpful. It answers a lot of questions about cost and what the process is. We also have an office assistant who's great at answering any of those questions. Our contact, so we are located at 500 West 8th Street, Suite 100 in Vancouver. We have two main lines. The first one is 564-397-2488. It's for general concerns and reports if you have something that you would like us to look into. The second line is for licensing. So it's 564-397-2489. And we have our general email, which is animal@clark.wa.gov. That goes directly to our dispatch. So it gets you to the same place. And then a couple

21:07 links to our general page. It has lots of resources to various things that we deal with. Questions that are asked frequently kind of gets you all of the basic information. And then we have our link directly to report concerns online. Additionally, the Humane Society for Southwest Washington is going to be the local shelter. So if you've lost or found a pet, this is going to be a great resource. They're located at 1100 Northeast 192nd Avenue in Vancouver. They also have a location in Cowlitz County. But this is the one that's local to us if your pet is found within Clark County. And their main line is 360-693-4746. And their lost and found line, which goes directly to people who receive and help you with your pets, if you've lost a pet or found a pet, is 360-213-2621. And the email provided goes to receiving, which is that lost and found department. So that's going to be probably the easiest way to get ahold of them. And there are links to their regular website as

22:04 well as the lost and found page. Some other resources in Clark County. We have three 24 hour emergency vet clinics. Pacific Northwest Pet ER and Specialty Center. If you find a stray injured pet after animal control hours or on the weekends, this is where you're going to want to take them. They take injured strays and they work with animal control for us to pick them up when we're back on duty. And then Med Vet Vancouver is another one. It's over off of 72nd and Andresen. And Columbia River Veterinary Specialist is going to be the third one. There are some additional ones in Oregon, but these are the ones local to our county. We typically recommend if you're having an emergency, go there, call them on the way and let them know. Thank you. >> Welcome to our Q&A session. To ask your question, please use the microphone in front of you. To use your microphone, please press the button. And when you're done asking your

23:01 question, press the button again. >> I have a question. How long do I have when I see an animal that's in a vehicle before I know that it's in distress? >> So it's not a time requirement. You don't have to wait a certain amount of minutes. It's dependent on the situation and what the animal's doing. As long as you follow the five steps, you know, checking to see if there's a way out on its own, seeing if it's in distress, calling 911, using no more force than necessary to enter, and then waiting there. There's no specific time limit. Yeah. >> If I see an animal trapped in a car, what window should I break? >> You want to break the window that's furthest from the animal. You want to avoid, you know, the driver's front windshield, their very back. But let's say the dog's in the front driver's seat. You're going to want to break the back passenger. The last thing you want to do is have an animal that's in distress now also covered in glass. So you want to

24:00 break the one furthest from them that will help you get access to them. But only breaking one is necessary. >> I have a question. On one of the slides, it mentioned that brain damage for animals occurs at over 104 degrees. And I think it just emphasizes the importance of the previous slide that talked about how quickly a car can heat up in relation to outside temperatures. Responding -- or questioning that 104 degree temperature -- and I understand you're not a veterinarian, but does that occur immediately, or is there a period of time that a car -- that an animal would be in a car that brain damage would occur? >> So it -- obviously, the longer they're in there, the more at risk they are for that. When you start seeing severe symptoms, like not moving neurological symptoms, that's when you would assume that that's probably what's happening. As they decline, you know, it can occur in as little as five or 10 minutes. It really just depends. When it's super hot,

24:59 the time shortens. When it's a little bit cooler, it lengthens. But we obviously want to render help to them before they get to that point. >> Thank you. >> Does it matter if I see food or water inside the vehicle? >> It does not. So things like food and water and the window being cracked does not make it an okay temperature for them to be in there. Obviously, it's better if they have water, but that doesn't negate how hot the air temperature is and the effects that it has on them. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you for attending today's session, and thank you to our presenter. Our next session topic is going to be directing your questions and overview of common inquiries that I will be presenting at our next learning lab, July 16th at 11 a.m. And we hope to see you there.