Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are life-threatening emergencies in dogs that are almost entirely preventable through owner awareness.
Heat exhaustion is painful and terrifying for affected dogs, and heat stroke causes a particularly distressing death through circulatory collapse and organ failure. The tragedy is that almost every case is preventable. Never leaving a dog in a car, walking during cooler parts of the day, and providing shade and water are simple interventions that eliminate the risk entirely. Public awareness campaigns save lives.