No matter how many times we're warned not to leave pets - or children - in parked cars on hot days, some people just don't listen, and there will be more horror stories in the media next summer.
Dogs don't sweat - that's why they pant when they're hot - and they can't tell us how they feel when the temperature inside a parked car (essentially a steel box standing in the sun with no air circulation) rises to the point where they can't breathe and suffer brain damage and, eventually, death.
PET ADVOCATE
So North Carolina vet Dr Ernie Ward - a self-styled ‘pet advocate’ - has taken it upon himself to speak for them - or in this case to show you just what happens when you leave your best friend in a parked car, even with all four windows cracked open a few centimetres.
If this video doesn't convince you never to lock your pet in a car, you shouldn't own a dog and, given the strength of the sunshine on the average SA summer's day, after the next time you do it, you probably won't.