How You Can Help

By Jon Sutz
Founder, HeatKills.us (and previously, HeatKills.org)

You've probably seen the occasional story about a dog that suffered, and maybe even died, in a hot car. These stories are far more common than most people think; here is a sampling that I put together:

Tragic stories of dogs suffering, and dying, in hot cars – HeatKills

The four most important things you can do to help prevent dogs from suffering in hot cars

I am often asked, "But what can one person do?"  My answer is "A lot!," and I've worked to make it as easy and efficient as possible for busy people, retirees, and those with limited mobility to play a role in helping to prevent dogs from suffering in hot cars.  Here are the four most important things that all of us can do:

(1) Become informed on the science of heatstroke and dogs. This page was created to help you get started.

(2) Talk to your local police department, animal shelter and retail managers. Many of these authorities love dogs, but either (a) are unaware of the danger of leaving them in cars, or (b) harbor inaccurate perceptions of this issue.

(3) Share the free HeatKills.us resources as widely as you can. I've worked hard to make these resources easy to understand, validate as accurate, and share with others - on both a proactive and reactive basis.

(4) Ask businesses in your area to sponsor the printing and distribution of HeatKills.us’s printed flyers. Think of the businesses in your area that might like to have their names associated with a cause as worthy and unifying as helping to prevent dogs from suffering in hot cars.  Here is the flyer I created and distributed in Charlottesville, VA, as sponsored by a local emergency animal hospital:

Here is the template for the flyer, the bottom of which I can modify at will.

I'm ready to integrate ad art (3 1/8" x 1 1/2") for sponsoring businesses or organizations into the bottom of the flyer, ready to be printed out in bulk Staples, Office Depot, FedExOffice, or an online service bureau.

Each of us can play a role in raising awareness of the heatstroke danger to dogs.

Aside from a love of dogs, HeatKills.us is driven by a basic belief that Holocaust victim Anne Frank expressed in her diary:

#LoveDogs

HeatKills.us was created in loving memory of Shayna.

About Jon

I am a dog-loving visualization and graphic designer, writer and creative consultant. My professional bio is here. The most important, joyous job I’ve ever had, was as “dad” to Shayna, the “miracle dog” who helped to save my life after 9/11, and about whom I wrote my first book, “Saved By Shayna: Life Lessons From A Miracle Dog.” Read the Introduction here. See a short video about what made Shayna such an incredibly talented, inspiring and hilarious dog here. I created HeatKills.us (and its predecessor site, HeatKills.org) to help raise awareness of the dangers of leaving a dog in a hot car. Learn about my creation of the HeatKills project here.