Mini Act of Cultural Vandalism - Leave the window open or the dog would melt

Hot Cars Kill Dogs campaign video from Dogs Trust (2014)

I recently found out about this internet campaign from the UK animal welfare charity Dogs Trust (formerly known as the National Canine Defense League). It tackles a problem every person involved n or concerned about animal welfare gets angry about every summer - dogs trapped in cars on sunny days. 

They are no actual statistics on how many dogs die in such a preventable way (I tried typing "how many dogs die in hot cars each year" into Google and I got nothing. Not a single number.). But the high school biologist in me knows why it happens. A human could withstand the heat inside a hot car (though some children have died in hot cars (38 a year in the US, according to this website.)). This is because humans sweat. Dogs can't sweat. That is why they stick their tongues out when their exhausted... or hot. The lack of sweat glands can limit their ability to withstand heat. But many humans don't know this fact and assume that a few minutes in a car will be fine because it was fine for them. It's only when they return to a car containing a dead dig that they realize how wrong their assumption was. 

What got me seeing this video was how devilishly simple the idea is - a time lapse of a ice sculpture of a dog melting in a car. What struck me was how come no one had thought of this until 2014? Its so obvious. The charity has been around since 1891 (just when cars were beginning to scare horses and running over small animals on the road). Why now? But I guess the dog in hot car problem didn't exist until fully enclosed passenger compartments began to be the norm in the 1920s (before most cars were convertibles). Also, it would have been expensive to set up a time lapse camera (something a charity can't afford to do (until now)).

It is a brilliant idea that illustrates a common problem in the world and I applaud it. But the cinematographer in me sees need for improvement, such as engraving a name on the collar (something in the theme of ice, such as "Frozo") and ending the video with a close-up on the collar showing the dog's name. But please ignore it and not take it as an insult, because they have made something great. It deserves an award of some sort for its simplest and execution. Dogs Trust, I salute to you. 

And now the behind the scenes footage featuring Rico and Lolly...