The B.C. government is vying to do more to protect animals left in hot cars by their owners.
Since the beginning of this year, the BC SPCA have recorded 1,201 calls about animals trapped in hot cars province-wide.
Careless owners who expose pets to excessive heat or deprive them of adequate ventilation can be charged under the B.C. government’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, with a maximum penalty of $75,000 and two-year imprisonment.
The act also provides authority to SPCA officers to enter locked vehicles to relieve animals from critical distress.
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But the province says it recognizes that these measures are not enough to stop British Columbians from putting their pets at risk by leaving them in hot cars, so government officials will be consulting with the BC SPCA, the B.C. College of Veterinarians, UBCM, local governments and police services to increase the options to rescue animals that have been left in cars.
Targeted consultations will take place this summer and fall, with any changes and additional measures anticipated to be complete and in effect by spring 2016, according to the government.
British Columbians who spot animals in distress should contact the BC SPCA’s Animal Cruelty Hotline at 1-855-622-7722.
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