Weekend heat wave kills two dogs

Animals suffer from high temperatures, too

j22cool2.gif (14966 bytes) Two lucky Labrador retrievers, Moose and Bear cool off with a swim in Sun Valley Lake Saturday. Other dogs were not so lucky over the weekend. (Express photo by Willy Cook)

The dog days of summer in Ketchum claimed two of man’s best friends over the weekend that weren’t being treated like friends at all.

A one-year-old shepherd/lab mix was killed by a reported heart attack while running beside its bike-riding owner at noon Sunday, according to Ketchum Animal Control Officer Barbara Ancona.

"Dogs will run themselves to death," Ancona said.

The second dog, a five-year-old boxer reportedly died of heat stroke at about 6:45 p.m. after being left in a car parked outside a Ketchum store for less than 45 minutes.

The windows of the car were open a crack.

The owners of both dogs are from out of the area.

Although they did not die, two German shepherds left in the open bed of a pickup truck in the sun prompted a scolding of the owners from Ancona.

The truck was parked on Main Street in Ketchum at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The bed of the truck was reportedly so hot, the dogs were hopping, said Ancona.

Other dogs in similar situations had people worried enough to call the police.

"I got six calls last week of people wanting me to check on dogs," Ancona said.

She urged people who travel with their dogs to keep them watered and ventilated.

Better yet, "Just leave your dogs at home," Ancona advised.