VETS successfully oven-baked a tray of cookies inside a car to demonstrate the dangers of leaving pets unattended in hot weather.
The thermometer inside the car went “off the scale” at 60C – 140F – as the cookies baked in just four hours.
And although the biscuits tasted excellent, the team at Bishop’s Stortford Veterinary Hospital, Herts, said the experiment proved that even five minutes inside a hot car could kill a pet.
The baking was carried out on Monday as the temperature outside the car hit 32C – 89.6F.
Carola Leman, a 33-year-old veterinary nurse at the hospital, posted the results to Facebook.
She wrote: “So to prove a point about the heat generated in a car at the moment.
“Experiment: Dashboard Cookies.
“Outcome: Cars in this heat are like ovens.
“Please do not leave animals or humans in the car in this heat. Even 5 minutes can be fatal for an overheated animal as it may result in the shutting down of the organs.
Having a window open makes no difference at all.”
Carola bought the ready-made cookie mix dough from a supermarket on Monday.
Her team of vets prepared the cookie dough into discs and placed them on a baking tray.
They tray was then placed on the dashboard of the car with a thermometer and left while they continued on with their shift for the rest of the day.
The required oven temperature was 180C – 356F – but they returned to their car to find the cookies completely cooked.
Carola said today: “It was so hot that the metal baking tray was starting to damage the dashboard so we had to take it out and put something underneath it.
“We left them for four hours because we couldn’t keep coming back in the middle of our shift but afterwards they were completely done.
“We ate them. They tasted fine.”
Carola added: “We have been quite lucky this year and haven’t had too many cases this year of dogs or animals overheating.
“Last year we had cases of dogs collapsing and overheating when they are exercising.
“The experiment proves that dogs should not be left in cars on a hot day and that it can be fatal.
“Only travel with your dog if it is absolutely necessary.
“Our advice also is to walk your dog early in the morning and very late at night when it has started to cool down.
“Check the pavements with your hand first, If you cannot hold the back of your hand pressed against the pavement for more than 5 seconds this is too hot for your dog’s feet.”
On social media, Jayne Steele wrote: “Wow. Why oh why are we reading that people are leaving their faithful loyal friends in cars? Makes me so sad.”
Isobel Ryan said: “Good grief.”
Janet Bowles added: “Look after rabbits and other caged pets as well the water bottles get hot. So does the water inside.”
Last month a vet performed an experiment on herself to highlight the danger to dogs left inside a car on a hot day.
Zephanie Woodward, from Bridgend, South Wales, filmed herself as the the temperature rose to 46C – 115F – in half an hour.
She had to leave the vehicle, emphasising the deadly heat that builds up in vehicles on a hot day.
