Nearly 50 cats were rescued from a car parked in searing heat in Minnesota, United States, last week.
The cats had been residing in the van with their owner, who had just become homeless but refused to abandon the animals, Sky News, reported. Animal welfare workers found the man and the cats in an automobile parked at a rest stop.
BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 06: Mogli lifts a paw to touch the palm of his owner Eva Kullmann as facility residents, who both suffer from dementia, look on during the cat's weekly visit at the Lutherstift senior care facility on August 6, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. Mrs. Kullmann says the weekly visits are vital therapy and spark the curiosity, communication and delight of the facility residents. Friday, August 8, is World Cat Day.
Welfare Workers Rescue 47 Cats Trapped in Parked, Hot Car
Authorities said on Tuesday that a man who had recently become homeless parked at a rest stop in southeast Minnesota with his roughly four dozen pets inside.
After seeing the searing heat outside and the humidity likely raising the vehicle's temperatures to near unlivable highs, a concerned officer tapped on the van's window to ask about his well-being, according to The Independent.
"Unfortunately, with the heat yesterday, he recognized that it was above and beyond what he was capable of at this time. And he let us help them out," Animal Humane Society investigator Ashley Pudas told the Associated Press,
According to AHS, the man had been living in his car for "some time" and had already given up 14 cats before being discovered with the four dozen felines at the rest area.
Meanwhile, CBS News reported that members of the Animal Humane Society (AHS) said they rescued the cats in Harris, Minnesota, despite excessive temperatures on Tuesday, June 14.
Despite the animals' unclean and challenging living conditions, the animal charity stated that they all looked to be in fair health, with only a few requiring dehydration treatments.
All of the cats are undergoing inspections and will be given up-to-date vaccines, spay or neuter surgery, and specialized behavioral rehabilitation since the critters are naturally "untrusting of our helping hand."
"Yesterday, 47 animals' lives were irrevocably changed," the AHS wrote on their Facebook page.
"Today, 47 cats are finally experiencing what it's like to have their own space in which to sleep, play, and eat," the group added.
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Hot Weather Inside Cars Can Be Fatal
There were also cases when toddlers and disabled people have been left or tucked inside a hot automobile for an extended time. Being left inside a car under scorching heat can be fatal.
Hundreds of children and "untold numbers of dogs" left in parked automobiles die each year from hyperthermia, which occurs when the body absorbs more heat than it can handle, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
On Thursday, a 3-month-old died after his parents left him in the car "for several hours," according to police in Pennsylvania, NBC News reported. It was the fifth child to die in a hot car this year in the United States, according to KidsAndCars.org.
The temperature in a parked car can reach deadly levels for adults, kids and pets even on a moderate day, according to NWS.
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