Lifesavers! Wilmington Cops Get PETA’s Window-Smashing Hammers for Rescues From Hot Cars

For Immediate Release:
August 21, 2024

Contact:
Maddy Missett 202-483-7382

Wilmington, N.C. –

A hundred emergency window-breaking hammers are en route from PETA to the Wilmington Police Department. These lifesaving tools will help officers take quick action to save animals or children trapped inside sweltering vehicles. PETA contacted the law-enforcement agency and offered to donate the hammers after the department posted a warning last month about the dangers of leaving animals and children in hot cars.

dogs die of heatstroke when left in hot cars. for emergency situations, PETA sells a rescue hammer

Credit: PETA

“Animals left alone in a parked car are in danger every minute they spend helpless in the heat,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA thanks the Wilmington Police Department for calling attention to how animals suffer in the heat, embracing these ‘heroes hammers,’ and standing ready to rescue anyone in need.”

So far this year, at least 90 dogs and other companion animals have died from heat-related causes and another 306 animals—many of whom were trapped in sweltering vehicles—were rescued from the heat. (The actual numbers are likely far higher, as most deaths and rescues go unreported.) On a 70-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can soar to 99 degrees in 20 minutes. On a 90-degree day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 109 degrees in just 10 minutes.

Anyone who sees a dog or a child alone in a parked car should never leave the scene and should take immediate action. Call 911. Then write down the vehicle’s make, model, color, and license plate number and rush to have nearby stores page the owner. If authorities are unresponsive or too slow and the dog’s life appears to be in imminent danger, find a witness and take the necessary steps to remove them from the car, like using PETA’s emergency window-breaking hammer, available for purchase here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.