‘Dogs Die in Hot Cars!’ Danai Gurira’s Pup-Protection Mobile Message Travels Locally

For Immediate Release:
July 10, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Phoenix –

With temperatures in Phoenix in the triple digits, PETA is hitting the gas on a mobile message—which will circle streets across the city—from Danai Gurira, star of Black Panther and The Walking Dead, and her beloved dog, Papi, reminding everyone that hot cars are death traps for dogs. The appeal warns guardians never to leave dogs inside parked vehicles, as the vulnerable animals can suffer and succumb to heatstroke in minutes.

Danai Gurira holds a baseball bat and a dog in front of a car with a broken window — Photo credit: PETA

“I would never risk Papi’s life by leaving him alone in a car. He’s family. If he were in trouble, I would do anything to save him,” says Gurira. “My friends at PETA and I are urging everyone to be a warrior for animals. If you see a dog alone in a parked car, do whatever it takes to save them.”

Last year in the U.S., 163 dogs and cats died from heat-related causes, including at least 69 inside vehicles. (The actual numbers are likely far higher, as most deaths 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, including by employing PETA’s emergency window-breaking hammer, available for proactive 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.