Video: Spurs’ Lonnie Walker Is Trapped in A Hot Car to Help Dogs

NBA Star Demonstrates the Dangers of Leaving Dogs in Parked Cars—Even for Just a Minute—in New PETA Video

For Immediate Release:
July 10, 2019

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

“We’ll be quick!” That’s what a friend says to Lonnie Walker before leaving with the San Antonio Spurs star’s beloved dog, Zola, in a new PETA video that puts the athlete in the place of the many animals who suffer from heatstroke and die after being left in hot cars every summer.

In the back seat of the car, Walker sweats, gasps for air, and grows dizzy as the vehicle’s interior temperature reaches 109 degrees in just 20 minutes—and as the video points out, since dogs can’t sweat from most of their bodies and primarily cool themselves by panting, they’re at greater risk of suffering from heatstroke than humans are.

“If you see a dog alone in a hot car, take down the car’s information and contact the dog’s guardians,” Walker urges in the video. “Or just call the authorities. You could save a life.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—urges people who spot a dog in a hot vehicle to remain at the scene until the situation has been resolved. If the authorities are unresponsive or too slow and the dog’s life appears to be in imminent danger, find a witness (or several) who will back up your assessment. Then remove the suffering animal from the car and wait for authorities to arrive. PETA offers an emergency window-breaking hammer for help intervening in these life-or-death situations.

Walker joins a long list of athletes—including Tyrann Mathieu, Chris Harris Jr., Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Metta World Peace, Ty Lawson, and Candace Parker—who’ve teamed up with PETA to promote kindness to animals.

PETA opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.