L.A. campaign warns against leaving pets in hot vehicles

Authorities want to get rid of hot dogs in Los Angeles.

Using a poster dog named Bilby, prosecutors Thursday launched a campaign to remind pet owners that it is a crime to leave an animal unattended in a hot car.

The poster shows Bilby sitting in a pan in an open oven. It reads: “Hot oven, hot car . . . It’s the same thing.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Deborah Knaan, the department’s animal cruelty case coordinator, said loving one’s pet means leaving the animal home when it’s hot.

She said studies show that if it is 85 degrees outside, it can climb to 102 degrees inside a car within 10 minutes and 120 degrees within 30 minutes, even if the windows are slightly open. A healthy dog can last only a short time before suffering brain damage or death.