Plagiarism at the News & Record

With no byline or attribution, a post appears on the News & Record's Pet Shop blog that has been copied almost entirely from other sources. Here is the post as it appears on the News & Record's website, the bold portions, which is to say, all but one sentence, are identical to this from June 16, 2011 (which itself appears to have heavily copied from other sources).

With the summer months upon us, pet travel is at it's height and it's time for a reminder about the dangers of leaving your pet in a parked car. Whether you're parking in the shade, just running into the store, or leaving the windows cracked, it is still not OK to leave your pet in a parked car.

The temperature inside a car can skyrocket after just a few minutes. Parking in the shade or leaving the windows cracked does very little to alleviate this pressure cooker.

On a warm, sunny day try turning your car off, cracking your windows and sitting there. It will only be a few short minutes before it becomes unbearable.

On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows cracked can reach 102 degrees within only 10 minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. At 110 degrees, pets are in danger of heatstroke. On hot and humid days, the temperature in a car parked in direct sunlight can rise more than 30 degrees per minute, and quickly become lethal.

Stanford University School of Medicine conducted a study to measure the temperature rise inside a parked car on sunny days with highs ranging from 72 to 96 degrees. Their results showed that a car's interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour. Eighty percent of the temperature rise occurred within the first half-hour. Even on a relatively cool day, the temperature inside a parked car can quickly spike to life-threatening levels if the sun is out.

Further, the researchers noted that much like the sun warms a greenhouse in winter; it also warms a parked car on cool days. In both cases, the sun heats up a mass of air trapped under glass. Precautions such as cracking a window or running the air conditioner prior to parking the car were found to be inadequate.

Dogs are designed to conserve heat. Their sweat glands, which exist on their nose and the pads of their feet, are inadequate for cooling during hot days. Panting and drinking water helps cool them, but if they only have hot air to breathe, dogs can suffer brain and organ damage after just 15 minutes. Short-nosed breeds, young pets, seniors or pets with weight, respiratory, cardiovascular or other health problems are especially susceptible to heat-related stress.

Signs of heat stress include: heavy panting, glazed eyes, a rapid pulse, unsteadiness, a staggering gait, vomiting or a deep red or purple tongue. If a pet becomes overheated, immediately lowering their body temperature is a must.

If this should happen, follow these steps:

* Move the pet into the shade and apply cool (not cold) water all over their body to gradually lower their temperature.

* Apply ice packs or cool towels to the pet's head, neck and chest only.

* Allow the pet to drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes.

* Then take the pet to the nearest vet.