The Animal Rescue League of Berks County has issued a Code Red for Reading pets and their caregivers because of sustained heat index above 95 degrees forecast from Aug. 7 to 10.<\/p>\n
Owners and caretakers of dogs in the city must keep them indoors except for supervised bathroom breaks and exercise because of expected weather conditions. The measure was added to the city code in 2015.<\/p>\n
The following times fall under the issued Code Red:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aug. 7: noon to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aug. 8: 1 to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aug 9: 3 to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aug. 10: 2 to 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Noncompliance can result in the animal being removed from the property and impounded at the rescue league in Cumru Township. Owners will have 48 hours after the code has been lifted to pick up their animal and will be subject to applicable boarding fees.<\/p>\n
Any person witnessing an unsupervised dog left outside in the city is asked to call the rescue league at 610-373-8830, extension 400, or the Reading police nonemergency number, 610-655-6116.<\/p>\n
Although Code Red is only enforceable within the city, rescue league officials encourage all pet owners in Berks County to take precautions with their pets while the high temperatures last.<\/p>\n
Heat affects every pet in a different way, and some are more susceptible than others. Particularly, dogs with flat faces, overweight or elderly dogs, and dogs with pre-existing heart or lung conditions, are more vulnerable to overheating.<\/p>\n
Officials recommend the following to keep pets safe:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Make sure pets always have access to fresh water and shade.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Leave pets at home, if possible.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Never leave a pet in the car, as temperatures can reach over 120 degrees even with the windows partially opened.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Take pets outside during the cooler hours of the day and avoiding walking on the blacktop concrete as temperatures can reach up to 130.<\/p>\n
\u2022 When exercising with pets, take frequent breaks and always bring enough water for you and your pet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Animal Rescue League of Berks County has issued a Code Red for Reading pets and their caregivers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,3138,736,128,130,129,289,706],"class_list":["post-262553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pets-and-animals","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}