A Chow Chow at the 142nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. This breed is the most susceptible to heat-related illness and extreme summer weather, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Photographer: David Williams/Bloomberg
These Very Good Dogs Will Suffer Most From a Warming Climate
A new study ranks the vulnerability of breeds to heat-related illness.
The last five years are the warmest on record—and humans aren’t the only ones affected. In 2016—the hottest year globally—at least 395 dogs in the U.K. received veterinary care for heat-related illnesses; 56 of these died, a 14% mortality rate.
How canines respond to extreme summer weather is an under-studied phenomenon, according to a new study Scientific Reports that draws on anonymized records from more than 900,000 veterinary visits in the U.K. in 2016. “Dogs are going to be affected by climate change in incredibly similar ways to humans going forward,” says Emily Hall, senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and the study’s lead author. “When we think about mitigating strategies to protect humans from heat, we’re going to need to consider dogs in just the same way.”