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Photo: Friso Gentsch/ dpa
Two dogs have died in the Hanover region after being locked in a car in the heat.
The cause of death is probably overheating, the police said on Tuesday.
The evaluation of video recordings should help in the clarification.
The 66-year-old dog owner is being investigated for violating the Animal Welfare Act.
The woman left the dogs – a Doberman and a Chihuahua – in her locked car in the parking lot of a shopping center in Isernhagen last Friday when the outside temperature was 32 degrees Celsius.
When she returned to the car, the Doberman was already dead, according to the police. The Chihuahua was taken to the Hanover University of Veterinary Medicine, but also died a little later.
US researchers had already investigated in 2010 how quickly the air in a parked car warms up.
If the car is left in the sun, the temperature can rise by seven degrees in just ten minutes.
After half an hour it had increased by 16 degrees, after an hour by 26. The researchers measured indoor temperatures of more than 70 degrees Celsius.
To avoid a dangerous heat stroke, it is not enough to park in the shade, provide water for the dog and leave the window a crack.
Dogs should generally not be left in cars when it's hot, vets advise.
wit/dpa
