Keep animals safe and healthy during excessive heat

A brown panting dog on a couch faces a fan

URBANA, Ill. — Excessive heat will once again blast much of the United States next week, with heat indices predicted to reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit or more in many locations. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign animal welfare expert Angela Green-Miller says pets and livestock are at risk, and it’s up to humans to keep them safe.  

Green-Miller runs the Animal Welfare, Environment, and Sustainability Laboratory as an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at Illinois. 

In the full article, she answers common questions from pet owners and livestock producers: 

  • First of all, how do animals cool themselves?
  • Don’t some animals not sweat? How do they keep cool?
  • What can humans do to help animals when it’s hot? Let’s start with pets. 
  • What about livestock?
  • What are the potential economic impacts of excessive heat on the livestock industry? Are there predictable dips in productivity every summer?

Read the full article from the College of ACES.

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