Thanks to ongoing public-awareness campaigns, most people nowadays realize that leaving your children in a hot car can quickly have fatal results — not that the knowledge has ended the practice. In fact, another 37 children died just last year as a result, bringing the death toll since 1990 to at least 1,172. And while it doesn't make the news as often, pet parents face the same sort of tragedies every year. According to PETA, for instance, 151 companion animals died from heat-related causes in 2025 alone, many of them dogs confined in hot vehicles. Remember that even the best cars for dogs can become death traps on a warm day.