Pet owners in Harrogate urged not to walk dogs in extreme heat

The owner of a Harrogate dog walking and sitting business appealed to residents on Facebook not to let their dogs walk on the pavement after she revealed the surface temperatures could reach as high as 54 degrees Celsius.

Dog minder, Rowen Johnson-Hardcastle, who runs Bark in the Park in Harrogate, pleaded with the pet owners in a post on her page, explaining that the pads on dogs' feet were not strong enough to endure the hot ground.

She said: "I have been walking around and it amazes me how many people have been walking their dogs in places like Valley Gardens in this heat.

"To make a point I tried to do a test where I stood barefoot on the ground for 30 seconds and show a before and after picture. But I couldn't even manage five seconds without running back to my flip flops, it was burning me almost instantly."

Using an infrared thermometer, Rowen took readings of the pavement temperature at different time in the day and shared the shocking results on the Bark in the Park Facebook page.

Rowen wrote: "Today’s pavement readings so far - wow is all I can say! At 10am, 40 degrees, at 11am, 49 degrees, and at 1.16pm, 54 degrees!"

She added: "Dogs don’t have the luxury of flip flops so please use common sense for them."