(
)
Lauren Vellek, 25, makes keeping her dogs cool a priority. The marketing manager, who lives in a small one-bedroom apartment in the Flatiron District, has installed blackout shades in her bedroom and keeps the air conditioner pumping nonstop, even when she’s not there, for the sake of her two Australian shepherds, Reese and Oliver. Her dogs’ comfort doesn’t come cheap.
“My Con Ed bill is a good $80 more a month because I keep my A/C going 24/7,” Vellek laments of
her now $130-per-month electric bill.
With temps sweltering, many city pet owners feel the need to keep the A/C on for Fido, but experts say most healthy pups can get by without. The real summer danger zone isn’t usually indoors.
“Being in too hot of an apartment is rarely part of the history with heatstrokes,” says Dr. Tracy Sane, veterinarian and owner of Greenwich Village Animal Hospital. “The usual presentation in a veterinary hospital is a French or English bulldog that has been out exercising during the hotter part of a summer day and collapses.”
Aurora Piacentino, senior manager of shelter operations of NYC Animal Care and Control agrees.
“As long as it’s not unduly hot and the dog is in good health, just a place to get way from the sun and some fresh water should be OK,” she says.
But, it’s still important to be cautious. “Some apartments can literally become ovens if they have windows closed on a hot day,” warns Dr. Louise Murray, vice president of the ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. Good ventilation, she says, in addition to shade and water, is key.
It’s also important to recognize your pet’s unique limitations. Snub-nosed breeds — like bulldogs, pugs and Boston terriers — along with older or obese dogs, have an especially hard time with the heat.
Ryan O’Donnell, 30, and his fiancée, Kate Trotman, 30, are especially conscientious with their French bulldog, Laverne, because of her breed. They keep the A/C in their two-bedroom Astoria apartment running constantly — to the tune of a $250/month Con Ed bill.
“French bulldogs overheat easily,” says Trotman, who keeps her dog in mind when considering when to squelch the heat. “[Laverne will] be in the bed right next to the window unit most of the day.”
Dr. Marcie Fallek, a downtown holistic vet, notes that while A/C is ideal, a few fans can also be adequate to keep dogs cool. She also recommends buying cool gel packs for dogs to lie on. “It really helps,” she says.
After paying a great amount to air condition his apartment for his 10-year-old Siberian husky, Banshee, in previous years, Thomas Cooper, 35, is trying to rely on fans this
summer.
“I paid an exponential explosion every summer!” recalls Cooper, a real estate saleman who lives in the Flatiron District.
Now, he says his dog has gotten “used to the heat,” and “when it’s hot as a swamp, I’ll just open the windows.
Still, sometimes he has to fire up the old BTU gobbler. “Lately,” he concedes, “we’ve also had to use the A/C.”
pets@nypost.com