The Dog Days of Summer begin in early July and officially end in early September, though South Carolina continues to suffer after that time with its own special Dog Days conditions. Dog Days is not a favorite season for most people, including the ancient Greeks and Romans as well as contemporary ones. Only in Egypt was it ever greeted with celebration and thanksgiving.

Growing up, I was under the impression that Dog Days had something to do with Mad Dogs, an idea firmly planted alongside the Boogey Man and Polio as the likely fate of children who ran wild and barefoot in the heat of the summer. Here in Newberry, at that time, we were not air-conditioned. We were not even reliably fanned. We did, however, have City-sponsored rabies shots in every neighborhood.

The Dog Days season, as it happens, doesn’t have much to do with actual dogs, except that it is the principal season in which dogs are baked alive in the cars of careless owners. Dogs, infants and small children are the usual victims whose fate is determined not so much by the weather as by distraction, or murderous intent, of the adults who are responsible for them. Deaths like these are preventable and unforgivable.

But I digress. The Dog Days of Summer were so named centuries ago for astrological and astronomical reasons. This is the period in which Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major and in all the heavens, rises in the east at the same time as the Sun. Sirius means “scorching” in Greek and was described by the Roman poet Virgil as the “bringer of drought and plague.” Both Greeks and Romans believed that this appearance of Sirius signaled the coming of drought and infectious disease. And in this case, as in so many others, they were right. A Finnish study in 2009 proved the the rate of infection was higher in this period than in any other.

The ancient Egyptians, however, embraced an entirely different attitude. The appearance of Sirius signaled the life-sustaining flooding of the Nile, and the Egyptian New Year began with the new moon that followed the star’s arrival in the east. They worshipped Sirius as the emblem of the goddess Sopdet. The Nile, of course, no longer floods since the building of the Aswan Dam, and the old gods are forgotten.

The Dog Days of Summer, however, have not gone away, and they are likely to get worse as our climate changes. These are tough times for all our people, pets, farm animals, and wildlife that do not have the advantage of air-conditioning.

There are many things we can do to help by simply becoming aware. Many municipalities offer cooling centers for people. I am not aware of any such offers in Newberry, City or County. Most churches have adjunct buildings that are air-conditioned. I have not seen any invitations. How hot does it have to be before such assistance is offered?

We must not leave any living thing, plant or animal, in a car or truck, even with the air-conditioning running. Motors fail, and many police dogs die in those circumstances. All summer long we will hear heartbreaking stories about pets and children dying of heat stroke in cars, a problem so remarkably common that many states have passed laws justifying property damage to save them. A few days ago, an eighteen month old baby was rescued in a Walmart parking lot because someone was aware of her.

Those of us who own or lease a little plot of ground can help our resident stray cats, and wild animals, even insects. Our lawns and bushes and gardens are all that is left of original habitat. We can drag those unused bird baths into the shade of a tree and keep them filled to water birds and bees and butterflies and cats and opossums and squirrels and raccoons. A pan of water in the shade can prevent suffering and save lives.

We can insist that our school boards and the trustees of universities put an end to outdoor football practice in August, and at least half of September. No amount of “winning” and the revenue it brings compensates for the death of a student athlete. We know all these things, and yet we do nothing to alter the dangerous course that leads to disaster.

All life is sacred, and the brightest star in the heavens reminds us that we must stop and think and care for each other and all our fellow beings. If you’re out there with sweat running down your red face, short of breath, and cranky as hell with it, just remember it’s your choice, and in life, as in fairy tales, you get three.

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Jay Booth

Contributing Columnist

Jay Booth is a retired university professor, a retired newspaper columnist, and the president of the Newberry County Humane Society.