Here’s a new summertime threat I had never thought of before —
dogs being burned after being hosed off with scalding hose
water. Ten such cases were recently reported in an article
published in Veterinary Dermatology. All of the affected dogs
had second or third degree burns along their backs after being
exposed to hot water from a garden hose that was laying out in
the sun. "Third degree" describes a severe burn that damages
both the skin and its underlying tissues. Second degree burns
involve the superficial and deep layers of the skin. Cases
occurred from May through August in Texas, Arizona, California,
Utah, Nevada, Indiana, Michigan and North Carolina. The burns
were not always apparent until several days after the incident
and some resulted in significant scar formation. I’m not sure we
need a specific name for this condition, but the authors propose
that we use the phrase "garden hose scalding syndrome (GHS)."
According to the July 2012 issue of Veterinary Medicine, the
pathologists conducted their ow