Dog Dies When Taken on Hike in Joshua Tree National Park
According to the National Park Service, a pet dog died on the Lost Palms Oasis trail, this past Saturday afternoon, on May 28, when two men visiting the park from Long Beach, took the dog with them on a seven mile desert hike.
Pets are not permitted on trails within Joshua Tree National Park, but we frequently encounter visitors and locals ignoring these park rules.
At approximately 12:45 p.m. that day, other hikers came into the Cottonwood Visitor Center and reported that a four or five year-old black Labrador retriever dog was in trouble, a little more than a mile from the trailhead. Park rangers hiked to the site where they found the dog had already died. The rangers carried the dog's body out on a litter.
One of the two men who had brought the dog with them was showing signs of heat-related illness, according to the NPS. Temperatures that afternoon reached over 80 degrees in the Cottonwood area of the national park.
Pets are permitted within the national park, but they are not allowed more than 100 feet from a road, picnic area, or campground. They must be leashed at all times when outside a vehicle, and never left unattended. Pets are never allowed anywhere in the backcountry, including on any hiking trails, with the only exception being the paved trail at the Oasis of Mara in Twentynine Palms, directly outside of the Oasis Visitor Center and park headquarters for Joshua Tree National Park.
Service animals, defined as dogs individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities, are allowed anywhere in the park, however dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The desert can be - and is occasionally - deadly, especially May through September, when the heat is unforgiving and temperatures in Joshua Tree National Park frequently soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Visitors are cautioned to avoid physical activity during the heat of the day, and to carry abundant water and salty snacks with them. Water is not readily available within the park so stocking up on water, food, and gas is a necessity, prior to entering the park.