"People often take their dogs into town with them, thinking that they'll only be in the shop for five minutes, but then there might be a queue or you might get diverted and end up being in there for 15-20 minutes and that's enough time for a dog to start overheating in the full sun."
If owners did have to transport their dogs, the SPCA encouraged them to think ahead in terms of where they were going to park, such as in the shade, as well as leaving windows open.
"We don't want to be seen to be criticising people who take their dogs with them in the car, because they're genuinely people who love their dogs the most, they're a person's constant companion, but we just ask that people be mindful."
Overheating signs in dogs include drooling, trying to find a portion in the car that was cooler or unconsciousness.
"They can die from overheating. When we see these dogs we have to make an assessment, by putting a temperature probe into the car to see how hot it is.
It's a tricky job and you've got to make a decision and sometimes we have to use breaking kits to get into cars. They often don't cause damage, but we still don't take it lightly, but we've had to do it numerous times."
Wills said during the summer months, SPCA inspectors would often attend one to two calls a week.
Nationwide, the AA road service also attended more than 4000 call-outs for animals locked in vehicles since 2012.
By October 31 this year, the AA had already attended more than 530 call-outs for car-locked animals.