By Debbie Irmen, Managing editor

I try real hard to refrain from writing about the four &uot;kids&uot; still living with us, but I can’t resist this week. It’s also a good time to remind residents with pets about the dangers that abound in the summer.

Severe thunderstorms were predicted a couple of weekends ago in the Albert Lea and Freeborn County areas, and as is usual, I mostly ignored them. I generally sleep so hard that I don’t wake up when such weather patterns pass through the area.

A few years ago, my beloved was in the habit of waking me up to enjoy these storms &045; he loves to watch the lightning and listen to the thunderstorms and mistakenly believes I share this love. I don’t. I’d much rather get my sleep.

However, these storms of a few years ago were extremely dangerous because they hit in the middle of the night and he feared I would be carried away in a tornado so he felt justified in getting me up, instructing me to hit the basement and take as many of the cats as I could round up.

Instead, I rolled over, pulled a cat closer and went right back to sleep while Randy prowled from window to window, watching the weather.

I swear, he is as good as any early warning system, so there’s really no reason for me to be alarmed.

In our home, the cats rule. I joke that we spent money on a king-size bed, not because it fits my 6-foot-2-inch husband better, but to accommodate two humans and four cats.

Anyway, the storm which hit that Saturday morning did cause a heart-stopping moment when a crack of thunder brought all six of us about three feet off the bed. The cats scattered, sure the house was coming down. Once his heart returned to his chest, my husband laughed at the memory. I was sorry to have missed witnessing the feline scatter &045; I am pretty groggy when startled from a sound sleep.

As we move into the beautiful season of summer, there are a few dangers to pets I’d like to highlight. The first nearly brings tears to my eyes when I see it: A dog loose in the back of a pickup truck.

Otherwise loving, careful pet owners think nothing of taking their pet for a ride and allow it to ride in the back of an open truck. The dog, of course, loves it, oblivious to the potentially fatal result when the pet flies out of the vehicle should his owner have to suddenly step on the brake. Or worse, should the vehicle be rear-ended by an inattentive driver.

It makes sense if we wouldn’t put our children in the back of a pickup because of the danger, we also should not allow our pets to ride there.

Another danger we overlook is leaving a pet inside a parked car while we run into the store. Sure, the window is cracked, but it isn’t enough to keep the car cool while we shop. It only takes a few minutes for the interior of a vehicle to heat up to dangerous temperatures and our pets are the helpless victims.

If you have a dog housed outside, make sure to provide plenty of water and a shady area to retreat to when summer temperature soar. And please offer shelter from rain and wind.

Most people really care for their pets, and take great pains to ensure their comfort, but there are those who think little of them. Consider what you would do to protect your children from the elements and do the same for your pets. They give us so much love, we should return the favor.