That's so sad... it breaks my heart to hear stories like that.
Our air conditioning bill is through the roof during the summer months because I insist on leaving it running all day for my animals. But even if it hits 85 degrees inside my cats are miserable, and cats seem to do better in heat even than dogs do. The extreme heat we get in the Sacramento area is one thing that has kept me from getting a dog.
P.S. to sarah_webinc: Please don't take this the wrong way... I just noticed your post and thought I might give you a heads up. You may want to do some research on this because it's something I've only heard a couple of times but have never bothered to verify it. I've heard that giving a dog ice cubes and/or ice water in hot weather can be lethal to the dog, putting it's system into shock because their bodies are not capable of regulating quickly enough. Like I said, I could be wrong, but it might be worth doing some research about to avoid a possibility of a very sad loss. When it comes to our beloved little pets, always better to be safe than sorry.