I am glad you're going to make the right decision! As they say "WE NEED TO SPEAK FOR THOSE WHO CAN NOT SPEAK FOR THEM SELVES! God be with you with this difficult time. Dogs mistreated by being left outside in the cold
Alisa Mullins Issue date: 1/19/06 Section: _ViewPoint_ (http://www.easttennessean.com/news/2006/01/19/ViewPoint/) * _Print_ (http://www.easttennessean.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=11d2931d-8492-4d3a-981c-68081742267f) * _Email_ (http://www.easttennessean.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayEmailArticleForm&uStory_id=11d2931d-8492-4d3a-981c-68081742267f) * _Article Tools_ (http://media.www.easttennessean.com/medi a/storage/paper203/news/2006/01/19/Viewpoint/Dogs-Mistreated.By.Being.Left.Outside.In.The. Cold-1477313.shtml#more) * Page 1 of 1 Just before the New Year began, a dog was found partly frozen to the ground in Dayton, Ohio. Whimpering and barely breathing, "Squeezer" was rushed to an emergency veterinary clinic, where the ailing hound was expected to pull through. Unfortunately, help came too late for another dog on the property, a young shepherd mix who was found dead in her doghouse. According to news reports, neither animal had food, water or proper shelter. The dogs' owners were charged with cruelty to animals. This case is no anomaly. In the first two weeks of December alone - before winter had even officially started - more than a dozen dogs and puppies around the country were reported dead from the cold. These dogs were all what is euphemistically referred to as "outside dogs" and most were confined to chains, unable to reach refuge from the cold. Outside dogs don't live outside because they are suited to it - they are put outside because it is convenient for their owners, regardless of their age, size or breed. Once they're outside it's all too easy to forget about them. People whose "outside dogs" die of cold or neglect inevitably say that the dog was "fine" yesterday or that they "didn't realize" that the dog didn't have food or water. It's easy not to notice these things when the dog is out in the backyard, his barking and whining muffled by the storm windows and roaring furnace that keep his owners warm. Dogs may have fur coats, but they are not immune to the cold. Could you stay warm outside all night with just a coat? Many dogs are even less able to handle the cold than a well-clad person, including short-haired breeds like pointers and pit bulls, small dogs like Chihuahuas, dachshunds and Jack Russell terriers and young or elderly dogs. Every winter, PETA builds and delivers hundreds of doghouses and straw bedding to dogs left outside to battle the elements with little or no shelter. We've found dogs with no protection other than trees, decks, metal drums, discarded coffee tables or pieces of plywood propped up against chain-link fences. We provide the dogs with sturdy, raised, wooden houses that are small enough for the dog to keep somewhat warm with his own body heat-but it isn't enough. Lack of shelter is just the tip of the iceberg - many of these dogs also subsist on sporadic feedings of scraps, go for hours or days without fresh water, are infested with fleas and heartworms and have never so much as darkened the door of a veterinarian's office. This is no life for "man's best friend." No dog is happy living outside on a chain, even when the temperature outside isn't freezing cold or suffocatingly hot. Dogs are social animals who crave contact both with other dogs and with their human families. More than 80 jurisdictions around the country have banned or limited chaining, often in response to a tragic mauling death of a toddler who wandered within a chained dog's reach or after the death of a chained dog from neglect has resulted in understandable public outcry. It's time for other jurisdictions to follow suit. Dogs deserve more than to be left outside to shiver through winter after winter. ? 2006, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
