Protecting ‘Outdoor’ Animals

[Robbi Hess]

We don’t understand the “outdoor” animal concept, but if you are in an area of the country where the temps are in single digits and wind chills are in the negative double digits, what can you do — as the power of a pet blogger — to help animals? Here’s a post I wrote and an article from @Alley Cat Allies

http://blogpaws.com/be-the-change/frigid-temperature-threaten-outdoor-animals-safety/

[Tony Wang]

Great post.  I do not live where it is cold enough for felines to have to worry, but for people who do, please help them.  Here’s how a cheap foam cooler can save a life.

http://www.bagheeradiabeticcat.com/inexpensive-foam-coolers-can-life-saver/#fbid=eid3IgfqAdX

[Karen Goodman]

I do live in a part of the country where it gets cold enough to kill dogs that are outside. It happened too many times in the last few weeks. 

I’m part of a pet rescue organization that drives up and down the worst streets we can find in impoverished East St. Louis.

St. Louis is in Missouri and is bordered by the Mississippi River. East St. Louis is in IL on the other side of the river and is not part of St. Louis. It is one of the poorest cities in the nation. At one point the city ran out of money so it stopped paying its police or picking up trash. The city is filled with strip clubs, burnt out abandoned homes and rampant crime. It is the place you drive an extra 20 minutes if you need to get gas or to turn around because you didn’t actually mean to leave St. Louis and cross the river. EVERYONE is fearful of East St. Louis. 

But there are dogs living in horrendous conditions. Outside 24/7 tied on a heavy short chain with no shelter. No place to potty away from where they sleep. Empty water bowls. No shots, no neutering/spaying and not a single vet in the county. These are people who don’t have the money to pay for a vet, let alone get to the next county to do it. So they don’t. Owned dogs run loose, making tons of unwanted puppies. 

We feed the strays every single day of the year. On holidays and when the temps drop below zero. 

Just before the temps were expected to hit -30 degrees a week ago, we went out and gave out straw and doghouses and tried to talk everyone into bringing in their dogs at least during the storm. Most said they would. Most probably didn’t. We found some dogs that didn’t make it. 

But we saved a lot more, including baby puppies living in abandoned homes. I wrote about the experiences here and here. 

Named Mighty Mackie, this baby was pulled out from under a house the day before the temps crashed

The temps are better than they were a week ago, but since we rescued about 15 dogs in the last week…some needing surgery for injuries immediately, we are out of money and we can’t keep rescuing unless it is life or death. It’s so hard. If you want to help, please consider sharing my posts and asking people to either donate to my group or another group that does similar work in their area. 

Thank you for caring!

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