With the cold approaching already, it’s a good time to remind people what to do for their pets in the wintertime.
We all love playing with our pets and seeing them have fun in the cold and sometimes snow, but even they have their limits.
Pets, just like humans, like being outside under the right conditions. In the wintertime time however, those conditions can be more rough to handle.
Joe Lang is the executive director of the Erie Humane Society. He said it’s always a good idea to give your dogs an escape into warmth when possible.
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“But again, you want to make sure they have shelter, or they have a place to hide from the elements. And also you know, like I said, they’re area is clean of snow cause it gathers in their paws and stuff like that,” he explained.
Not only does it make your pets uncomfortable, it can also lead to animal cruelty charges if you don’t take care of them properly in the cold.
“Nine hours is the longest they’re allowed to be tethered out in the day and that becomes shorter if the temperature is below 32 degrees. So if that temperature is that low, you can only have your dog out for a half hour at a time through that nine hours for an accumulation of nine hours,” said Brian Carroll, a humane police officer.
The biggest issue is the paws of your pet. Those are the most sensitive and are the first areas to be affected in the cold.
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The Humane Society said that even a little bit of time in the cold and in the snow can give your dog frostbite, so make sure that if you’re letting them outside, you’re bringing them back in as quickly as possible.
“Well, if you see your animal out there, at my house we call it prancy paws, so they’re out there doing the prancy paws, so when you see that kinda stuff, snow is getting impacted in their paws and inside their pads, and it traps the snow and ice,” Lang said.
“It’s just like if you were outside without you know shelter or cover in these harsh temperatures, you know how long before hypothermia, frostbite sets in, same thing happens to animals that happens to humans,” Carroll added.
A good rule of thumb is that if you are done with the cold, so is your pet. So don’t forget to let them inside and enjoy the warmth.
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Another thing to look out for is salt on the roadways. Salt can get into your pets paws and lead to cracking, dryness, irritation, and discomfort.
Think about the equivalent of chapped lips for humans, but possibly even worse.
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