Humane officers plead for residents to bring pets inside
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Petunia wears a coat to stay warm as she takes a walk with Kara Hoffman, a staff member at Washington Area Humane Society, on Monday.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Petunia wears a coat to stay warm Monday as she takes a walk with Kara Hoffman, a staff member at Washington Area Humane Society.
While residents have been taking extra measures to keep warm this week, Washington County humane officers have been responding to numerous calls about pets being left outside in the frigid temperatures.
Kelly Proudfit, executive director of the Washington Area Humane Society, said humane officer Glen Thomson was out until 10 p.m. Tuesday responding to more than 15 calls across the county.
“We have a high call volume right now,” Proudfit said. “We’ve been slammed.”
Most of their calls have been from concerned neighbors who are worried about dogs being tied up outside or left on a porch all night.
“Some people aren’t educated on the fact that their dogs can’t handle that,” Proudfit said. “Some people just don’t care.”
Proudfit said Libre’s Law,which went into effect 2017, is sometimes confusing for people. The law says that a dog can be outside for only 30 minutes if the temperature is below 32 degrees. However, animals are allowed to be kept outside if kept in a pen or dog house.
Proudfit said the dog house has to be dry and warm with a wind guard, and the dog must have access to water and food. She said igloo dog houses are common in this area, but they don’t hold heat very well.
“As far as citing people for that, they’re not breaking the law,” she said. “There’s only so much we can do, but we will still go and plead with the dog owners to bring them inside.”
If a dog is simply tethered outside for more than 30 minutes, she said their humane officers can cite people and even seize animals.
“We will seize dogs, if the owners are breaking the law or we think a dog’s life is at stake,” she said.
In most of the cases handled Tuesday, Proudfit said people agreed to bring in their animals.
“Once we explain the law to them, they don’t want to get in trouble,” she said.
The humane society did have one call Tuesday for a frozen cat. Proudfit said the caller thought it may still be breathing, but it had already died and was frozen to the ground. An officer responded and determined the feral cat had been shot. No owner could be identified.
“If they’re shaking, they’re cold,” Thomson said. “Or if they’re walking around and holding their feet off the ground one by one, that’s a sign, too. Their paws can get frostbite from that.”
Another humane officer, Cathy Cunningham, who runs the nonprofit, Call and Report Inhumane Cruelty and Abuse of Animals Today (CRICAAT), posted on her Facebook page that she too had a busy Tuesday responding to calls.
“I have been out all day and expect to keep going through the night,” her Tuesday evening post read. “Several folks who think they can ignore the law -not happening. When I ask nicely for you to take your animal inside, don’t think I will be ignored.”
She said she seized two shivering dogs, whose water bowls were frozen and kennels were below 14 degrees.
“I am cold and tired already, so there will be no cooperation from me,” she wrote in her post. “It is very public to get your animals inside.”
Kym Secreet, animal control officer in Washington County and parts of Allegheny County, also said she’s had more than 30 calls in the last week for animals being left outside.
“There’s no excuse for this,” she said. “I can’t believe that this still needs to be addressed with people who don’t bring their pets inside.”
Secreet said that while she doesn’t enforce cruelty laws, she often works with police departments that do. She also provides shelter and care for animals that police departments seize.
“I hear a lot from people, ‘My dog likes it outside – my dog is fine,’ but it’s a law now,” she said. “If you’re going to leave your animal outside, knowing it’s a felony, you deserve to be charged.”
Anyone with information about an animal being left outside, or being neglected, abused or abandoned, can call the humane society at 724-222-7387.