Use common sense to protect pets, livestock from cold

Animals might come with their own coat, but they’re not immune to the dropping mercury.

Last week saw the first sub-freezing temperatures of the season in Clark County. And as humans bundle up and prepare their homes for the winter, they should keep in mind how the inclement weather affects their four-legged companions.

State and local law bars cruel or negligent treatment toward animals. But the hard-and-fast, legally enforceable rules for keeping pets and livestock safe during the winter include a lot of gray area open to interpretation. It’s critical, then, that owners and good Samaritans use their best judgment and keep a keen eye trained on the animals in their care.

The law

When it comes to issues of animal neglect, the text of the law in Washington is vague. A lot of it is left up to the common sense of individual pet or livestock owners.

Under RCW 16.52.207, an owner is liable for second-degree animal cruelty, a gross misdemeanor, if she or he “fails to provide the animal with necessary shelter, rest, sanitation, space, or medical attention and the animal suffers unnecessary or unjustifiable physical pain as a result of the failure.”

It’s pretty subjective. “Necessary shelter” is going to look very different to an Alaskan malamute than it will to a chihuahua.

It’s also results-oriented — “as a result of the failure.” The law prohibits behavior that causes suffering, but avoids dictating in detail any best practices that might halt that suffering before it starts. For example, there’s no minimum temperature at which an owner must legally bring their pet inside.

“The law, I guess, the legal definition of neglect, is different than what you or I or an animal lover would think of,” said Lisa Feder, vice president and director of shelter operations at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s kind of by design, because who wants to put an arbitrary temperature on something?” Feder continued. “It is specifically vague, but it can lead to a lot of problems.”

(The law surrounding tied-up dogs, however, is not vague. Under RCW 16.52.350, it’s illegal to leave a dog tethered outside for a long period of time, regardless of the weather.)

Local law is similar. Section 8.24.180 of the Vancouver Municipal Code states that an owner can face charges of animal cruelty if they “neglect or fail to provide minimum care to any animal within the person’s care, custody or control … ‘minimum care’ means care sufficient to preserve the health and well-being of an animal and except for emergencies or circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the owner.”

According to the municipal code, minimum care includes access to “sufficient” food, water, shelter, veterinary care and space. Requirements for all categories will depend on species and breed.

Best practices

The rest is largely left up to an animal owner’s best judgment.

As a general rule, it’s just a bad idea to leave your domestic pet outside in the winter, no matter how warm their furry coat might seem.

“If it’s too cold for you to sleep outside, it’s certainly too cold for them,” Feder said.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, owners should provide stubborn cold-weather breeds with choices. If that malamute absolutely needs to stay outside, its owner should offer an indoor option to the animal — a warm, dry shelter they can enter and exit freely. The floor of the shelter should be off of the ground to minimize heat loss, and the bedding should be thick, dry and changed regularly. Space heaters and lamps pose a fire risk and should be avoided. Heated pet mats are an option, but should be used cautiously because they can cause burns.

It’s also crucial to keep an eye on water supply in freezing temperatures. An animal can’t drink from a bowl of solid ice.

Even for indoor pets, winter poses a host of risks. Dog owners should check paws after a walk for signs of cracking or bleeding.

They should also keep an eye out for de-icing agents and antifreeze on the ground. The chemicals can coat the paws or belly of a furry friend out for a walk and later prove toxic when the dog — or cat, or ferret, or pot-bellied pig, or whatever animal is at the other end of the leash — licks itself clean. Owners should get in the habit of wiping down their pet upon returning home to reduce the risk of illness.

Susan Anderson, Clark County Animal Control Program manager and code enforcement officer, also encourages dog owners to leave their pet at home when running errands instead of in the car. While that feels like common sense in the summer, a lot of people don’t realize that a car becomes a dangerous icebox in the winter — especially for puppies, elderly dogs or slender breeds.

“Leaving a dog in a cold car can be just as harmful as a hot car,” Anderson said.

Good Samaritans

The winter is a busy season for animal control officers and shelters. The volume of concerns filed with the county animal control office picked up last week, Anderson said, and will likely last though the next few months.

“Our business tends to have seasons to it, and this time of year it’s the cold animal calls and hungry animal calls,” Anderson said.

If passers-by see an animal that looks like it’s in trouble, they should call the county’s animal control office at 564-397-2488. The office takes calls from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“If it’s after hours, either weekends or after 4:30 at night, and they believe it’s an emergency, then they should call 911,” Anderson said.

The Humane Society, too, sees an uptick in fuzzy visitors this time of year.

“I think people are more attuned. If they see a stray dog or a stray cat outside, they feel badly for them because they’re out in the rain or the cold, so they’re more inclined to bring them to the shelter,” Feder said.

A neighborhood stray cat that runs the streets in the summer can start to look pretty pitiful when the rainy season starts. It’s not always logical, she added. We have emotional responses to animals, especially suffering animals.

When deciding whether to take action, apply some common sense. Trust your eyes, your gut and your brain.

“It makes sense. None of us want to be standing outside in the rain,” Feder said.