With frigid temperatures, outside is not the place for your pets.
A Rottweiler was found shivering and tied to a utility trailer Tuesday near Schuylkill Haven.
"She was shivering. She was frozen," Janine Choplick, Schuylkill County humane officer, said.
After she spoke with someone at the residence, the dog was taken inside. Choplick did not know how long the dog had been outside.
"If we're dressed for the weather and we're cold, it's too cold for our domesticated animals," she said Friday.
Barb Umlauf, Hillside SPCA director, said the shelter received 70 calls about animals being outside since Jan. 19.
Most of the calls involved inadequate or no shelter at all, she said. Of those calls, none of the animals have died.
"Unfortunately, we don't know how many did die that we didn't get calls on," she said.
In the case of the Rottweiler, the call was received at 9 a.m. and when Choplick got there by noon, the dog was still outside. He was standing on ice, she said.
Age, size, breed and the health of the dog or cat can all play a factor in the how well the dog can stand the cold, Umlauf said.
On Friday, Choplick and Tina Rowland, another Hillside employee, went to a location in Cressona for a report of a dog outside.
The dog was in a wire crate, had a rug for a floor and blankets and a blue tarp draped over it.
Choplick told the individual to bring the dog in, which they did. It was 17 degrees when they got there.
"The best place for a dog to be is inside a house. They want to be with their people," Choplick said.
Umlauf said cats are also susceptible to cold weather. Their paws can freeze to the ice or become raw, she said.
Last year, she said a beagle died from hypothermia after freezing to a metal structure used as its doghouse.
"The dog didn't make it. He died within two days because of hypothermia," she said.
According to the website www.petmd.com, hypothermia occurs when the body temperature of an animal drops because it can't keep it at its normal level. There are three phases of hypothermia - mild, moderate and severe. Damage to the heart, irregular breathing and even coma may result.
For cold weather tips for your pets, visit the ASPCA website, www.aspca.org, or the Pennsylvania SPCA website at pspca.org.
If you have concerns about an animal, especially in these conditions, call the Hillside SPCA at 570-622-7769.