Shelter: Woman brought in frozen dog, asked for new one

[Champ]

The Santa Fe Animal Shelter says a woman brought her dog into the shelter, frozen solid, and asked for a new one.

The shelter’s executive director, Kate Rindy, said the woman and her family left town for a few days, and left the dog out in the cold to freeze to death.

Rindy said far too many pet owners say the frigid temperatures can and do kill pets. In most cases, incidents go unreported.

In this case, Rindy said, the woman put the one-year-old terrier mix’s frozen body on the counter at the shelter, and asked to look for a new dog. Workers did not allow her to adopt another dog.

http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=15448&cat=NMTOPSTORIES

[CO Liberal]

1. That Woman Should be ARRESTED!!!!!

And sentenced to an unheated jail cell.

[flamingyouth]

No kidding

:grr:

[barb162]

3. exactly, unheated cell; I wonder if she would get the point

Some people should NEVER be allowed to be pet owners

[cheezus]

4. yet some here advocate cruelty against humans

[amazona]

6. some here may be unaware that TV news...

...is often fiction, science fiction.

[barb162]

16. I advocate this person learn a lesson the hard wa.y Because

this person obviously can't figure out or didn't care, a defenseless animal could and did freeze to death. Is being arrested for animal cruelty being cruel to humans? If so, tough.

[Pirate Smile]

2. Sick! Did she think she was returning a toaster?

Talk about a person in need of a psychological evaluation!

[amazona]

5. might she be mentally ill? or might the story be a fib?

I doubt we know the whole story. Does it get cold enough in Santa Fe to freeze a dog solid? Or did the caretaker put the dead dog in the freezer for when the family returned from their trip? I've known people who believed you should freeze pets until they can be autopsied.

While you should only refrigerate, not freeze, the dead animal for necropsy, there is a sensible reason for having pets necropsied. If you have other pets, or you plan to buy another pet, it is worth knowing cause of death so you can make sure that any sources of disease (like old pet toys or cages) are destroyed. For all I know, the lady believed a vet would be able to necropsy the frozen dog and give her a cause of death that would be preventable next time.

The whole thing sounds odd but I am not trusting of the media on pet/animal issues because they often get things so wrong that it is tantamount to deliberate lying.

I just find the whole frozen dog tale difficult to swallow. Do you often find wild animals frozen solid in Santa Fe? Dogs are descended from wolves, not from orchids.

[Champ]

7. Overnight in December, it is possible

I could've froze out here it got so cold here in Mesa, AZ last night.

[amazona]

9. yes but frozen SOLID ?

I am just not seeing how an entire animal could freeze SOLID all that easily? Sounds like something out of The Day After Tomorrow!

[Champ]

12. I don't know

It is 33 degrees right now in Santa Fe, I imagine it gets much colder during the night.

[skygazer]

14. The whole thing does sound odd

But if the dog was tied up or something and had no real shelter, it could happen. If it was able to move around or get to an area that was out of the wind and somewhat sheltered, I doubt this would happen. It all depends on the circumstances the dog was left in. Also, if it had no food or water for two days, that would weaken its defenses.

Poor thing. Why do people get pets if they don't want to deal with them?

[barb162]

17. between rigor mortis and the cold, I could easily see this

animal being totally "frozen" when she brought it in.

[CO Liberal]

10. Santa Fe Is Not Very Far From Us

And the other morning when I got up, it was two degrees above zero at 6AM. Which means it was probably colder overnight. And most of the week was colder than normal.

I bring my dogs in when the weather gets cold. There's no excuse for keeping dogs out in weather like that.

[CO Liberal]

18. Might The Story Be Totallty True????

And accurately reported by the media???

I just find the whole frozen dog tale difficult to swallow. Do you often find wild animals frozen solid in Santa Fe? Dogs are descended from wolves, not from orchids.

Wild animals have dens, burrows, caves, and other shelter to protect them. And pack animals can sleep together to combine body heat. A one-year-old dog left outside with no shelter, if conditions are right, damn well COULD freeze solid.

Why are you so quick to defend this irresponsible pet owner, and even quicker to condemn the media???? :shrug:

[opihimoimoi]

8. Most likely the woman was a Republican......

[HuskiesHowls]

11. My dogs stay out in the cold

And they love it!!!

Of course, originally coming from Siberia may have something to do with it :-):-)

[Champ]

13. I have a husky too

:bounce:

[CO Liberal]

15. Our Younger Dog is a Chow-Husky Mix

Many times I go outside to check on them, and I'll find Pearl curled up in a ball behind the house, covered with snow.

[HuskiesHowls]

19. I've read about mushers on the trail

and in talking to a guy who had dogs in Alaska, there are times when it will snow overnight. The guy would come out of his tent, after it had been snowing all night and there would be nothing but an unbroken field of snow. He'd call the dogs, and the snow would just start shaking, all the dogs getting up from their little holes they'd worked in the snow. With their noses covered with their tails, they're just fine if they're protected from the wind!!!

[Philostopher]

20. Here's a story with more detail:

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/7473.html

As far as the issues raised in some posts in this thread, it certainly does get cold enough in Santa Fe for a dog to freeze solid, especially if the dog was otherwise ailing and had no shelter. The necropsy/autopsy hasn't been performed on the dog yet, according to the article at the link, and the woman who brought in the dog may not have had anything to do with it.

It could have been a case that the dog died from something else, and was out in subfreezing temperatures until the person who was caring for it found it. It's a sad story, but it may not actually have been deliberate cruelty or criminal neglect.

Correlation isn't necessarily causation, in other words -- just because the dog was frozen when the woman brought it in to the shelter doesn't mean it froze to death. The postmortem exam will determine that, and if it's the case that the dog was left outside with no shelter and did die of hypothermia and freeze solid, somebody definitely should be slapped with an animal cruelty charge.