Cold and scared dog found tied to tree and abandoned in snow outside Utah shelter
A dog was tied to a tree and abandoned in the freezing cold outside an animal shelter in Utah, officials said.
He was out in the snow with no shelter or water for about two hours, a representative with South Salt Lake Animal Services told McClatchy News in an interview.
“DO NOT JUST LEAVE YOUR ANIMALS AT THE FRONT OF A SHELTER,” shelter officials wrote on Facebook on Feb. 22. “This dog was left tied up to one of our trees this morning in the freezing cold. We ask that you call us and we will see what we can do to help you and your pet. Leaving them tied up with no shelter or water is a crime.”
They shared a photo showing the freezing dog tied to the tree with snow and ice clinging to his fur. He was very nervous and bared his teeth at the camera.
Temperatures in Salt Lake City reached a high of about 31 degrees and a low of about 20 degrees that day, according to AccuWeather. A winter storm also left the area blanketed in about a foot of snow, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Staff brought the dog inside the shelter to warm up and decompress. But he remained scared, skittish and aggressive, and staff have not been able to safely take him out of the kennel, the representative said.
They’re hoping he’ll warm up to them in the next few days so they can work on getting him any care he might need.
Meanwhile, the staff is asking for any information on the dog. Surveillance video showed someone getting out of a car with multiple people inside of it, tying the dog to the tree, then quickly hugging him and giving him a treat before running off and abandoning him there alone in the snow, the representative said.
Staffers told KUTV the owner appeared distraught in the video.
“He was sad to most likely leave his animal, so we understand there was probably a situation that he couldn’t keep his animal,” supervisor Jenica Laws told the station. “My heart sunk because it’s snowing outside, it’s cold, and there’s no shelter out there and there’s no water.”
If that’s the case, owners should bring their dog inside and talk with staff to determine what the shelter can do for the pet, Laws told the station.
“He’s scared. He doesn’t understand why his owner left him,” she said. “And there’s these strangers coming to get him.”
