Pets During The Cold Winter Months.

I actually hate that I feel the need to write a blog post about this topic.. Why? Because that means this is actually a problem, which angers me to no end.. After seeing this picture ->
on Facebook I knew it was time and I had to address this issue. So even though I do not believe in the concept of ever leaving a pet outside all the time and believe that at the very least every pet should have the right to spend nights in the house. However since I can't control that, and by law as long as your pet is provided food, water and adequate shelter it is not considered animal cruelty (I disagree completely) but what can you do? So if you are one of those people who choose to leave your poor innocent pet outside year around, at least have the decency to prepare your pet to be comfortable (as possible) during these cold winter months.
1. Proper Housing - if you are expecting your pet to live outside in these months, please don't be like the sick disturbed people who let snow gather on their dog like in the picture above, provide a proper house, with a sloped roof so snow will not crush the roof from gathering, and is insulated or if possible providing a heater, blankets are not always ideal unless you change them everyday as when the dog goes to sleep at night and the blankets become wet from the snow, if you leave them there they may freeze and will not help keep your pet warm, but actually colder.
2. Water - make sure you give fresh water everyday, to ensure your pets water has not frozen solid with the weather.
3. Food - if you are keeping your pet(s) outside all winter, remember in the cold the pet will need to be provided extra food because their bodies will be burning extra calories trying to keep themselves warm.
4. You don't need to worry about this if you just let your poor pet inside during the winter months at least for the night :)