freezing temperatures

with these freezing temperatures I have to think about all the people out there on the streets without a home or place to go inside to stay warm at least. Here where I live now I see few homeless people on the streets. In Denver I saw it everyday....at least 100 people or more every day lying on the sidewalks beside the shelters because there was no more room inside. They would be lined up in a row side by side underneath blankets to keep warm. A couple would always stay awake and stand guard...or at least it appeared that way. They did seem to watch out for one another and someone from the shelter would come out occasionally and make sure they were okay and had something hot to drink. It is pitiful when we as a nation cannot even come up with a simple solution to this but instead tend to turn out backs and allow our brothers to lie freezing in the street and homeless.

I also worry about the animals being outside during these temperatures. Natural wildlife I have no idea how they survive it. I try to put fresh seed and food out along with fresh water at least once per day for the birds and squirrels and rabbits here. I worry about dogs being left outside.

My grandmother has a neighbor who has put a dog outside in a pen and basically forgotten it......it is an old rickety wooden fence about 3 feet high all around....chewed down at the tops. His name is Joe. He is a sweet dog.....deserving so much more than the life he has there in that pen. He is left outside no matter the weather. It can be pouring down rain and lightning outside and he will be there. His owners do NOT clean up the dog poop in the pen......which is now nothing but a mud floor with big PILES of poop all over. Only the storms clear that down a little bit. He has no grass to walk on......no gravel.........no sawdust or straw. It is mud. There are huge holes in the ground probably where Joe dug......when it rains his pen fills with standing water and you can see him out there standing in mid-leg deep rain mud puddles. It is pitiful. Everyone told me he was mean and I thought to myself I could not blame him if he was. What crappy world he must live in. Never having company....never being talked to......never being touched or stroked or played with. His little igloo doghouse is far too little for him now. It also sits over a deep hole.......which he probably had to dig in order to have room inside the house.....maybe it is like a foxhole for him then. Someplace to get in and snuggle down for the night.

Anytime I go visit my grandma Noah and I take treats to Joe. We always go out to him. When I first heard he was mean I was leery about going up to him. He was always barking and wanting to jump the fence to get to you.....but he looked like he was always smiling at us. I started to go over and take him treats......talking to him......petting him. He was the gentlest dog I have ever known....just soaking it all up. SO now every time we go over we stop and talk to Joe. We pet him...play with him a tiny bit and feed him treats which he loves. When it is time to go we always go by and tell him goodbye...petting him again......he always has a sad look on his face then. He little spirit looks completely broken. I know the owners have been turned in to the Humane Society before........and yet Joe remains outside in those conditions. I am afraid if they were turned in again......Joe might get put down. Some would say he would be better off.

I just wish there were a way I could have him. He looks like the dog that plays Air Bud.
I have yet to take pictures of him or his pen. I should. NO ONE would believe the conditions he lives in. Pure filth....and yet he always has a lot of love to give to me...and will still act like he wants to play. I hope during these temps they have at least made it to where he can get in the garage to keep warm.

I wish someone would put the owners out on the street for a night or two......do something to wake them up to what they are doing to that poor dog. See these owners are really bad....because they have another dog.......and they keep that one inside all the time. SO they have 2 dogs......Joe......who has been left outside since a pup......and this other dog......who never goes out other than to play or pee/poop. Joe only gets to watch life go by on the sidelines.

life can be so crappy sometimes......and I wish I could wave a magic wand and take away all the pain and suffering from so many......including those who can't even speak for themselves.

I can't have a pet right now where I live. IF I could I would do something I have never done before. I would go steal that dog and bring him to my house and give him a good home. He would have a nice yard to run and play in......a place to stay warm and out of the bad weather when it was bad......he would be given a lot of love.

It breaks my heart to think that he is out there again today......when the wind chill is about 15 below zero.......he probably has no fresh water......no warm place to be....he could be lying out there frozen fast dead to the ground and the sad part is.....his owners would not even know it. I am sure when they feed him they just dump it and go. They never check to see if he is even around.