Winter temperatures are here again, and there are dogs and cats that are forced to live outside with or without proper shelter. Life is so hard for a neglected dog who lives outside at the end of a chain and for feral cats who don't belong to anyone.

Life outdoors during a long frigid winter will be even more difficult for many of these animals, as the economic crisis means that they will have even less to eat and no toys or treats to fight the terrible boredom that is their only companion.

Buster's Law requires proper shelter to prevent a neglect or cruelty charge being brought against the owner or guardian. Abandonment is also against the law. Legal shelter for an outdoor dog must protect against wind, snow and rain in a dog house with a floor. The dog must also be provided with adequate food and fresh water every day. Feral cats can only hope they can find a bit of shelter or that some kind soul will provide it.

Those of us who love our pets find it difficult to understand why anyone would banish a dog to a cold, lonely, boring life isolated from his/her owner. Many of these dogs suffer from frostbite, hypothermia and some even die from their living conditions. For those dogs whose owners don't know about Buster's Law or who think they'll not be caught, we must intervene and not pass by such a suffering dog but instead report the situation to the SPCA or the police.

Winter means some adjustments for our indoor pets also. What is too cold for them? Long haired dogs can play outside for short periods of time if the temperature is above 20 degrees. Puppies, short-haired and elderly dogs shouldn't be out very long unless the temperature is above 40 degrees. Care must be taken when walking a dog when there is snow on the ground so that it doesn't walk on salt melting chemicals or eat snow that has been treated.

Help our local shelter

Our local Finger Lakes SPCA is in a competition called the “Shelter Challenge,” and you can help them win. You can cast one vote online every day for our local shelter. Winners could receive from $1,000 to $25,000. Imagine what our shelter could do with that money.

Voting ends at midnight (PST) Dec. 14. The more friends you can rally to vote the better our chances of winning. Your local SPCA is counting on you.

To vote, visit www.theanimalrescuesite.com.

On the far right there is a purple tab that says “Shelter Challenge.” Click on it. Type in exactly: Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York, and be sure to fill out the state and then click on “search.”

Finally, click on vote. Next is a screen that asks you to confirm your vote.

Never use glue traps

Even little mice, rats, chipmunks or squirrels deserve humane treatment if they must die. There are ways to keep them away rather than killing them. If killing must be done, then spring traps are quick and more humane. Glue traps cause suffering for a long time. The animal slowly starves to death. And people have told me that it takes days, and the little creature cries and screams the entire time until it finally dies. Those are now people who would never use a glue trap again. Lowes has been asked repeatedly by national organizations to take them off the shelves, but they are still being sold there. Many other stores have stopped selling them.

Judy Vorreuter is the founder and director of Animal Advocates of the Finger Lakes. Contact her at judy@cayugaanimaladvocates.org