A Windsor-based online petition has attracted almost 7,000 signatures in a week, calling for stricter laws to better protect dogs kept outside in extreme cold.

Howard Weeks started the petition after seeing a short-haired dog tethered outside in his neighbourhood during the current cold snap, and posting a picture of the animal on Facebook. A lot of commenters expressed anger over the dog’s treatment, so Weeks launched a Change.org petition called, “We must keep dogs safe during extremely cold weather.”

The petition surged beyond his expectations, attracting support from around the world.

Weeks plans to present the petition to city council soon asking that the bylaw be changed so that dogs kept outside — now limited to four hours in the city — be restricted to 15 minutes when the temperature drops below zero celsius. He feels man’s best friend suffers in freezing temperatures.

“It’s quite upsetting,” said Weeks, a retired talent agent from Toronto who walks his five-year-old shih tzu Bubba three times a day in the Walkerville area. 

“The dog I saw tethered had its feet in the snow. And it has short hair. Sometimes when I pass by it would be huddled underneath the car.”

Melanie Coulter, executive director of the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society, said her organization has fielded several calls a day since the mercury plummeted.

“We’re getting a lot of calls about animals outside and we’re checking on them all very quickly, given the cold,” Coulter said Wednesday. “But we haven’t had to remove any.”

Coulter said a few owners have been directed to bring their animals inside, while others have been instructed to put more hay in their doghouses. The law requires that animals have sufficient food and water and have a doghouse that’s insulated, usually with hay.

“If we got there and the dogs were shivering, showing signs of hypothermia, that would be a problem,” Coulter said. “But if the dog has adequate shelter and is bouncing around doing OK, legally we can’t do anything about that.”

Provincial law does not place any restrictions on the amount of time dogs can be kept outside, but bylaws differ between municipalities. For example, Windsor limits the time dogs can be left outside to four consecutive hours, Essex limits it to 10 hours, while Lakeshore has no restrictions at all.

“Sometimes people are disappointed that we just can’t remove a dog that we find outside,” Coulter said. “When it’s this cold a lot of animal lovers’ hearts ache thinking of dogs out there alone and cold.”

The law is one thing. But treating animals well is another, she said. 

“As a person whose dogs don’t like to go outside, who rush in immediately after they go outside, it’s hard to imagine wanting to just leave them outside all the time, no matter what the weather is,” said Coulter, who personally feels dogs should be kept inside year-round.

“Dogs are social animals and they want to be inside with their pack, which is you.”

Coulter said the Humane Society encourages citizens to call whenever they see an animal in distress for any reason, including frigid conditions.

The extreme cold — temperatures are expected to drop to as low as -30 C with wind-chill factor in the next couple of days — will be hard on more than just dogs, of course.

Nancy Phillips, president of Wings Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, said a number of geese and other animals have been dropped off at her organization in recent days by people concerned about the bitter temperatures.

“We’re really fearing this weather,” Phillips said. “If it keeps up, we’re in trouble.”

Waterfowl in particular struggle when the thermometer plunges.

“Once the water freezes, they can’t find any food,” Phillips said. “The extreme cold is really hard on animals.”

cpearson@postmedia.com

Weather alert

Environment Canada on Wednesday issued a special weather statement for Essex and Kent Counties, warning citizens about a cold snap Thursday through Sunday.

“A bitterly cold northwesterly flow will develop over southern Ontario Thursday,” the Environment Canada weather statement reads. “Extreme cold warning criteria of -30 C is expected to be met in many places Thursday night into Friday and again Friday night into Saturday.”