Cold snap causes untold suffering for abandoned pets.
By: David Campbell
Last month, in a scene all too familiar at SAVE, Princeton’s animal shelter on Herrontown Road, several stray cats suffering from acid burn and frostbite were brought in from the cold.
"They had been outside on the Mercer County Community College campus, huddling together against some discarded batteries trying to get shelter from the frigid weather," said Sara Nicolls, executive director of SAVE.
"When the temperatures drop, they can’t really maintain their heat and keep their energy up, especially animals that have been used to living indoors," she said, noting that, contrary to what some think, rabbits that are domesticated have it as hard in frigid weather as dogs and cats.
It happens all too often. Animals are dropped off at the shelter that are malnourished, with frostbite on their feet and frightened.
"People often think they’re not domesticated and can fend for themselves," Ms. Nicolls said. "We see it in cats and kittens, rabbits, puppies and dogs, barely surviving. It’s a sad, sad story. People find animals on the roadside, very often in very bad shape."
Last week, a homeless cat found off Russell Road was brought in by a resident there who was leery of the falling temperatures. Another abandoned cat, named Robert, came in about a month ago from Mercer County Community College. Last week, three homeless cats Ariel, Levinia and Sammy were brought in from Redding Circle after a neighbor, worried about the cold weather, contacted Princeton Animal Control.
SAVE also receives from two to seven phone calls a day from residents alarmed about domestic animals left out all day in the cold without food or shelter.
"People don’t realize that if they have metal dog bowls, an animal’s tongue can stick. It’s like putting your tongue on a flagpole," Ms. Nicolls said. "Dogs are pack animals. It’s their worst nightmare to be chained outside."
In such situations, animal control is then contacted, and residents who are unable to care for their animals sometimes surrender them to SAVE. In some cases, Ms. Nicolls said, their neighbors will take the animal off their hands and pass it along to SAVE.
Ms. Nicolls advised residents with pets to take the sort of precautions for outdoor weather that one would take for a small child, including sweaters for short-haired or thin-skinned animals.
Owners also should keep their pets away from antifreeze, a toxin that tastes sweet to animals, or buy pet-safe antifreeze; use sand instead of snow salt, which is irritating to paws; and, of course, not leave pets unattended outside or in vehicles without heat, Ms. Nicolls said.
"When the temperature drops, it’s like humans; they were never meant to exist by themselves," she said.

