Quote:

Dog frozen to Wis. sidewalk ; fat helped it survive

Fri Dec 5, 2008 12:50 PM ESTodd, chubby, dog, ordeal, us-news, odd-news, sheboygan-county-humane-society, carey-payneAssociated PressSHEBOYGAN —

A dog weighing more than 120 pounds survived being frozen to a sidewalk overnight, probably because he was insulated by layers of fat, authorities said. The Sheboygan County Humane Society says the "morbidly obese" dog, an aging border collie mix named Jiffy, froze to the sidewalk when he was left out overnight Wednesday. Shelter manager Carey Payne says few dogs could survive the single-digit temperatures, and it was probably the fat that made the difference.

Jiffy's 59-year-old owner was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of animal neglect, Sheboygan Police Lt. Tim Eirich said. She told police she tried to get the dog inside but couldn't, and instead checked on him every few hours.

The dog is 11 or 12 years old, Eirich said. Shelter workers poured warm water over Jiffy's back end to unstick him from the sidewalk, Payne said, and it was too soon to say whether he suffered any long-term effects.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28072038/


The owner should have been arrested for feeding her dog to this pitiful state and she also needs a baby-sitter because she obviously is lacking in grey matter.

So they knew the dog was frozen to the sidewalk and did nothing at all to help it...WTH

I hate all the fat dogs I see around, there is nothing good about fattening up something you love to fatal levels!

 Quote: debbie bruce

The owner ... needs a baby-sitter because she obviously is lacking in grey matter.

Perhaps the owner should be "humanely euthanized"

Honestly..I would never leave a dog out in single digit degree weather..much less an old dog!

And the neighbor doesn't think anyone should blame the owner!

His hair froze to the sidewalk? I've never heard of anything like that before.

i bet he fell--either on ice or collapsed from obesity and laid there long enough for the heat of his body to melt the snow partially, then it refroze.
i had a filly slip/fall on the ice one year in the middle of the night. in the AM she was frozen/stuck to the grd. it was insane. we had to build a fire to thaw the snow/ice, so she could get up--turned out she injured her spine in the fall and was neurological and COULDNT get up.
serious probably there are some medical issues w/the dog--besides the weight and age...

very sad. anyone who lives in Wisc (i lived there for 18 yrs) & has even one brain cell firing wouldn't let a dog stay outside like that, no shelter, in single digits (probably even in the negatives at night). : (

 Quote: debbie bruce

 Quote:

Dog frozen to Wis. sidewalk ; fat helped it survive


Jiffy's 59-year-old owner was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of animal neglect.... She told police she tried to get the dog inside but couldn't, and instead checked on him every few hours.

What a pile of horse excrement! This lady is wrong on so many levels, my eyes are bleeding

First off, I just don't know what it means that she "couldn't" get her dog inside. I'd bet my home that a piece of hot dog, ball of hamburger meat or the sound and smell of a can of wet dog food opening would've got that dog in the house in no time (fat dogs tend to like food, duh!). Plus, this dog was morbidly obese and fairly old. Is she saying she couldn't grab him? Apparently the dog was too fat to get up from an icy ground. In the MSN video on the link Debbie provided, you can see that the dog is so fat, it can barely walk. Absolutely no way she couldn't get this dog in the house if she tried, just a little. If she couldn't get him up the stairs, call a friend, neighbor, fire dept., ANYONE, to help.

Secondly, owner says she checked on him every few hours. What?? If this were really the case, you would think and old, fat dog would lie down in a matter of 10-15 min. MAX. This isn't some 10 month old pup full of energy and rebellion. After 15 minutes, she could have leashed the dog while it way lying down and brought it inside. More importantly, she left the dog in the freezing cold for A FEW HOURS. URRRRGGGGG!

This lady is not just stupid; she is evil. On top of that she is a liar. Calling her dumb (though she likely is) is just too forgiving for her behavior. IMO, she was just trying to make excuses to save her butt from the police. I've seen it dozens of time. Leaving one's dog out to freeze to death is just plain malevolent.

She should not be allowed to own another dog, EVER.

I wish to edit the "humanely" from my earlier post.

Oh, that's horrible... it's been very cold here the past few days and nights, too!

Bonus points if dog owners who read this decide to fatten their dog up "just in case" it has to spend the night outside.

That is horrible, I agree with everything Eric said.

And Janet yep it can happen, around here, a Golden retriever was found frozen to the ground in a farmer's field a couple years ago (it was a stray and had been hit by a car). The farmer who found her assumed she was dead but when he went to pry her up she opened her eyes (she was later turned in to an animal rescue, made a full recovery and was adopted).

Amazing.

I hope this poor Border Collie does not get returned to his owner. BC's are supposed to weigh, what, 40 lbs???

yup, i've seen it happen too.

found a little black & white mix dog frozen to a sewer grate by some train tracks.
It's paw got stuck in the grate and he couldn't move. he froze to the grate too because he couldn't get his paw loose to move.
It had snowed overnight so he was covered in snow too.
I just happened to spot the snow moving while I was walking my dog.
I went over to him, and he hardly moved. I got his paw out of the slat of the grate but still couldn't move him because his fur was frozen to the grate. So I had to run home, get some scissors then go back and cut him out.