Lapis is currently available for adoption from PAWS & More.

As we head further into winter, petowners should make sure their furry friend’s living quarters are safe against cold temperatures and precipitation.

PAWS & More Animal Shelter Director Amber Talbot says if possible, owners should bring their pets inside during cold winter weather. Otherwise animals and livestock should be moved to a sheltered area, “Making sure they actually have insulated structures or habitats, using styrofoam is such a great way to insulate the walls and then ensuring that people are packing those houses and structures with straw instead of blankets. It’s so commonly used, we like to throw a blanket in a box somewhere and call it good and those blankets and towels, those items will just become hard and they will feel like a frozen rock and they don’t provide any barrier against those elements for those animals.”

Talbot says dehydration is one of the major issues her shelter sees from animals in the winter, and to prevent that pet owners should make sure their animals have access to non-frozen drinking water, and that their access to food and water isn’t blocked by snow drifts, ice, or other obstacles. The Humane Society of the United States also recommends that outdoor enclosures should be large enough to allow an animal to sit and lie down, but small enough to hold in their body heat. The floor should be a few inches off the ground, and the enclosure should be turned away from the wind with the doorway covered with waterproof burlap or heavy plastic.