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Animal control officers sleep outside to raise awareness of dogs left in the cold

Left to Right, Trish Barnes, Joaquin Guerrero, and Anthony Trevino

In an effort to raise awareness of dogs being left out in the cold, members of an animal shelter in Saginaw will sleep outside tonight.

 

Three officers at Saginaw County Animal Control volunteered to sleep outside to show people the dangers of leaving dogs out in freezing temperatures.

The officers each chose different methods of shelter to showcase varying conditions. One will sleep in a dog house with blankets and a chain, one will sleep in a dog house with straw, and the other will sleep with no shelter at all.

Joaquin Guerrero is one of the officers. He says 5th graders from Hemmeter Elementary will be helping with the event.

“So basically what they’re going to be doing every 30 minutes, they’re going to come out and get all our vital signs, taking the temperature outside, the temperature of the dog houses inside and outside, the food and water that’s set out, and then they’re going to combine all that throughout the whole night as to see how long we can last. My goal is to make it until the next morning.”

The event will take place from 6 tonight until 8 tomorrow morning, or for however long the officers can handle to cold.