MANSFIELD — A 4-month old puppy dropped off at the Richland County Dog Shelter after hours on Wednesday spent a cold night in the facility’s outdoor kennels.
The decision to leave the 15-pound lab-mix puppy at 5 p.m. sparked concerns from Richland County Deputy Dog Warden Missy Houghton.
Video cameras at the facility, which closes at 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, recorded a woman taking the puppy directly to the bank of 10 outdoor kennels behind the facility at 810 N. Home Road.
“She didn’t even stop at the front door,” Houghton said.
She said outside temperatures dropped sharply from 31 degrees around 5 p.m. on Wednesday to 18 degrees on Thursday morning, with wind gusts around 15 mph.
“While we understand that when someone finds a stray, they can’t always keep it or some people would prefer to dump their dogs here when we aren’t open, we ask that people kindly use some discretion, common sense and decency,” Houghton said.
“Our outdoor kennels are not designed to provide much shelter from the elements and we are lucky this puppy was not suffering any negative effects from the weather when we found him and brought him in.”
She asked during the winter cold that residents try to keep dogs — especially young, old, skinny, short haired or flat faced — out of the elements until they can be safely brought into the shelter.
Houghton said the outdoor kennels are not “entirely weatherproof.”
“They have a make-shift roof, but they are open on the bottom and wind gets in. And they are not entirely enclosed,” Houghton said.
She said a volunteer recently suggested they could add dog houses inside the kennels.
“We have already been in the process of getting donated dog houses to place in the kennels for situations like this. While we understand that there are some people who don’t have placement for a dog, we also have to make sure that we speak up for the dogs entrusted in our care,” Houghton said.
