Ohio law 959.131 reads:

"No person who confines or who is the custodian or caretaker of a companion animal shall negligently do any of the following:

Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance, confine the companion animal without supplying it during the confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food and water, or impound or confine the companion animal without affording it, during the impoundment or confinement, with access to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, or excessive direct sunlight, if it can reasonably be expected that the companion animal would become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of or due to the deprivation, confinement, or impoundment or confinement in any of those specified manners."

The key word here is "shelter." You may think, after reading this section of the law, that according to this law any exterior shelter would keep the companion animal (which Ohio law defines as "any animal that is kept inside a residential dwelling and any dog or cat regardless of where it is kept") comfortable in any weather conditions. However, I witnessed something today where this was proven incorrect, and we need to do something about it. I saw a 14-year-old German Shephard with painful hip problems (reported by the owner) chained up to a tree 300 feet from his owner's residence. People living around him reported that the dog has been outside 24 hours a day for the past few weeks. This includes being outside when Ohio's temperatures dropped to negative digits. He had food and a water bowl (which was frozen over), and yes, he had "shelter." His "shelter" was a small wooden box that supposedly, according to the owner, had a blanket inside. After calling the humane society and police, I was told that the owner was not doing anything illegal because he was providing the dog with the three basics, according to the law: food, water, and shelter. However, as I stood there, staring at this box which was this dog's home, there was no doubt in my mind that during the nights we've had here in Cleveland when the temperatures dropped to -12 degrees he had to miserable. Frozen. The police officer told me that the shelter had to shield the dog from the "elements," so sure, maybe it provided light protection from the wind, but I'm sure snow flooded the box and the thin walls could not have protected him from the negative wind chills. I had to walk away heartbroken...defeated. And even more I was angry with this beautiful dog's owner who had no issue with leaving his gorgous senior German Shephard out in the cold, overnight, for days, maybe weeks, at a time.

What I am asking for is support to increase the strictness of the Ohio law for companion animals during extreme temperatures (under 40 degrees fahrenheit). This is for dogs who are left outside for more than 45 minutes at time during extreme temperatures. The definition of a "shelter" should be an enclosed structure, with walls at least three inches thick, that has some sort of means to keep the animal at a comfortable temperature (eg. heating device, blankets, etc.). Companion animal owners are taking advantage of what this Ohio law says, and are getting away with putting a box in their backyard because that is all that it takes to avoid charges and fines. A 1/2'' thick box does nothing when the temperatures are as low as they have been. Can we make this happen? I will sure try, and I need your help to begin. As long as it takes, I will do something about this. What I saw today brought me to tears, and I never want to see it again. We are the voices for our animals, so let's protect them and keep them comfortable.