Video: Dogs Cry, Left Outside to Freeze During Blizzard

As New York faced one of the most severe blizzards it’s seen in recent years, two dogs were fighting for their lives.

According to a neighbor, who filmed the incident, a Brooklyn woman left her dogs outside to suffer during the record-breaking snowfall and freezing temperatures this weekend. You can hear the animals howling and whimpering as snow continues to fall:

The neighbor, Evelyn Costa, told the Daily News that the abuse has been going on for years: “It’s a chronic neglect situation.” She said that the dogs have been left outside during the hottest and coldest days of the year and that the neglect has continued for more than a decade.

The disturbing footage has sparked outrage online. According to reports, after numerous callers complained, the police responded and made the owner shovel a path to the dogs and take them inside. There will apparently be an investigation into her treatment of the animals.

Dogs are family members and shouldn’t be left outside to suffer through freezing temperatures. However, for lonely and neglected dogs who are forced to live outside, PETA builds and delivers hundreds of sturdy, straw-filled doghouses, providing them with the only shelter that many of them have ever known.

While the Brooklyn dogs in the video were given at least temporary relief from the cold, this dog, named Brooklyn, will have protection from snowstorms all winter, thanks to PETA fieldworkers who replaced his shelter, which was falling apart, with a sturdy new doghouse.

To many dogs, these houses can mean the difference between life and death.

What You Can Do

If you want to help dogs like the ones in the video, consider sponsoring a PETA doghouse this winter. Also, if you see a dog suffering outside, read our tips for helping individual dogs here.