ICYMI it’s bloody cold outside.
And while we’re able to wrap ourselves up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves to brace the elements, we should take a moment to consider our furry friends.
One dog owner is urging us to all remember our four-legged friends after her very good boy had his paws burnt from walking on icy grass.
Sarah Garner, 31, was out walking Chase, her Border Collie, 7, on The Hams in Kempsey on Thursday morning.
She noticed something was wrong when Chase refused to walk. It was at this point she noticed blood on the grass, and quickly checked his feet.
Sarah said:
When we were coming back from our normal morning walk we noticed blood on the frosty grass and that Chase was not wanting to walk.
I could see that the bottom of his paws had appeared to burn off, so my partner quickly picked him up and rushed him to the car.
We went straight to the vets where he had his feet cleaned, dressed and he was given some pain relief and then we decided he should have laser treatment to help the healing process.
The vets think he will be out of action for the next two weeks, and he has to wear waterproof bags on his feet while the dressings are helping.
Poor fella. Thankfully, Chase is now on the mend.
Sarah is hoping others can learn from Chase’s experience out in the cold.
She added:
I’m sharing my story in hope that people will realise the damage the cold can do to a dog’s paws and either refrain from taking them out when it’s really cold, or get them snow shoes.
Once he’s allowed to go back out for walks he’s going to be wearing snow boots to stop this from happening again.
It’s really sad to see him how he is now, and see the evident pain that he went through, but hopefully with the shoes this won’t happen again.
I’d advise anyone to not walk their dogs in such cold weather, but if you do need to walk them invest in some paw boots to protect them.
If I were you, Chase, I’d make the most out of not having to go out for walks. Baby it’s cold outside!
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.