With the drop in temperatures, organizers of the local warming shelter have issued a call for coats and sweaters for dogs.
The unhoused population in Hot Springs has pets, but subfreezing temperatures put the animals, which are often overlooked, and their owners at risk.
"They've got dogs, and we worry as much about the animals as we do about the people," Sally Carder, one of the shelter's organizers, said. "But we thought if we could get some folks that their animals had outgrown their coats, little sweaters or something that might be something that would help the pets of our homeless folks."
Carder said coats and sweaters for dogs can be dropped off at St. Luke's Episcopal Church or at Jackson House.
"If they drop them off there, we'll be able to get it," she said.
Video not playing? Click here https://www.youtube.com/embed/SIMS_wUz3ik
Faith Wetzler, coordinator with Hot Springs Animal Services, said city and county ordinances require any outdoor pets to have a place with a "solid three walls and a roof" to keep out of the elements.
"They need a bottom -- something to get off that cold ground, and straw is the best thing to keep them warm, and then a heat lamp (is) very inexpensive," she said, noting straw is available at Animal Services for free. "They can go to Tractor Supply or Walmart and spend 20 bucks, and get a lamp and a bulb. And truly, it helps a lot. Those walls hold that heat in, but dogs get pneumonia just like we do. They freeze to death just like we do. That fur does not keep them warm like everyone thinks."
Wetzler said large breed dogs with heavy coats of fur, such as Akitas, huskies, German shepherds and labradors, can handle lower temperatures easier than smaller dogs, but they still need shelter.
"All those dogs are great outdoor dogs," she said. "They have high energy. They need to be outside a lot, but they do need to be inside, too. They need that socialization, to come in and get that comfort of their family."
Camp Diggity Dogs recently held a dog food drive to help those less fortunate as well, Carder said.
"They've delivered dog food to different organizations like Jackson House, St. Luke's and Lakeview Assembly of God," she said. "So we've got dog food now that we can hand out to our folks, and that's a big deal. It's important our pets are fed well, especially during the winter, so we appreciate the efforts of Camp Diggity Dogs."
While the shelter has yet to open this winter, Carder said plans have been made to keep the shelter at First United Methodist Church.
"They have agreed to let us use that center again, and hopefully, this will be the last time we'll have to impose on those folks. That's what we're doing. The temperature has been set at 25 (degrees), and the predictions have to be 25 for at least two nights in a row. So for example, when I got up (Thursday) morning, it was 25 here, but it very quickly rose. ... It's gonna have to be really brutal for us to be able to open there."
Carder said weather conditions could lead the shelter to open even before the 25-degree mark.
"If we know that it's gonna snow and it might be 27 degrees instead of 25, I think we can convince the church to allow us to open," she said. "We certainly look at a lot of factors there. The moisture content -- if it's going to rain for days and days on end, I worry about our folks because they'll be wet. Everything they own will be wet during that time."
Many times items are lost or stolen from homeless people, which leaves them at risk, Carder said.
"Our homeless folks should have sleeping bags and tents and coats and gloves and hats -- the things that they're going to need just to survive," she said. "The problem we run into is when their camps are busted up, sometimes they don't have an opportunity to get that stuff. The other thing we run into is if they leave their camps unattended for long periods of time, another one of their homeless neighbors will steal from them. So we kind of keep as close a watch as we can, but our goal is simply to get them through this winter. And once we do that, we can start doing some things hopefully to start getting them off the street again."
Churches and organizations who may want to help with the shelter -- either financially or by helping serve meals -- should start making plans now, so they will be ready when it opens.
"They (should) start talking to their members and say, 'Hey, when the shelter opens, would you be willing to maybe serve a meal? Or would you be willing to provide a little bit of money for security?'" she said. "We've decided with new people -- we have a lot of new people on the street that we don't know as well -- so we're going to increase security this year. The largest one single expense is the security because it costs us a fortune for an off-duty police officer just for eight hours, and we're looking to extend that now at least four or five hours. And that is just a lot of money."
Carder said people can donate at any time toward the warming or cooling shelter by visiting the St. Luke's website and selecting "Warming/Cooling Shelter" in the drop-down menu:
http://tinyurl.com/ykn9kf7z
"If anyone wants to go ahead and do something in advance, they can certainly go on St. Luke's Episcopal Church website, and there's a way that they can donate -- already -- to the warming shelters," she said.
"That will be our biggest issue right there is trying to find the money to provide extra security. Not that we are afraid of our guests, but it makes volunteers (feel) easier. It makes our guests (feel) easier to know that there's going to be no ... arguing. Everything's going to be calm. It's just something that we've done for years, and we just feel like with the new faces we're seeing, it's probably a wise idea to have more hours."
EDITOR'S NOTE: A quote from Sally Carder n this article has been corrected from "this winner" to "this winter." The newspaper regrets the error.
An adoption sign is displayed at Hot Springs Animal Services. (The Sentinel-Record/Donald Cross)