The Night Before Christmas Rescue - A Tale of 14 Frozen Dogs

Renee Cawley, a volunteer with Northwest Animal Companions (NAC) received a call the night of December 23rd from a friend who had been sledding with his family near Horseshoe Bend and stumbled upon an area with over a dozen dogs - including 5 golden retriever puppies - with very little shelter, frozen water, and wet, moldy, and frozen food.

Some of the dogs had their chains so tightly wrapped that they couldn't escape each other, nor could they reach the makeshift, cardboard lean-tos that were supposed to provide shelter in the sub-freezing weather.

Renee's friend did what he could to reinforce the shelters and bring fresh water to each of the animals. He contacted the local sheriff, talked with neighbors, and called the media in an effort to aid the dogs.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, Renee, with help from her business partner, met her friend at the site about the same time KIVI Channel 6 News arrived. Together, as cameras rolled, the group loaded the dogs, some of them suffering from near-frozen paws and dehydration, into waiting vehicles. When law enforcement arrived, it didn't take them long to agree that the animals needed to be taken to safety.

Though NAC President Nina Trenwith and Board Member Diane Ayres had hastily arranged foster homes for all of the dogs, the Idaho Humane Society agreed to take the dogs, and Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, Executive Director of IHS, cut his Christmas Eve family shopping trip short and with three dedicated shelter employees met the group to help these animals.

All of the dogs have been checked, treated and are resting comfortably at IHS. The animals will remain at and be cared for by IHS until Boise County authorities decide whether to file animal abuse charges against the dogs' owner who has two current charges against him and has been previously convicted of animal cruelty.