These aren’t necessarily always neglected dogs in abusive situations. Some cases are just owners who have a lapse in judgment, thinking that because their pets have fur that they’ll be ok overnight in a dog house in the dead of winter. 

 Regardless, pets should never be left outside in extreme weather conditions, and now, thanks to Democratic Rep. Darrin Camilleri from Brownstown, Michigan, there is sponsorship behind a bill that proposes making it illegal to leave your dog outside for more than 30 minutes in temperatures that are 90 degrees and higher, as well as sub-zero weather conditions. 

 According to WZZM, Executive Director for the Harbor Humane Society in Ottawa County, Jennifer Self-Aulgur, said, “It’s very common for us to see at least a dozen cases of frostbite every winter, and it’s usually dogs that were left out. It’s something we also see in the summer with dogs that have been outside too long [suffering] heat exhaustion.”

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This is great news for dogs in Michigan come winter and summertime for them to have these kinds of protections in place. So, what would be the punishments? 

Well, according to the bill, a first offense would entail a misdemeanor that sees you go to jail for up to 93 days, as well as a fine of $1,000. After that, the ensuing offenses will be increased jail time as well as increased fines. However, Michigan wouldn’t be the only state to have such laws. 

According to WZZM there are other states with similar protections in place for their pets as well, and they include the following states: Texas, New York, and Nevada. Hopefully, other states across the nation will also catch on and start presenting similar bills in order to protect their animals from extreme weather conditions.
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The wild tiger population is in serious trouble. Not only are these animals greatly endangered by habitat loss and poaching in their native territory, but they are also very susceptible to the illegal wildlife trade.

 Bought and sold into this illicit trade, these animals often end up as exotic pets. 

While the concept of keeping a tiger as a pet in your backyard might sound ridiculous, the reality is that there are currently more tigers in American backyards than there are in the wild … yes, it’s that bad. Luckily, organizations like International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) exist to make sure that exotic animals, like tigers, who have been wrongly taken from the wild and forced into captivity get a chance at retirement. 

IFAW actively rescues and rehabilitates tigers from abusive captive situations; the tigers in this video came from this sort of life. 

 Lily and Carli, the tigers featured, are enjoying the good life at their sanctuary home in Nevada. These two rescued big cats are getting to experience the wonder of swimming in a cool, refreshing pool for the very first time in their lives! 

 While these two tigers should have never been captured from the wild, we are so pleased to see them enjoying themselves in their new home. 

Enjoy your swim, Lily and Carli!

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But one 65-year-old woman in Mexico is choosing to live on the streets and refuses to go to a shelter. Her reasoning? She doesn’t want to leave her six dogs behind. 

 Luz Maria Olmedo Beltran, or Chole for short, lives in a plastic trash bag in Tijuana with her six dogs. She’s been living on the streets for the past eight years. 

Though shelters are available to her, they won’t take in her dogs and she refuses to leave them. Omar Camarillo, a local photographer, happened to capture photos of Chole hiding from the rain in her trash bag house – along with all of her dogs. 

He shared photos of the moment on his Facebook, noting that Chole was being pressured by police to move to a shelter. She feared being arrested and losing her pups. PHOTO: FACEBOOK /OMAR CAMARILLO According to Bored Panda, the police finally convinced Chole to find a shelter for the night. 

So, she gathered her dogs and trash bag up and allegedly went to stay with her son. 

 However, the next day she was back on the streets. After Omar shared the photos and drew attention to Chole’s situation, a young animal-lover named Alejandra Cordova Castro decided to offer the woman some help. 

 Castro brought Chole blankets, socks, food, and water. One of Chole’s dogs was moments away from giving birth and Castro knew that someone needed to help in any way possible. 

She shared what she did on Facebook, asking others to help out if they can. Alejandra shared in her post that Chole “said thank you so many times that she made me cry.” 

 While rumors spread that Chole is now paying to stay in a poor shelter that allows her dogs, Alejandra said she’s still on the streets and she “don’t want to move.” 

Hopefully she’s able to find a more permanent housing situation for her and her dogs!
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As repairmen investigated the cause of the rupture, they realized the basement crawl space was being used as a makeshift den by a sleeping bear family. 

 Both the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and Appalachian Bear Rescue quickly dispatched rescuers to the scene, where they carefully removed three tiny cubs. 

But in the commotion, the mama bear fled, leaving rescuers to believe they’d probably be raising the cubs on their own. PHOTO: FACEBOOK/APPALACHIAN BEAR RESCUE
“Reunion with their mother is next to impossible,” rescuers wrote at the on at the time. “It’s likely mother bear was responsible for the gas leak that started the chain of events that led to her three cubs arriving at [Appalachian Bear Rescue].” 

 Rescuers next best option was to bottle feed the cubs until they were old enough to be placed with a foster bear family, although this method also involves some risks. 

“Regardless, she can’t continue to use the crawl space as a den,” rescuers explained, “and the cubs are too young to be moved around in the cold.” But the mama bear surprised everyone by coming back to the house the following day in search of her cubs, whom rescuers had named Jasmine, Jeannie, and Magic Bear. 

  “On February 16, 2021, we wrote in reference to the three little cubs: Reunion with their mother is next to impossible,” rescuers said, recalling their earlier Facebook comments. 

But she did. And we’re happy she did. Learning never ends.” This unexpected turn of events led rescuers to develop a new plan. 

Rather than trying to place the cubs in foster bear families, they asked the homeowner to let the bear family to wait out winter together in their makeshift “den.” 

Thankfully, the homeowner said ‘yes.’ “The best place for any young wildlife is with its mother, obviously,” 

TWRA rescuer Dan Gibbs explained in a video detailing this rescue operation. Rescuers believed the mother bear will take her growing family back out into the wild upon the arrival of spring. “She’s a good size and she was obviously ready to come and get her young,” another rescuer, 

Coy Blair, explained in the following video. Indeed, the mother bear quickly grabbed each of her tiny cub as rescuers passed them through an open vent leading into her designated “den.” 

 We’ve never heard of a bear nursing cubs beneath a house before, but we’re glad the homeowner agreed to this unique living situation in order to keep this bear family together! 

 Check out this incredible rescue in the video below:

 
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