Animal Shelter Sends Out SOS in Cold Snap, City Responds

Polish shelter had 300 dogs, and not all could fit inside, so it appealed to the public
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 8, 2024 2:17 PM CST
Animal Shelter Sends Out SOS in Cold Snap, City Responds
A dog rests in a pen as animals are prepared for upcoming the cold weather in this file photo.   (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP)

With a deep freeze approaching, an animal shelter in Krakow, Poland, sent out an urgent appeal to people to adopt or at least temporarily shelter some of its dogs until the dangerous cold spell passed. The result of what it called "Operation Frost" took the shelter workers by surprise. Over the weekend, people arrived in droves, waited in lines for hours, and ended up taking home 120 pups, the shelter's deputy manager Malgorzata Paletko said on the TVN24 broadcaster. The KTOZ Shelter for Homeless Animals sent out its appeal on Friday as temperatures were forecast to fall to around -4 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of southern Poland, where Krakow is located.

The shelter said it had about 300 dogs, but not all could fit indoors and some were in outdoor pens. It appealed for temporary help so all that all of the animals under its care could find space inside, reports the AP. On Sunday, the shelter announced that it was suspending the operation because it was able to fit all its dogs safely in the warmth, and asked the public to help other shelters that needed similar assistance.

"We are extremely grateful and moved," it said. City police showed up on Saturday to manage the traffic outside the shelter, according to TVN24. In the end the officers took an adorable brown pup named Mombaj back to their headquarters, posting on social media Saturday that it had been a "beautiful and emotional day." Paletko said the shelter did it its best to find good matches between the animals and the people. "We are keeping our fingers crossed that at least some of them will stay with people permanently," she said. (More uplifting news stories.)

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