Animals not safe outside, says Saskatoon SPCA

A prominent Saskatoon musician is warning people to watch for stray pets in the cold.

Bassist Earl Pereirais best known as one of the founders of Wide Mouth Mason, and now is a lead vocalist with The Steadies. He's also an avid animal lover, who's taken in several strays over the years.

He remembered the temperature was roughly 40C five years ago when he and Kate Matthews spotted a pair of eyes cowering under a parked car across the street.

"She dropped everything, we ran outside, and the kitten came to her right away," said Pereira. "He had a hard time moving. His feet were frozen to the ground, and he was in bad shape."

Cats often seek heat under vehicles

Pereira and Matthews brought the frozen kitten to a veterinarian, posted photos of him online, and searched for his owner. After no one responded, they kept "Charlie".

Cat "Charlie" lucky to be rescued as frostbitten kitten

8 years ago

Duration 0:31

Charlie the cat had frostbitten paws when he was rescued by a Saskatoon couple.

With more arctic air settling over Saskatchewan, they urge anyone who sees a stray cat or dog outside to take the animal inside, and call the SPCA,whose emergency on-call staff will respond 24 hours a day.

"If it's too cold for you, it's too cold for them," said Tricia McAuley, who works for the Saskatoon Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Please do keep them inside."

McAuley said animals searching for heat will crawl up into the engine blocks of parked vehicles, noting several cases where cats have inadvertently hitched rides to Saskatoon from Prince Albert and Regina.

"[The drivers]didn't realize anything was wrong until they heard mewing," saidMcAuley, who advisedmotorists to bang on their engine block before starting the ignition, to scare out furry hitchhikers.

Increasing numbersat Saskatoon shelter

McAuley said the Saskatoon SPCAhas seen "quite an increase" in calls reporting animals outside without adequate shelter.

"We had almost four thousand animals come in in 2016," saidMcAuley, who said she's never seen the shelter busier."It was pretty crazy and many of them had special needs and required special medical attention."

McAuley said even Huskies and Malamutes can freeze outside right now.

"If they're working dogs, get them inside the barn," she said. "It's very, very cold. It's sensitive for their ears and for their paws."