Oh the Channel 4 news last evening there was a feature on Michigan Humane Society cruelty investigators going out and picking up dogs and cats that had been left outside in the brutal cold here and had become seriously injured or even frozen to death.

They said that if a pet must live outside in this weather, it needs an enclosed shelter such as a dog house, with straw in it for warm bedding and insulation because towels or blankets can easily become wet and then freeze, leaving the animal with a bed of ice to lay down on.