Freezing weather filling shelters: How to keep yourself and your pets safe – ABC 6 News

(ABC 6 News) – The arctic air settling over much of the country is hanging around a bit longer, bringing even colder temps than we’ve already seen. That is having an impact on local warming shelters, and could spell trouble for people and their pets.

Just a couple hours after it opened, The Landing in downtown Rochester was already packed with dozens of people attempting to escape the bitter cold.

“We’ve already got 80 people checked in,” said executive director Alex Hurlebaus. “We’ve been averaging about 120 unique individuals a day.”

Over one and a half times more than what they averaged this time just two years ago.

The Landing is one of the few places people experiencing homelessness can go during these extreme weather events.

They offer resources like food, water, and medical care – but mostly just somewhere to rest.

“Similar to when there’s extremely hot weather, people who are already struggling bear the brunt of that bad weather even worse,” said Hurlebaus. “They’re exposed to it, they’re moving through it, they may not have transportation.”

The Landing is also where people can get extra clothing, like gloves, jackets and underwear, which can be a life-saver and are some of the biggest needs they have.

“We are giving things out at a crazy pace to make sure people are safe, make sure people are warm,” said Hurlebaus.

Frostbite is one of the biggest dangers of extreme cold.

Beyond -15 degrees, it can take just 30 minutes to set in, and that time gets even shorter the colder it gets.

Covering every inch of skin is critical.

That goes for our furry friends as well. Pets have just as many sensitive areas as we do that are exacerbated in the winter, beyond just the cold.

At Homeward Bound Animal Clinic in Rochester, veterinarian Natalie Lucca and her high school intern Nyah Young treat all kinds of cold related issues in pets, and share tips to keep them safe as well.

They say bundling up your critters and putting boots on their paws when they go outside can be helpful in more ways than one.

“The ice, like deicers, can really injure and irritate their paws,” said Young. “And just like humans, (frostbite) really occurs on their ears and paws and tails.”

Staying inside, however, is the best way to keep them and yourself safe.

“Usually, I would say for every degree outside is about every minute they should be outside,” said Lucca, “so in these negative degrees maybe we’ll want them to go out just very quickly with protection and then come back in.”

As for smaller, more exotic pets that would be inside anyway, the best protection is moving them away from windows into warmer parts of the house.