As another wave of very cold weather approaches, the misery endured by dogs chained outdoors is coming again to haunt me.

Every winter, dogs that are kept chained or penned outdoors are freezing to death and the death is agonizing. The dog has no chance to fight the cold, it cannot run or move its muscles, it cannot seek a real shelter, its water has been frozen for hours. The poor dog is stuck.

As the temperature dips and the bone-chilling cold settles in, the dog shivers, curls in a ball, its body temperature slowly dropping, its blood and lungs slowly freezing, its brain becoming comatose. The dog will be dead in the morning while the owners are sleeping in a warm bed.

Plastic doghouses offer no significant protection against the cold. They keep the cold inside, offering the dog no hope of significant sheltering.

The presence of fur does not guarantee the survival of a dog in severe weather. German shepherds and Rotweillers have been found frozen, as well as short-haired dogs .

The idea that a dog can resist any cold temperature is preposterous. Wolves, the predecessors of every dog, have well-built dens to protect their litters and themselves from the elements.

People who see a dog kept outdoors in the grueling cold should urge the owner to bring the dog inside.

There is no place in this society to watch, without protest, a dog freezing to death.

Monique Aniel, Mexico