dog, cold, snow
Vets have urged pet owners to take special precautions with their dogs during the chilly winter REUTERS/Brian Snyder

The body of a female dog was found on the porch of a house in Ohio, US after it froze to death. After rescue workers got a tip about the animal, they discovered another dog inside the house, which was freezing from the cold temperatures.

The first dog was found curled up at the back of the building. Another male undernourished dog was found inside the house. "He was visibly shivering," Megan Brown, a cruelty investigator with the Toledo Area Humane Society told The Blade.

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Victor Vallejo Sr, the animals' owner claimed he was not aware that one of the dogs had made its way out of the house. "I don't know how they would have got out," he said. "Everything was locked up tight," he said, claiming that when the utilities got shut off due to the extreme weather, he left them inside three days before.

"I wasn't staying there, but I was going back and forth and feeding them. They had plenty of food and water," he said. "I've been staying here and there at the moment. I kind of fell on some bad times."

In another instance in Ohio, Hartford Police discovered the body of a dog on 1 January in a similar state.

"The dog showed signs of hypothermia," Deputy Chief Brian Foley told Fox 61. "As morbid as it is, the dog was frozen solid when the officers got it."

Based on the veterinary report, police believe the animal may have been forced to stay outside for around a month.

"He was underweight for his body size with low body fat and low muscle density," the report noted. "His bones were easily palpable and often visible beneath the skin - his ribs and pelvic bones were prominent."

The family that was taking care of the dog claim the animal was living in the basement of the house but had to be tied outside in the cold after a pipe burst.

"There's a common misconception that since a lot of animals live outdoors - and dogs have heavy coats - that they're okay to tolerate these types of temperatures, but unfortunately they're just as vulnerable as we are to hypothermia," Dr Callie Tatro with the Animal Hospital of Rocky Hill warned.