Hi Everyone,
My name is Mark and I am new here. We have a 10 year old all White Siberian Husky named Stoli. As you all know our dogs love cold weather. My Stoli loves to go out on our back deck and lay in the cold and snow all winter long. We've never had a issue until yesterday, a neighbor called the humane society on us saying we leave our dog out 24x7 which is absolutely a lie. He goes out for 30-45 minutes at a time comes in the house for an hour or so then repeats through out the day. Sometimes it is longer but never an entire day. The past couple days we had extreme cold -9 and he would go out for even less time but more frequently. I am grateful they had concern for my dog but would rather them come and talk to me. The Humane agent didn't seem concerned once she found out he was a husky and when she came saw him in the house with us. She said she just had to investigate the complaint but didn't do anything else. Should I be concerned that further action will be taken? he is well taken care of and like one of our kids, we love him very much....

Thank you  

Well if the agent assessed the situation and said it is fine that will be on record and will stand as a formal precedent for any further action on your case.

Sounds like the issue will be with your neighbor and not with the agent. Can you perhaps approach the neighbor and discuss that an agent came and said you're fine and that your dog is a Husky who is built to withstand this weather.

If your description of the amount of time is really true then the cards are stacked in your favor. I would approach the neighbor and if she/he refuses to accept your explanation and continues to harass you, then file a compalint yourself.

You are neither breaking the law nor harming your dog and you have a documented visit by the Humane Society backing you.

I completely understand where you're coming from. My fiancee and I live in an apartment on the top floor and our apartment has a balcony that Kai loves to lie on and observe everything. She wasn't interested in it until the fall and now that winter has hit, she loves spending a lot of time out there. It's difficult for us, because she also likes having the door open so she can come in when she wants (which is what we want as well), but that means that we have to shut the heat off and then the apartment freezes (oh the stuff we do for our dogs!). On Tuesday, we took a stand and refused to allow her to go out there no matter how many times she rang the bells (we put bells on the door so she can let us know when she wants to go out). Besides, she has a fan that we have inside that lets her enjoy the feeling of wind. I've often thought about what people may think when she's out there in 0 degree temperatures. Like you, I'd prefer if they knocked on my door so I can explain to them that it takes a lot for huskies as a breed to get cold and when she chooses, she can come inside.

We went to Alaska last February to see the Northern Lights and we did a midnight dog sledding tour. Needless to say, it was about -30 when we did it. All of the dogs had little outdoor houses to sleep in, but they preferred sleeping on top of them in -30 weather! As you stated, it's nice that your neighbor is thinking of the dogs, but huskies are made for the cold

Honestly, if it were me, I would just let it go. Since ACC followed up with you and documented that it is not a concern, I think you are safe.

If you neighbor continues to call ACC, you could threaten to call the police for harassment.

Or you could take a more passive approach if you don't want to speak to the neighbor directly and leave a copy of "Siberian Huskies for Dummies" on their doorstep.