It dropped into the lower teens last night and didn't get above 25 degrees today. It's 8:30 PM and still a tolerable 15, but will be in the single digits (if not negative) before morning. The point is, a friend brought it to my attention that a few blocks from here a large dog has been chained to a tree all day with no shelter of any kind to protect it from the cold, and since I got to work he has called twice to see if something can be done about it. I can't stand the thought of it having to spend the night out in this kind of weather either, so when an officer came back in service after a meal break I asked if he would check on the dog and do something if it was still there. He did, it was, and he fixed it, which was great in itself, but then he drove around town and where he found unprotected animals, he contacted the owners and let them know they would be charged with an animal cruelty felony if they didn't make other arrangements. The most strange part is that they all complied (he went back later to check each location). It's still sad that the animals have to live with people who have such little regard for their health and welfare, and we'll probably have to repeat the procedure again tomorrow night, but at least they won't freeze tonight.
2:30 AM and it is 8 degrees but the wind chill drops that to zero. I'll be off work in 30 minutes and probably won't stay up for sunrise, but the temperature should be negative by then. On days like this I'm glad that I live in a house.