WARSAW – With a deep freeze approaching, an animal shelter in Poland sent out an urgent appeal to people to adopt or at least temporarily shelter some of its dogs until the dangerous cold spell passes.
The result of what it called “Operation Frost” took the shelter workers by surprise. Over the weekend, people arrived in droves, waited in lines for hours and ended up taking home 120 pups, the shelter's deputy manager Małgorzata Pałetko said on the TVN24 broadcaster.
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The KTOZ Shelter for Homeless Animals sent out its appeal on Friday as temperatures were forecast to fall to around minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of southern Poland, where Krakow is located. It said it had about 300 dogs, but not all could fit indoors and some were in outdoor pens. It appealed for temporary help so all that all of the furry ones under its care could find space inside.
On Sunday, the shelter announced that it was suspending the operation because it was able to fit all its dogs safely in the warmth, and asked the public to help other shelters who needed similar assistance.
“We are extremely grateful and moved," it said.
City police showed up on Saturday to manage the traffic outside the shelter, according to TVN24.
In the end the officers took an adorable brown pup named Mombaj back to their headquarters, posting on social media Saturday that it had been a “beautiful and emotional day."
Pałetko said the shelter did it its best to find good matches between the animals and the people.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed that at least some of them will stay with people permanently,” she said.