Dead Dog Found On Ohio Home's Porch Was Frozen Solid

Animal welfare organization Toledo Area Humane Society was investigating the death of a dog found “frozen solid” outside a house’s porch Thursday in central Toledo, Ohio, as temperatures dropped below zero, the Toledo Blade reported.

The three-year-old female dog was believed to have died after curling up on the front porch of a house in the 1000 block of King Street in Toledo.

“I don’t know how long she was out there,” Megan Brown, a cruelty investigator with the humane society, said Thursday to the Blade. “She was frozen solid.”

Brown mentioned while investigating, they found pillows and blankets on the porch. However, there was no other protection for the animal from the cold. She added the house’s front yard was also fenced in.

“She didn’t appear to be in poor health, but it’s hard to tell when she’s curled up and frozen,” Brown told the Blaze.

Brown said they also found another underweight four-year-old male dog, who was shivering from the cold, inside the house. While investigating, she saw him through a window and seized him Thursday afternoon after obtaining a search warrant.

“He was visibly shivering,” Brown said, adding the male dog’s ribs and spine were prominent and the house was very cold.

The dog, which froze to death on the home's porch, was a three-year-old female American bull terrier named Nanas and the one who survived and was discovered inside the house was a four-year-old male named Haze.

The Blade identified the dogs' owner as Victor Vallejo Sr., 40, who said the dogs were his but was unaware of any issues. He claimed to have left the dogs inside the house two to three days ago. However, he mentioned the utilities to the house were shut off recently.

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

He added he loved both his dogs, paid money for them and wanted to breed them. He said he wasn't sure how Nanas got out on the porch.

“I don’t know how they would have got out,” he said. “Everything was locked up tight.”

Brown said Haze appeared to be malnourished and dehydrated, but otherwise fine. She added neither dog had any food or water.

“He looks to be pretty good,” Brown said. “He’s sweet. He was malnourished and dehydrated, but I think he’ll be fine.”

She added the Toledo humane society would likely pursue animal cruelty charges in Toledo Municipal Court.

The lowest temperature in Toledo on Thursday was minus 9, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters also warned of hypothermia and frostbite from the arctic air settling in over the central United States and spreading east, the Washington Post reported.