Proponents of outside dogs often ignore the fact that these dogs have no way of keeping themselves warm because their movements are restricted by their enclosures. The dogs can’t run very far, if at all, and they lack enough stimulation to keep active and stay warm. The excuse that certain breeds are meant to be kept outside is just wrong.

Every bit as important as the question of warmth is the fact that outside dogs have effectively been ostracized from the pack. You don’t need to dig too far into wolf literature to know that wolves evict members of the pack by shunning them and not allowing them to come near, share food, or sleep with the pack. The banished wolf, if it survives, lives a lonely and miserable life, denied the comforts of its family, and no longer able to hunt collectively. Dogs that are forced to live outside have no idea what they have done so wrong as to be rejected by their pack.

Dogs and wolves and all other members of the wolf family (including coyotes, foxes, jackals, and African hunting dogs) are among the most highly evolved and social animals on earth, and to banish them from their family is an act of cruelty.