I’m a big fan of cold weather. I know it annoys my friends every time I say it, but for me and my long-haired dog, bring on the cold and lots of snow. The more, the better. I love being surrounded by it, and Bailey loves burying her whole head in the deep white stuff and snorting and wiggling in it.

It’s during this favorite weather of mine, though, that I know a lot of companion animals face some incredibly hard times. The cold is hard to take, and it’s an energy drain on the animals who aren’t bred for the cold.

Depending on their living situations, even indoor animals sometimes need a little boost in the warmth department. At the Lawrence Humane Society, we do the best we can to keep our wards warm. They are out of the direct elements, and we heat our buildings, but because we must clean the runs and cages daily and we deal with a lot of animals, usually our dogs are kept in cement-floored runs.

While this type of flooring makes cleanup more efficient and sanitary, that cement can get cold during winter weather. Between the low temperatures and the fact that so many of them come in scared and uncertain of their environment, we see a lot of shivering canines. This also is true of the cats and kittens in their kennels, especially those who come in malnourished and in need good food to get their body weights back up.

To comfort these critters, we depend on supporters to keep us supplied with mounds of blankets, towels and sheets. These serve as a great comfort, both physically and emotionally, to our furry friends. It keeps their bodies off the cold surfaces and gives them something to nest in, in the absence of warm beds and sofas.

These towels and blankets, however, need to be changed on a daily basis because overnight, they get soiled – some pretty heavily. And in these instances, and in cases where the animal using them has an illness that can be passed readily to others in the shelter, we must dispose of their bedding rather than risk passing disease or clogging our washing machines.

It’s a matter of practicality and time. And because of this, our supply must be replenished weekly.

Unfortunately, at the Lawrence Humane Society, we have in the past week run into a serious problem with our blanket and towel situation.

Our regular supplier used to provide us between 20 and 25 bags of towels and blankets for our use each week. Unfortunately, a change in the company’s out-of-state management means that we will no longer be able to pick up any of these critical supplies from them.

We’re stuck.

So we’re turning to you, our friends and supporters, for help.

We desperately need you to go through your closets and basements, hampers and garages, cull out what you don’t need, and let us have them for our shelter animals. We need blankets, bedspreads, quilts, comforters or covers of any kind – thin or thick, and towels – not the face cloths (they’re just too small), but the larger ones, such as hand towels (for the rabbits) and bath towels (for the bigger critters). We can also use sheets and pillowcases, but no pillows, please (our chewers think these are great big tug-toys, and they tear them up, causing our drains to clog when we rinse out the runs, and undoubtedly providing their own innards with some roughage that we’d just rather supply with a healthy diet).

We don’t care about the shape these blankets and towels are in, as long as they’re clean. And the animals don’t care if the edges are frayed or they have a few holes in them. In fact, that might just make them more interesting to snuggle in!

And so you know, we’re putting in a lot of work toward a solution to this problem. We’re making phone calls to every organization we can think of to help us fill this need.

The wonderful people at Planet Aid were delighted to hear from us and to know that they could assist. We’re making plans with them to set up their bright yellow containers at various locations around town. The receptacles will have our name on them in great big letters, and they will be marked with the words “BLANKETS, TOWELS, LINENS,” so please use them for these items only.

In addition, we’re grateful to property owners who are allowing us to have these boxes in their parking lots. In about two weeks, you’ll be able to find these containers at Checkers, 2300 La., the mall parking lot on the southwest corner at Sixth Street and Kasold Drive, in the Hy-Vee Food & Drug Store lot at 23rd Street and Kasold, and at Petco, 31st and Iowa streets. We’re hoping there will be others as well.

Please pass the word of our need to your friends and neighbors, and if your business disposes of such items and we haven’t spoken with you yet, please let us know. We can arrange for a pick-up if you have an extra-large load.

Lawrence is a generous community in times of need. If you can help out but need to talk with us first, contact us at 843-6835. And as always, thank you for your support.