As Michigan residents deal with an extreme winter storm, most people are choosing to stay indoors to avoid the cold. It turns out that Sasha the husky had the same idea, too.
When staff members at the Michigan Animal Rescue League (MARL) saw the heavy snow outside, they thought it might be ideal for Sasha, with her thick fur coat and natural love of freezing temperatures. However, when staff encouraged her to go outside, she had other plans and “said no thanks,” before hurrying back to her kennel.
Tommy Sanfilippo, the content coordinate at MARL, told Newsweek that he doesn’t blame Sasha for choosing the warmth over the snow, as every pet “deserves to be indoors and cozy.”
To show how perilously cold it is in Michigan, a video was shared on the MARL Instagram account (@mi_animalrescueleague) saying that “even the huskies don’t want to go outside.” The clip showed the moment Sasha considered playing out in the snow before swiftly returning to her warm bed. Very few people disagreed with her decision, and the post has been viewed more than 31,000 times and gained over 1,500 likes in a matter of days.
@mi_animalrescueleague / Instagram
“We were in the middle of nightly closing duties, such as cleaning and letting the dogs out one last time for the day,” Sanfilippo said. “Sasha is a super-sweet dog, and she politely let us know in her own way that she had no interest in going outside in these single-digit temperatures. I completely understand her desire to stay indoors when the weather is like this.”
With a thick double coat of medium length, huskies were frequently used as sled dogs that transported goods and people across frozen expanses. The American Kennel Club (AKC) adds that this breed is more than happy to work in sub-zero temperatures, and they use very minimal energy in doing so, making them the perfect dog for colder weather.
However, despite huskies’ inherent love for freezing climates, Sasha wasn’t such a fan of the Pacific winter storm affecting states including Alaska, Colorado, New York, Utah, and Washington. As Newsweek previously reported, the Arctic blast has brought dangerously cold temperatures, snow, freezing rain and lake-effect snow.
So, while staff at MARL may have expected the former stray to thrive in this extreme weather, Sasha had other things in mind. After joining the rescue shelter a week ago, Sasha is hoping to find her forever home soon, as Sanfilippo said “she’d do great in a variety of homes.”
He added: “It’s always great to see an animal go home with their ideal family, and Sasha is a lot more relaxed than the stereotypical husky, though she’d probably do best in a home without cats.”
Since the video went viral online, Sanfilippo said many people “agreed with Sasha’s decision,” and plenty even shared how their own pets are coping with the extreme weather. Among the comments on the video, one person wrote: “Ok now THAT’S when you know it’s cold.”
Another commented: “She was like nah I want to go further inside.”
A third Instagram user posted: “Lol [laugh out loud] I love huskies. They only listen when it benefits them.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.