COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A blast of cold is coming, and your pets could get hypothermia or frostbite as the wind chills dip down below 0 degrees.

Dog wardens in several Ohio communities are warning owners to bring their pets inside to a protected area, such as a garage or basement.

“Dogs are susceptible to the cold, just as we are. They can get hypothermia. They can get frostbite. The can have all of the same issues,” Mahoning County Dog Warden Dianne Fry told WKBN-TV. “We’ve been trying to educate people the last couple of years on this, and now it becomes critical.”

Fry said pet owners should use straw, heated pads and bowls and kennels if their pets have to be outside. Simply providing a dog house isn’t enough.

Back in January of this year, the Capital Area Humane Society told NBC4 they get 30 to 40 calls a day about tethered dogs left outside in freezing temperatures. Kerry Manion is their chief humane agent.

“The law is simply inadequate to deal with these extreme temperatures,” Manion said.

Earlier this year, an Ohio law making it a felony to abuse a companion animal went into effect. Dick Goddard’s Law makes it a fifth degree felony to cause “serious physical harm” to any companion animal, including depriving a pet of food, water or shelter. The law, however, does not specifically ban pet owners from leaving their animals outside in the cold.

A separate bill to ban the practice of tethering dogs in extreme temperature, House Bill 94, is still waiting for approval at the Statehouse.