Austin animal shelters, firefighters deal with skyrocketing temperatures
AUSTIN, Texas - At the Austin Animal Center, crated dogs filled rooms and hallways on Thursday, as some dogs had to be moved inside temporarily.
"We just have kind of fans circulating and the fans are just kind of recirculating the hot air," said marketing coordinator Stephanie McCutcheon.
The center’s Portacool that helps control the climate in the ‘truck port area’ broke on Wednesday.
"Our 'barely' climate-controlled areas are now completely un-climate controlled," said a post on the center's Instagram account.
McCutcheon was working at the shelter during last year’s record summer heat. She said they ran into some issues but not as early as this year.
"I would definitely say these conditions are inhumane," she said. "Dogs sitting in crates for 23.5 hours a day, smushed together as much as we can fit crates, they line our hallways, they are lined in that storage area; we literally don't have one area to put one more crate."
Across town, AFD fire cadets were learning to train and take care of themselves in the Texas heat on Thursday.
"We fight fire, we go to medical calls, we go to car wrecks and things in all types of weather extremes. So we have to train in it as well," said Battalion Chief Andy Reardon.
It takes a mix of self-monitoring and monitoring by those in charge - especially for cadets, as they are spending most of the day outside training.
"So they do things like check their weight in the morning and check their weight in the afternoon to see how much weight they've lost in sweat," said Battalion Chief Reardon.
They also do some training without suiting up in full gear and monitor for signs of heat exhaustion.
"We'll also make sure we rotate them through our rest and rehabilitation protocols a lot earlier than we normally would. So this time of year, as hot as it gets, for as long as it gets that hot, what we'll do is we might call extra companies...we'll call extra alarms early on in the incident, knowing that in this type of heat and humidity, we can't work our people for as long as we would during some of the cooler months," said Battalion Chief Reardon. "We just have to be careful about it."
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Back at the Austin Animal Center, as staff do their best to keep the animals cool, they are asking the community for help, even if it is temporary.
"We're seeing so many more dogs, so much more space, fewer adoptions and dogs staying here longer," said McCutcheon. "So that all formulates kind of into the crisis that we're in right now."
To foster a dog or cat at the Austin Animal Center, click here.
On Saturday, June 17, the center will be hosting a "Pawther’s Day" event. They will have adoptable dogs on their front lawn and those dogs will have $0 adoption fees.
The event takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For the entire weekend, all other shelter animals will have adoption fees cut in half.