Austin weather: Austin Pets Alive! asks for community's help during winter weather
AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Pets Alive! is calling on the community for support to help keep its animals warm during these near-freezing temperatures.
Austin Pets Alive! works to save animals from euthanasia by taking them from partner shelters.
"We do have some difficulty kind of keeping it as warm as a home or, as you can tell, all of our kennels outside," said Luis Sanchez with APA!.
The rescue says it's working to improve its protocols over the last couple of winters to keep the pups warm.
Luis Sanchez with APA! says every building has heaters and wind barriers to help keep the pups safe. It also has additional generators and measures if the weather gets too extreme.
All kennel buildings have overhead heaters, permanently set at 65 degrees.
"As you can tell, a lot of the shelters are pretty, you know, pretty full and there are a lot of animals in need," said Sanchez.
While it does have protections in place, they may not be as comfortable as a home. That's why he says APA is leaning on the community for support.
"We have about 70, 80 dogs still at the shelter that need to get out for the freeze, basically," said Sanchez.
And adoption isn’t required, fostering a pet for a few months can also make a big difference, or even take a dog in for just a few days.
"We're really looking to get fosters as quickly as possible to get as many of these dogs into homes as soon as we can," said Sanchez.
Texas braces for winter weather
Gov. Abbott said state agencies are in place and ready for the winter weather that is moving into Texas. During a briefing, the governor said the emphasis is on public safety, especially in the Dallas-area where UT plays Ohio State Friday in a College Football Playoff
Sanchez says the 70-year-old facility is going to be undergoing emergency remodeling to expand the kennel space, another reason it's looking to find homes for the dogs ahead of the construction.
Some came to answer the call for help on Wednesday.
"The temperatures have dropped a lot, and we've been talking about fostering pets for a while," said Taylor Sims, who was looking to foster.
"We're shopping around. We're not making any promises today," said Dan Shephard, also looking to foster.
In the meantime, Sanchez says if you see stray dogs, report them to 311 to get them out of the cold.
Limit your pets' time outside, and if there’s any de-icer on the ground, make sure to wash it off their paws, since that could be toxic.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Jenna King