Monday, July 24, 2006
110
I wish I was writing about 110 adoptions this weekend, but instead I'm writing about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.This past week or so has been a real scorcher. Blame global warming, ecological changes, whatever -- it's not pleasant for us animals used to more temperate climates.
At our Tri-Valley Adoption and Spay Neuter facility, the climate control system includes 10 A/C compressors, each working on separate parts of the building.
Sometime within the past two weeks, two of those compressors have failed or lost the ability to fully cool. Fortunately (so to speak), those compressors covered the back hallway and break room for the staff. Although it was miserable eating lunch at 90 - 100 degrees, all our animals were safe in the air conditioned habitats and kennels.
This Sunday brought a dire situation however. Sometime in the late morning or early afternoon, the compressor for the rear kennels and cat holding area stopped working effectively (or failed outright). Temperatures rised quickly, despite doing our best to keep things cool by limiting outside air and closing doors and turning out lights.
This is where our awesome quick-thinking and hard-working staff jumped into action. A game plan was made to get our dogs and cats to safety, quickly. Thoughts about where to put them were paramount. On the other side of the building is the dog training room, aka the "concrete room", named for the concrete floors. The windows in this room were recently tinted heavily to keep heat out and make things look nicer from the outside. This room only runs the A/C when we are having classes, so the compressor has seen much less use and potentially runs better. The staff cranked up the A/C (fortunately it was still cool from morning classes) and rushed to get dog crates from all corners of the shelter to house the dogs temporarily.
Half the cats were moved from the now hot "cat holding" to the grooming room, and the other half wheeled with their cages to the attached spay/neuter facility, where the A/C was still able to cool.
Ideas on a more permanent location for the dogs were thought up, as they couldn't stay in crates all night. Right now some of the dogs are staying in the spay/neuter kennels, at least until Tuesday, when the s/n clinic is next open and those kennels are needed for them. We transferred more to our Oakland facility, where they had some extra space.
I really have to thank everyone who was there on Sunday to help out. Without our staff and volunteers, things would be a lot worse for our four legged friends. They put out hard work even on a miserable day that exhausted us all. Thanks also to RE, Facilities Manager for coming on your day off trying to help.
