The blistering heat has claimed another casualty: the Austin Pets Alive adoption clinics you see outside pet stores. Temperatures are too high for dogs to be hanging around outside on the sidewalk.
APA vans are also having trouble keeping cool in the heat, and organizers are looking for volunteer mechanics to fix them for free. (Update at 8:24 p.m. APA says it now needs donated vans or money to buy parts more than it needs mechanic volunteers.)
“We keep the dogs in the vans while we’re setting up the site with the AC running,” APA’s Sarah Weinstein told KUT News. “Our vans have been really unreliable in the heat and sometimes the AC just can’t keep up […] We don’t feel safe.”
APA says it plans to resume its mobile adoption program when the heat dies down. For now, they’re dropping adoption frees to $20 for dogs older than six months.
Town Lake Animal Center, meanwhile, is taking extra measures to keep its animals cool. Staff and volunteers are watering down the kennels on a regular basis, putting ice in some kennels, and taking more vulnerable pets into an air conditioned holding area.
TLAC offers these tips for keeping your pets from suffering heat-related stress.
