Community Rallies To Help Dogs After Ohio Shelter Loses Power During Heatwave

With soaring temperatures in many States, over 100 million people have been cautioned to keep indoors and out of the heat. But what happens if you lose power, your air-conditioning and have dozens of dogs to look after? That’s the scary situation that faced the Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center in Colombus, Ohio on Tuesday when they lost power during a heat wave and had no air-conditioning.

They put out a pleas to the community for bags of ice to keep the homeless dogs cool.

“We need your help. The power is out here at the shelter, and our pups need ice to keep cool in this blazing heat!” the shelter wrote in a Facebook post.

Within the hour, dozens of supporters answered the call and filled the shelter’s parking lot with hundreds of bags of ice. They also brought frozen bottled water and kiddie pools.

Photographer Barbara J. Perenic with the Columbus Dispatch was on hand to capture the community’s good deed.

Volunteers and shelter staff were soon bringing in cart-fulls of bagged ice, water bottles.

The lobby of their shelter soon filled up.

Then it was time for the ice to go to work. Dogs got blocks of ice, like this Rottie, who rested his head on it.

The bags of ice were placed into kennels so the dogs could cool off.

And donated kiddie pools were filled with ice too.

By Tuesday afternoon, the shelter had all they needed.

“You all are amazing! The community donated hundreds of bags of ice to the shelter, and we now have a peace of mind that our shelter pups will be cool tonight, with the supervision of our overnight staff. Thank you all!” the Franklin County Dog Shelter shared on Facebook.

Thankfully, the next morning power was restored. But the shelter knew they weren’t “out of the woods” yet. “Once the power came back on, we knew it would be hours before the building would be cooled down and days before laundry was able to be caught up,” the shelter wrote. “We asked the community for donations of bedding, kiddie pools and peanut butter for frozen dog treats. The donations once again began pouring in from dog lovers near and far!” Kind citizens also donated items for the shelter staff.

Once all the pups’ needs were met the Franklin County Dog Shelter expressed how grateful they are and wrote, “Yesterday, we were truly inspired by the line of cars of selfless dog-lovers willing to donate for the betterment of the shelter dogs. We are forever grateful for our volunteers, our staff and our community! Your kindness, support and generosity is extraordinary. Our pups are all safe, cool and comfortable.”

With more heat waves expected this summer, do you know what to do to prevent a dog from getting heat stroke? Read our article here: How To Identify Heat Stroke In Dogs.