DO SHELTER DOGS NEED AIR CONDITIONING?
Palm Beach County’s homeless pets should be comfortable, advocates say
Palm Beach County’s pups are famously pampered. Pet lovers say shelter dogs deserve some love, too, and that includes central air conditioning.
Shelters in Miami-Dade and Broward added air conditioning during renovations over the past two years.
Animal enthusiasts have been emailing Palm Beach County commissioners, seeking a guarantee that a planned $21 million renovation of the county’s public pet shelter in West Palm Beach will include cold air for the dogs, who are currently cooled with large fans. The submitted plan did not include kennel A/C.
“I know so well how horrible that place is in June, July and August,” said Lance Goodwin, a shelter volunteer who has adopted five dogs. It can get hot “with fecal matter and urine starting to smell. It’s an antiquated design. If they are going to renovate, they should re-allocate money for air conditioning.”
What goes on at the shelter?
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, at 7100 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach, takes animals that have been seized by law enforcement as well as stray and unwanted pets. Besides dogs and cats, these include horses, pigs and chickens. This summer, 300 chickens were brought to the facility from an allegedly inhumane slaughterhouse that deputies raided Aug. 2.
The shelter, which also offers free animal surgery to families on public assistance, takes in 40 to 60 new cats and dogs a day. The animals stay until they are adopted, which sometimes takes as long as five months. They are euthanized only if they are extremely sick or exhibit highly aggressive behavior, director Dianne Sauve said.
Why does the shelter need a renovation?
Animal Care and Control, which opened in 1992, was slated for a renovation in 2007, but the recession forced the county to delay the project. Sauve said the building needs a new lobby, additional animal surgical rooms and indoor/outdoor cattery. The shelter’s cats, which do get to stay in the air conditioning, are mostly in cages.
The dog kennels, which are cooled by fans and portable air-conditioning units, had not been set for renovation. The county is planning to pay for the renovation, set for 2021, with money from a penny sales tax voters approved in 2016.
Do dogs really need air conditioning?
The American Veterinary Medical Association says shelter temperatures should be above 60 degrees and below 80 degrees, with a humidity level of 30 percent to 70 percent.
Dr. Ben Carter, a Delray Beach vet, said good ventilation is also essential, especially when animals of unknown origin are living in close quarters.
Carter said he rarely sees dogs who have suffered from Florida’s heat.
“Even with dogs that are outside a lot, as long as they’re in the shade and they can rest, I don’t see too much of a problem,” Carter said. “A number of shelters don’t have air conditioning. Is it ideal? No. The main thing is adequate air flow.”
How do they stay cool now?
“We struggle,” Sauve said. A shaded play area is under construction and the dogs get ice as a treat in the afternoons.
There are large, industrial fans that run all day and night in the shelter’s three 28-foot-high kennels as well as portable air conditioning units that offer inefficient blasts of cold air.
So what’s next?
The County Commission will discuss whether to add air conditioning to the renovation plan during a meeting in January.
Commissioners, hearing the public outcry, appear to be seeking a way to include A/C.
“Our sheltered animals need to be in an environment that is not 90-plus degrees,” county Mayor Melissa McKinlay said. “The board will research the various options to cooling down the conditions at our shelter, which may include air conditioning, and do what we can to make it a more humane shelter.
“As is usually the case, cost is always a concern, so we may have to revisit the renovation plans to accommodate cooling costs.”