All Kind Abilene pushes foster plea to protect animals from heat

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) – With triple digits continuing across the Big Country, many AC units are working overtime to keep buildings cool, especially at All Kind Animal Initiative.

With the open doggy door policy required for animals to travel between the outdoor and indoor portions of the facilities, Rescue and fostering coordinator Kaylee Philipp said they cannot cool the building off fast enough during the peak of the West Texas heat.

“Most of the dogs, almost for weeks have outdoor access, and so our AC units aren’t able to keep up with that heat,” Philipp said. “It gets around 85 [inside] and the heat of the day, it can get higher.”

With more than 300 animals and more than 100 kennels for them, All Kind is operating at capacity. They continue intake during the season when they see the most animals in need.

Many of the animals battle an interior temperature in the upper 80s, affecting their health. Philipp said they have tried different hacks to help them stay cool during this hot spell.

“Some of them are getting nauseous, panting. We’re actively refilling the water throughout the days, trying to keep everybody cool.  We’ll spray down the tarps outside just so they have a little bit of cold water falling on them,” Philipp explained.

The staff hosts frequent ‘puppy pool parties’ where they bring out pools and sprinklers during playtime to prevent them from overheating.

Dr. Jerry Early with Abilene Animal Hospital told KTAB/KRBC it is imperative to pay attention to dogs behavior to determine heat-related illnesses.

“They pant incessantly and act nervously and walk around and act uncomfortable and in severe heat stroke or heat prostration, they’ll lay down and can’t walk,” Early explained.

In order to help the animals at All Kind, they are putting out a foster plea with the community to help them and all the animals that they serve. Philipp said this is the best solution to help everyone, even if it just a temporary foster.

“We’re just going to keep fighting the battles as they come, but we really would like to see the community step up and foster these animals, adopt if you can,” Philipp said.

All Kind is also in need of any donations of small pools and any water-related toys for dogs. Visit their website to volunteer, donate or get more information about fostering or adopting.

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