Vermilion County Animal Shelter shares update after outpour of community support during AC issues

Update on 6/21 at 4:30 p.m.

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — After a mass outpouring of support for the Vermilion County Animal Shelter following AC issues, the shelter has an update to share.

As of late Friday afternoon, there are only 38 dogs left at the shelter. This comes after around 50% of them have been fostered or adopted within just the last 24 hours.

As for cats, yesterday, the shelter had 120. Today, only three remain after 98% of them found foster homes yesterday. Foster homes stepped up from all across Central Illinois including in Champaign, Danville, Peoria and Savoy.

So far, two of the broken AC units have been fixed and a maintenance team from the county is continuing to install new units at the shelter.

Community donations have resulted in a total of 25 kiddy pools, a lot of ice and cooling mats — all which have helped to make animals more comfortable in the intense heat.

Update on 6/21

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — The Vermilion County Animal Shelter is thanking the community following an outpouring of support after AC issues put their animals in danger during this week’s high temperatures.

The shelter made a post on Facebook detailing the extent to which supporters showed up in a variety of ways; community members brought donations like ice, cooling mats, and fans to help prevent the animals from overheating, and many even showed up to adopt or foster the dogs and cats.

Several local businesses found other ways to lend a hand, with electricians donating their time, McCools bringing a generator and large fan, and Casey’s in Tilton bringing in supplies.

HART shelter in Hoopeston, the Danville Humane Society, the Danville Small Animal Clinic, Fairchild Animal Hospital and U of I shelter med team all offered to assist with holding the animals.

The shelter said that the City of Danville and Tilton also reached out to offer assistance.

“We can’t thank each and every one of you for your help, encouragement and support,” the shelter said. “We’ve had challenge after challenge lately and seeing such an out poor of support helps us remember why we do what we do even when it’s hard or heartbreaking.”

Now, as of Friday morning, the shelter says they have only 15 cats left in the entire building and have had many dogs leave for adoption or fostering. The shelter says they will continue to provide updated numbers later Friday evening.

“Just know we can’t thank you enough!” the shelter added.

Mayor of Tilton Bill Wear told WCIA Friday morning that he has been working to arrange temporary AC assistance for the shelter if the situation doesn’t get resolved. Wear said when he spoke with the shelter Friday morning, they told him they expect the AC to be repaired by the end of the day.

“Like any other Tilton business we take an active interest in any major problems that they may have,” Wear added.

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — With temperatures reaching toward the mid-90s in many parts of Central Illinois, it can be risky to sport long sleeves — much less a coat of fur.

Staff with the Vermilion County Animal Shelter are in a sticky situation as they currently battle an air conditioning outage in parts of the building.

Shelter staff said about 200 animals are currently impacted by the indoor humidity. Many cats and dogs are overheating and panting.

To help, volunteers are bringing in ice to keep the animals cool. Their cats have also been moved to a room with a fan. However, staff said they have to be careful with plugging in too many fans as they could blow a circuit.

Currently, the Vermilion County Animal Shelter is mostly in need of foster homes — even for a weekend or a week — while the situation gets sorted out. Adoptions Manager and volunteer Kathleen Orcutt said the shelter has dealt with A/C troubles in the past, but this round is especially difficult. She added that they are now worried about what this could mean for the remainder of the summer.

“The rooms that I was working in were 87 degrees with the cats,” volunteer Jody Duncheon said. “This little kitten even got in water to cool himself down, and he’s just been panting and panting. So, I brought ice in today and just started putting it in their cages. But it melts instantly.”

If you are not in a position to foster a pet, the shelter is also accepting ice and cooling mats. A volunteer said cooling mats can lower a cat’s body temperature by 10 degrees.

To drop off items, the Vermilion County Animal Shelter is located at 14775 Catlin Tilton Road in Danville. To foster a pet or make a monetary donation to go towards repairs and more, visit www.vercounty.org/animal-shelter/ .

This is a developing story.

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