SAN ANTONIO — Some local shelter dogs are urgently need of fosters after the air conditioner went out at their building.
San Antonio Pets Alive! put out an urgent plea for help on their social media pages after the AC unit at Building One at their 151 location died on Sunday.
"The animals at SAPA!'s Building One Rescue Center are facing an emergency situation and we must move out all animals from this location immediately," said the social media post. "We need help from the community to help get these pets into foster homes Monday."
The team was at its rescue location on Monday morning preparing fosters to take an animal, while the remaining dogs and cats were taken to their already-full Medical Center location on Marbach Road.
"Heat exhaustion does affect these animals. So that's why we're working very hard to get them all into foster homes because we know that heat can affect their well-being," said Stephanie Paz-Perez, SAPA's marketing and PR manager.
This morning, staff walked in to find the center was 85 degrees with 25 dogs still inside the facility.
"It does stress us out," Paz-Perez said.
Even on a normal day, getting pets into homes is a pressing issue, but now with the broken AC system, the situation has become even more dire. Perez-Paz said it would take three weeks to repair the AC.
Staff are now being forced to make short term fixes.
"We have several AC units and there has been Freon added to the AC temporarily. This Freon will last about two days," Paz-Perez said.
But are now asking you to be a part of a more permanent solution.
"We just urgently need fosters. That's the only answer," Perez-Paz said.
As of Monday evening, ten dogs are still in need of foster homes, according to a press release from SAPA! The remaining pets will be "being transferred to our already overcapacity Medical Care and Adoption Center."
SAPA! will be closed to the public in observance of Independence Day on July 4, but will resume normal operations on July 5.
If you would like to foster an animal in need and were unable to attend Monday's event, you can complete a foster application online here and then email foster@sanantoniopetsalive.org.
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