Animal Shelter Responds To Claim Of Hot Temperatures At Facility

OGDEN, Utah – Staff at the Weber County Animal Shelter were working to find a solution to an ongoing issue with high temperatures readings at the facility.

During the hottest day of the year so far, a Facebook post quickly gathered steam Tuesday, showing a dog looking lethargic next to a thermometer reading 89 degrees.

“Please, if you have one ounce of empathy for those who have no voice, then make your voices heard!” the post read, urging people to push county commissioners to give the shelter added funding it may need to have better cooling.

Responding to those concerns Wednesday, Chief Deputy Brandon Roundy said that the issue is not new. Roundy is the commander for enforcement division of the sheriff’s office.

“Right now we’re not even sure if that 89 degrees was legitimate or not (but) it was a hot day yesterday, so it very likely could have been, and we’re not going to say that we’re not going to do anything about it. We definitely have concerns when those temperatures get up to that point as well.”

“This has actually been an ongoing complaint from last year, because the temperatures got a little bit high at the animal shelter,” Roundy said. “We’re doing a lot. We just don’t want to throw a lot of money at it to fix (the symptoms). Let’s identify really what the problem is.”

Roundy said that staff at the shelter constantly monitor temperatures around the building, and were doing so during Tuesday’s heatwave.

“We would like to find out where that monitor was placed to get that 89 degrees,” Round explained. “Did they allow it to get acclimatized to the actual temperature of the room? Because 89 degrees, that is concerning.”

Deputies and county facilities staff showed KSL around the shelter Wednesday, and showed temperature readings in each room.

In the dog adoption room, where the pictures for the Facebook post were taken, the temperature was around 75 degrees just after noon. A central monitoring system later showed that the room was 88 degrees, but Roundy says staff have not been able to pinpoint where in that room that reading is coming from.

“Right now we’re not even sure if that 89 degrees was legitimate or not,” Roundy said. “It was a hot day yesterday, so it very likely could have been, and we’re not going to say that we’re not going to do anything about it. We definitely have concerns when those temperatures get up to that point as well.”

Roundy explained that the shelter is cooled mainly by evaporative coolers that allow better humidity for the animals, but do not cool as effectively as an air conditioning unit.

The staff there has brought in fans and portable coolers in the past, but they’re looking into finding a more long-term solution.

“I appreciate that feedback from the public,” Roundy said of the Facebook post. “It helps us provide direction into solving problems, because really our goal here is to provide a service, and to take care of these animals, and find homes.”