Santa Barbara County animal shelters are bracing for expected high temperatures and limited air conditioning this week.
Shelter staff urged community members to consider fostering a dog this week — from the county’s facilities in Goleta and Lompoc — to give the dogs a break from the shelters, which have no air conditioning in the dog kennel areas.
The two locations have indoor/outdoor dog kennels and lack air conditioning because the facilities are “relatively old,” according to Sarah Aguilar, director of Santa Barbara County Animal Services.
The office building and cat area do have air conditioning, she added.
The lack of air conditioning in the dog kennel areas is typically not an issue with Santa Barbara’s average climate, Aguilar said.
However, with this week’s expected high temperatures, staff placed donated shade structures, including umbrellas and canopies, near the kennels to mitigate the heat.
“We do a really good job of keeping things open on the inside to keep air flowing, and the dogs have the choice of going wherever in their kennels is the coolest,” Aguilar said.
Additionally, sometimes staff will put ice out for the dogs to lay on or fill small plastic pools with cold water in the play yard when it is hot outside, she added.
“You do not have to commit to long-term fostering. If you can take a dog for a few days, overnight or even through the hottest part of the week, that helps,” Victoria Feld, South County volunteer foster coordinator, wrote online.
Earlier this week, about seven dogs were placed in foster care from the Santa Barbara location at 5473 Overpass Road, according to Aguilar.
The extreme heat warning is expected to extend through Friday night, bringing high temperatures to the county, Noozhawk previously reported.
“We are going to see temperatures in the upper 80s here in Goleta and mid-80s in Lompoc; it is just preferable to try to get our dogs into homes where they can get a break from the heat as well,” Aguilar said.
The heat also could reduce shelter dogs’ number of daily walks and outings from the shelter through the shelter’s doggy day trip program to limit the risk of dogs burning their paws on the hot ground.
The doggy day trip program allows residents to go to any shelter location and take a dog out “with no long-term commitment,” which the dogs rely on for their walks, according to Aguilar.
Instead, she urged residents to foster a dog for the week from either of the three locations, including its Santa Maria shelter, which does have air conditioning in the dog kennel areas.
“If people can take a dog for the week during this peak heat wave, that makes it more comfortable for the dog and helps us potentially shuffle dogs around and have space in places that have air conditioning,” Aguilar said.
On Monday afternoon, when the temperature hit close to 90 degrees at the Goleta shelter location, a German shepherd named Derek frolicked in the shaded play area while a staff member sprayed him with water from a hose.
A small, shallow plastic pool was also available in the play area for the dogs to hop in and out of to stay cool.
The risk of heat illness, including overheating, dehydration and heat stroke, for the shelter dogs is the same as for dogs in private homes, according to Aguilar.
Those interested in becoming a foster parent can go to any of the three county animal shelter facilities, and a staff member will match them with a dog based on their home environment, Aguilar said.
- Goleta shelter: 5473 Overpass Road
- Lompoc shelter: 1501 W. Central Ave.
- Santa Maria shelter: 548 W. Foster Road
All locations are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Mondays.
