An animal shelter in the southwest suburbs facing a critical situation is turning to the community for help.
A Naperville animal shelter facing a critical situation is now turning to the community for help, aiming to remedy a problem that has persisted for nearly a year.
The A.D.O.P.T. Pet Shelter has been operating with limited access to hot water for months, with staff and volunteers working to maintain care and the shelter's operations while issues with the water heater system continued to cause setbacks.
“For about a year, we’ve been without reliable hot water in our shelter,” said Kallie Horner, who is the Adopt Pet Shelter Development Coordinator. “We do have hot water in one small area, but we have a pipe leak that’s causing us to lose a lot of water and it’s costing a lot of money.”
Horner describes the situation as critical and dire, adding that they have no access to hot water throughout the building except in the bathrooms, making basic tasks like laundry, cleaning and bathing the dogs extremely difficult.
“We treat every animal here like they’re our own pet, we provide love and care for each one of them,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to bathe them in cold water, I wouldn’t do that to my own dog—it’s already very stressful for the animals coming here with so many changes and sensory issues.”
The shelter had plans to replace the water heater and repair the leak in the kitchen, but ran into problems with funding. To repair the kitchen, crews would need to tear out the cabinets and walls to get to the source.
“We did have a previous source of funding that fell through, so that was a big disappointment and it’s been difficult for us,” she said.
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They’re now looking to raise around $15,000 to purchase and install a new water heater and to repair the leaker in the kitchen. The staff hopes someone in the community will help to make a difference for these animals.
“We want the best for them,” she said. “It would be amazing to know that we can provide a comfortable, clean, and healthy hygienic for our staff and our animals and our volunteers.”
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The hot water fundraiser kicked off today. If you’d like to help, click here.
