Capital Humane Society temporarily closes Adoption Center due to HVAC issues

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The dangerous heat forced a change of scenery for the animals at the Pieloch Adoption Center in South Lincoln on Monday.

The center was forced to close on Monday and Tuesday due to issues with the HVAC system.

“There are two different HVAC systems that serve this building, and the unit that serves all of the animal housing units was having issues keeping up with those temperatures,” Matt Madcharo, the Executive Director of Capital Humane Society, said.

The systems tripped the breaker multiple times, creating unstable temperatures inside.

On Sunday, the breaker tripped, and the unit had to be reset four times within five hours.

The nonprofit had to act quickly and decided to move all of the animals.

There were 44 cats, six critters and 25 dogs.

The whole operation took three hours, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm.

“The response was overwhelming,” Madcharo said. “We had way more staff that were willing and ready to come in than we actually needed. We had 20 plus staff members that came in. We had a team that went to our admissions and assessment center to get spaces set up for the dogs and we had the rest of the team over here at the adoption center.”

Cats filled the multipurpose room at the adoption center where the other HVAC system was running smoothly.

Dogs were relocated to the Assessment Center on Park Boulevard.

The teams biggest priority was keeping all of the animals safe and comfortable.

“In the shelter, it’s a stressful environment for pets,” Madcharo said. “There’s a lot of animals, a lot of smells, a lot of different noises. Another thing that can increase stress is temperatures that fluctuate. For us as humans, we get a little grumpy, maybe a little stressed when it’s very hot outside so we wanted to make sure animals could stay in cooler conditions.”

Electricians are working to upgrade the systems to resolve the issue.

All of the animals are now returning to their shelter spot, and awaiting their forever home.

“The plan is to open back up to the public tomorrow at 11:30 and hopefully some of these pets can get into homes,” Madcharo said.

Madcharo said this was also a good learning experience for the staff, in case of any future emergencies.