Huntley animal shelter raises $20,000 in one day after AC breaks
HUNTLEY, Ill. (WLS) -- Hours after the Animal House Shelter in northwest suburban Huntley asked the public for donations to replace its broken air conditioning, the shelter's GoFundMe page raised more than $20,000.
On Saturday, as temperatures reached the 90s, shelter workers struggled to keep their 200 dogs and 50 cats cool using two small AC units and several fans.
The no-kill shelter needed $20,000 to replace the old air conditioning.
By Saturday night, the GoFundMe campaign exceeded its goals. By 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the campaign raised $27,563.
Home Depot in Niles donated several portable air conditioning units to keep the 250 animals comfortable. Animal House Shelter has already scheduled an appointment with a company to begin replacing the AC system on Monday.
The air conditioner had been problematic over the last few years and now it just does not work.
Money that is left over from the campaign will be used for the care of the animals.
The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for Cook County until 7 p.m. on Monday. An Excessive Heat Watch is in effect for the surrounding counties in Illinois until Monday.
"It's easily 90 to 100 degrees in the back where all the dogs are sitting in their kennels waiting to go home with someone. We've got some fans set up but right now we are running on two smaller air conditioners. We have no central air in this building at all," said Alexis Williams, who works at the shelter. "It gets to the point where it's so hot in the back that you're physically ill."
The Animal House Shelter is located at 13005 Ernesti Road in Huntley.
For more information, visit: www.animalhouseshelter.com or their GoFundMe page.
