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Arizona Animal Welfare League gets big gift to keep shelter animals cool

Posted at 4:50 AM, Sep 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-13 09:30:39-04

Thousands of cats and dogs pass through the Arizona Animal Welfare League's doors each year.

The shelter operates a clinic on its Phoenix campus. Beyond making sure procedures go smoothly and an animal's pain is minimized, Medical Director Matthew Goetz has another concern. 

"Heat is probably one of our number one enemies here," he said. 

The clinic is doubling in size and, with that, comes a need to keep animals cool, especially during surgery. 

Why? "The animals can't thermo-regulate when they're under anesthesia," Goetz said. 

Thanks to a donation by Goettl Air Conditioning, the expanding clinic is receiving a brand new, $10,000-plus commercial air conditioning unit for free. It will replace the facility's current evaporative cooler. 

"After it's 90 degrees, all [the evaporative cooler] is really doing is just blowing around hot air and making it very humid and uncomfortable," said Dale Steele, Residential Manager for the company. 

Arizona Animal Welfare League adopts out around 4,000 animals a year.