CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The Ross County Humane Society says it is struggling with no permanent heat as it waits to move into its new facility. In a post on its Facebook page, the shelter explained the situation:
“This is our new building. This is our old building. Fun fact: neither one currently has real heat and one of them has ZERO heat,” the shelter wrote. “We had to take the HVAC out of the old building and put it into the new building. Logical. Necessary. Inevitable. The units were fairly new and we were trying to be frugal queens. We are now completely at the mercy of Columbia Gas, which means we are stuck in shelter limbo.”
The shelter’s executive director described the challenges staff and animals are facing in freezing temperatures:
“So at the moment we own two buildings, zero permanent heat sources, several space heaters, and an Executive Director proudly showing off the new building dressed like she’s going on an Arctic expedition… followed immediately by a very sad photo of her standing in front of the old one,” the post read.
The shelter called on Columbia Gas for help installing gas equipment to restore heat to the new building:
“Dear @Columbia Gas of Ohio, We love that you keep our community warm. Truly. Big fans. Huge fans. But we have been waiting since at least the beginning of December and we are officially begging. Politely. Desperately. With chattering teeth. Please come install our gas equipment so we can move out of the building with no heat and into the brand new one that actually wants to be warm,” the post said.
The shelter also joked about its current situation while urging community support:
“YALLL Don’t call the news, it’s not news and we aren’t trying to cause trouble. Just a fun way to show you the progress while still letting Columbia Gas know, we love them and are impatiently waiting. DONT CALL THE NEWS LOL,” the shelter wrote.
Staffers continue to keep spirits up despite the cold conditions. In another post, the shelter wrote:
“This is our new building. This is our old building. …We can’t move in or finish until this happens. The dogs, the staff, my coat, and our electric bill are all begging. Signed, Frozen Jenn and staff and the dog wardens who ask me every day when we are moving in.”