200 Dogs Without Power at Columbia Pet Care Center

Employees and the 200 dogs they’re currently taking care of at the  on Old Columbia Pike in Columbia entered day three without power on Monday.

The center was one of still without power since Friday's storm.

Employees said they have not notified pet owners of the power outage situation as they don’t have a phone connection.

If people want to pick up their dogs, they should do so, employees said. If a pet owner is on vacation and would like their dog picked up, they should ask a friend to pick up the dog.

Nickie Ice was inside at the front desk on Monday morning, her face glistening with sweat as she worked. The temperature inside the main building of the pet hotel was the same as outside. The smell of the dogs lingered in the air.

“They’re fine,” said Ice when asked about how the dogs were dealing with the heat, “we have water.”

Ice said they’ve been giving the dogs tons of water and checking on them constantly.

As for the employees?

“In a word, it’s hot,” said Josh Arnold. “Hot, sticky and gross.”

Outside, at a picnic table, about 10 employees were taking a break and drinking cold bottles of water.

“You have to go outside to cool off,” said Mark Covington, of Columbia.

“The worst part is with 4th of July coming, we’re super, super busy,” said Brett Phillips of Columbia.

“We’ve had people bring their dogs here and say it’s too hot for their houses,” said Andrew Mayrovitz.

“It’s been an experience for sure,” added Phillips. “We’ve just been trying to keep [the dogs] cool without giving a crap for ourselves.”

Phillips pointed to the power lines behind the building. They were down and laying against one of the outbuildings on the property. Employees said they are still waiting on someone to come and fix them.

“We’ve done our best to clear out the trees down there,” said Phillips.

Some minor relief was on its way on Monday morning in the form of a new generator that had just arrived, according to Quan Harper, the kennel manager.

“We’re going to use it to power some of the smaller air conditioners,” said Harper.

For more of Patch's storm coverage check the following stories: