Heartland Humane secures 29 kennels ahead of winter

OTTUMWA, Iowa (KYOU) - Heartland Humane Society has a new space for dogs ahead of winter.

Dogs at the shelter had been living outside.

“I refuse to do that. If we get to a point where that has to happen, there’s a serious problem,” assistant manager Courtney Monohon said.

The shelter spent six weeks gutting a building it had once planned to tear down. More animals kept arriving, so staff changed the plan.

“But then if you really think about it, that means that 29 more dogs are in horrible situations. They’re living on the streets,” Monohon said.

The old space could hold 16 dogs. The new space houses 29.

“I’m just glad to be able to get them inside. We don’t have to worry about it anymore because it floods sometimes in certain kennels,” Monohon said.

Monohon said the timing matters because the shelter is seeing record numbers.

“Dog-wise, we had 92... and the last I counted of cats was 116. We have never had more cats than dogs ever,” Monohon said.

Dogs are set to move into the new space.

The shelter is asking for donations of wet dog and cat food and paper towels. It is also asking people to adopt so fewer animals have to sleep in the cold.