SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Over 60 animals housed at the Springdale Animal Shelter have been moved and placed at various local shelters after a broken pipe left the facility without water and electricity.
The broken pipe was caused by recent winter weather which brought freezing temperatures and snow into the area.
Friday afternoon, Courtney Kremer, director of Springdale Animal Services said the shelter's water hose bibs pressure washer froze.
"That led to a set of pipes breaking above our puppy room on Christmas Eve."
She says the staff was at the shelter when this happened and they shut the water off immediately.
"However, on Christmas Day we did have a pipe burst," Kremer said. "That caused an avalanche of water to come in the ceilings and one of our prep rooms. So, there wasn't any areas of where the animals were actually housed. It's just the water was running out through the doors and through the kennels."
Kremer says that some ceiling tiles fell and some of the lights are out at the shelter because of the pipe burst.
Local area organizations like Best Friends Animal Society, Big Paws and Rogers Animal Shelter were among those that offered to transport and house the misplaced animals while repairs at the Springdale shelter are ongoing.
There was a total of 64 animals in the shelter on Christmas Day when the pipes burst, but only half of them had to be moved.
According to Best Friends Animal Society, around 35 dogs and cats were moved to Taysia Blue Husky & Malamute Rescue in Rogers, Big Paws of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, NWA Humane Society for Animals in Rogers, Best Friends Animal Society and Southwest Pet Hospital in Springdale.
"Being one of the last non-profits in the area this allows us to help out everyone," said the Director of the NWA Humane Society for Animals, Clayton Morgan.
There are now nearly 30 animals still at the Springdale shelter but are being kept in parts that were not impacted by the pipe bursts.
"If we have space, we’ll help anyone we can. Housing animals and things like that for short periods of times and stuff like that," Morgan said. "This is what me and all shelter employees…we like to help animals and people in need."
Kremer tells 5NEWS the Springdale Animal Shelter plans to open the shelter's doors Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, she says she isn't sure about how in-person adoptions and visits will work.
So, they are encouraging people to visit its Facebook page for updates.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.