Chilliwack animal refuge grateful to public, security firm for housing animals during heatwave

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that hundreds of reptiles died at this facility.

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – When temperatures began to climb higher and higher on June 25, the owners of the Reptile Room in Chilliwack frantically tried to save thousands of reptiles and rodents.

Reptile Room owner Amber Quiring-DeGans says their air conditioning unit on the rodent side of the facility broke several weeks ago. They had contacted the company to fix it, but were told the parts weren’t available. As the heatwave took effect over the weekend the store tried desperately to get their 3,000 rodents and hundreds of reptiles out of potentially deadly conditions.

“As an animal owner it’s heartbreaking not to be able to provide the right environment,” Quiring-DeGans said.

Working with very little sleep and with no reprieve in the forecast, the store reached out to the public for help. Additional measures were taken to cool the rodents. Quiring-DeGans says she and her husband stayed at the store all day and night and, alongside their team, put ice in the enclosures, misted the animals often with water, offered cold food to them, and put several fans in front of the enclosures. They also made a cooling device for the enclosures.

People showed up and began taking many of the bunnies and guinea pigs home for safe keeping however there wasn’t an overwhelming response from the public to take the rats and mice. She says she’s grateful for the community support during this difficult time.

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While hundreds of rats and mice did perish, Quiring-DeGans says hundreds more were saved thanks especially to Chilliwack company Griffin Security which jumped in and offered an air-conditioned room to house the surviving animals.

“Until temperatures drop we will just be combatting that. We are in a losing situation trying to beat that almost 40 degrees every day,” she said.

She says another concern is feeding those surviving snakes and other reptiles, as many of the mice died in the heat.

B.C.’s heatwave saw record-breaking temperatures over several days, with the hot weather warning expected to end Wednesday. Environment Canada predicts it will remain unseasonably warm for the rest of the week. As a result of this incident, Quiring-DeGans says they are putting in more measures in an effort to prevent further issues.

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