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Staff have implemented changes after a dog overheated and then died after being housed at the Washoe County Regional Animal Services campus. 

The incident involved a dog named 'Meatball' and happened on July 15th when the dog was in an exterior kennel during a routine inside cleaning.

On Facebook, the facility says, "It is routine practice for our animal care staff to close guillotine doors, securing dogs on the inside while cleaning outside and outside while cleaning inside. This is for animal and staff safety. Some of our exterior kennels face east, and are in the sun depending on time of year and day. Although temperatures were only in the 80s, the dog was found in medical distress."

The dog was transferred to Blue Pearl Emergency Veterinary Hospital for advanced care where it was ultimately euthanized to prevent further suffering.

After a review, staff implemented several procedural changes designed to reduce the risk of a similar event occurring in the future. These were implemented Monday, July 27:

* Adjusting the schedules of designated Caretakers during the warmer months to begin work at 6:30 a.m., allowing east-facing kennel runs to be cleaned first and minimizing animals' time in direct morning sun.
* Establishing a goal of completing each kennel section within 30 minutes. If operational circumstances such as maintenance, painting, or construction require animals to remain outside longer, they will be visually checked at least every 30 minutes.
* Updating the kennel cleaning Standard Operating Procedure to incorporate these changes.
* Reassigning staff to focus on public-facing services such as redemptions, microchipping, and intake, allowing Caretakers to remain focused on direct animal care during the busiest portion of the cleaning process.
* Additional operational adjustments are also being discussed and considered where appropriate to mitigate this situation from occurring again such as adding shade.

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