Flooding at Wheeling animal shelter leaves 100 animals without a home

Dozens of dogs and cats are in need of foster care after a shelter in suburban Wheeling flooded overnight.

More than a hundred animals were displaced from Heartland Animal Shelter, 586 Palwaukee Drive, when a water main break Wednesday morning caused the entire building to flood with more than 2 feet of water.

Executive director Jennifer Schlueter said her staff found out about the break when a trash collector, who likes to see the cats perched on the windows, noticed water and mud flowing from under the front door of the shelter. He called 911, and the fire department notified her about 6:30 a.m.

"Our business operations manager lives less than 10 minutes away, and she got here first," Schlueter said. "She called me and said, 'Hurry up and get over here. It's really bad.' It was like a river was running through the shelter. There was water in every single room."

Schlueter said many of the cats jumped up to higher spots and were spared from getting wet, but the dogs in the kennels were covered in water up their shoulders.

Security footage showed the kennels dry about 4:30 a.m., but an hour later they were completely covered in water.

"My first thought when I got the call was of the very young kittens who are sick with a really serious virus that we have been working all week to save their lives. They were in cages in our isolation unit, and I was so worried that the kittens in the bottom cages would have drowned," she said.

All of the animals were found safe, and staff at the shelter immediately began evacuating all animals to other sites.

"Luckily no lives were lost, but we did come in to very wet, very scared animals," she said.

The sick kittens were taken to Wheeling Animal Hospital, and all dogs were taken to foster homes or were temporarily boarded at other shelters. About 45 cats still needed a place to go Wednesday afternoon.

Schlueter said the shelter would be shut down for at least month, but she is hoping all repairs can be made quickly.

The flood was caused by a pipe that burst under the shelter's training hall. Schlueter said the floors will have to be taken up to repair the burst pipe, and the drywall that was damaged will need to be replaced to mitigate mold. She also said there was electrical damage and no running water.

"If fosters step up, we can save more animals and rescue more animals," she said. "We want to be able to continue our work in spite of this disaster."

Heartland is accepting donations for food, cages, cat carriers and to replace damaged items.

Those interested in fostering an animal can email dogs@heartlandanimalshelter.org and cats@heartlandanimalshelter.org.