Palm Valley Animal Society’s Trenton location is reopening Thursday after a two-week closure due to a discovery of black mold.
Air condition repair workers found the mold while they were addressing a leak in the ceiling. According to Faith Wright, director of operations at Palm Valley, the mold covered 25 linear feet and would take up to three to five days to remove.
During that time the shelter looked to the community for help in providing temporary homes for more than 150 animals.
The shelter said Wednesday, however, that it received an overwhelming amount of support from the community who helped foster 256 pets marking a record number of placements in more than five years.
“We have been elated with the response from the community,” Brandon Hausenfluck, PVAS board president, said in the release. “When the community steps up in this way, it reaffirms to us what we already know — the RGV is a place that values pets and the people who love them.”
Now as the shelter reopens, they will begin normal operations by reopening intake from partner municipalities.
Due to the animal overpopulation in the Valley, the shelter expects there to be an influx of animals in need once it reopens.
To increase the shelter’s capacity, Palm Valley is asking community members who assisted in fostering animals to continue to do so if possible.
“We still encourage and tell our fosters that it is still important to keep our animals out of the shelter if they are able to hold on to them any longer. We would really appreciate that and the pets are better off being out of the shelter environment in general,” Arlina Larson, development director at Palm Valley, said Wednesday.
Bissell Pet Foundation and Dog is My Copilot will also be sponsoring flights for some animals to be transported to partner organizations on June 11 and 19. They hope to transfer more than 200 pets in order to increase space at the shelter.
“They are being transported to different rescues and then from there the rescues will find homes for those animals,” Larson said.
Palm Valley Animal Society is located at 2501 W. Trenton Road in Edinburg. To inquire about how to help, call (956) 686-1141.
