KETTER, North Dakota — The Ketter County Animal Shelter has replaced 14 washable kennel pads after employees found several remained warm for hours after dogs left the runs. The county will continue accepting animals and processing adoptions, though four kennels are being held empty overnight while staff inspect the floor heating and ventilation.
The shelter uses foam-core pads with removable vinyl covers in its indoor dog wing. They are not electrically heated. Laundry staff wash the covers daily and clean the foam by hand between occupants. The building's radiant floor system is set to maintain the entire wing at 68 degrees.
An employee noticed the first warm pad September 30 after an elderly hound named Benny left kennel 6 with an adoptive family. Four hours later, the center of the pad measured 101 degrees with a handheld surface thermometer. Its edges and the concrete beneath it were close to room temperature.
Two other empty kennels showed similar readings over the next three days. In each, warmth occupied a rounded area approximately the size and resting position of the animal that had used the pad. One area included a narrow extension where a dog's foreleg had usually rested. The remainder of the pad stayed cool.
Shelter veterinarian Elise Dorn examined the dogs after staff noticed the pattern. None had a fever, skin condition or exposure to a warming device. All three are now in private homes and are behaving normally, according to follow-up calls. The shelter has received no related report from foster families or adopters.
Pad manufacturer North Range Supply told the county that foam can retain body heat for a short period, particularly under a sleeping animal. A product specialist said it should cool evenly after the animal leaves. The company offered replacements and asked the shelter to return two pads for material testing.
Employees moved one warm pad to the empty examination room Friday. Its temperature declined during the walk, then rose again along the same curved area after it was placed on a stainless table. For about three minutes, the vinyl surface lowered and lifted at a regular interval. Staff did not touch the pad during that period.
The shelter removed all foam pads Saturday and substituted folded cotton blankets. Four dogs were transferred to foster homes to keep the affected runs available for inspection. The change cost about $460 in replacement bedding and laundry supplies. Public visiting hours and scheduled vaccination clinics remain unchanged.
Facilities workers checked the radiant-water lines, air registers and electrical circuits in the dog wing. They found no localized heat source beneath the kennels. After the pads were removed, two concrete floors developed warm oval areas overnight. A dry blanket placed in kennel 6 was cool except where it crossed the oval.
Shelter director Naomi Kern said the county will continue logging temperatures at opening and closing but does not plan to keep usable kennels vacant indefinitely. If the floors remain warm, new arrivals will be housed in the unaffected wing while an outside contractor checks the heating manifold later this week.
The concrete in kennel 6 had returned to 68 degrees by Sunday afternoon. Staff washed the run, left it empty and placed a clean folded blanket on the raised cot. At Monday opening, the blanket was still folded. Near the floor drain, a separate patch of dry concrete registered 99 degrees in the shape of a small curled animal. No dog of that size has occupied the run this year.