Animals and people are finding ways to keep cool and safe amid sweltering conditions at the Greene County Fair.
Tents are set up to shade the crowds, who can be seen sipping cool drinks and treats to beat the heat.
Hundreds of animals are inside barns, where electric fans are blowing and cool bottles are in cages to keep the livestock cool.
“We are used to the heat, we’re used to showing them in the summer,” said Allison Rapp, secretary of the Greene County Junior Fair Board. “We wash them off a couple times a day, make sure they have plenty of fresh, clean water.”
Animals all have somewhat different ways to lower body temperature, said Harold Brown, veterinarian and director of Greene County Animal Control. Poultry has a particularly tough time, he said.
“They, like dogs and cats, have to blow off the saliva and as the saliva evaporates that’s how they lose their body temperature,” he said.
For broiler chickens, which can weigh up to 10 pounds, efforts to keep them cool sometimes aren’t enough.
“With broilers, they get so large that their bodies can’t keep up with how large they are. So a lot of them unfortunately do end up dying,” Rapp said. Several already have this week.
However, all of the other animals are OK, and humans also have fared well. The Xenia Fire Department said medics have not had to treat anyone for heat-related issues so far.
At the Ohio State Fair, crowds are not deterred by the heat wave. Attendance is on target with expectations, and there have not been any issues with animals or people braving the heat, said Alicia Shoults, director of marketing and public relations. “Patrons so far seem to be doing a pretty good job of beating the heat,” she said. Attendees can go into air-conditions buildings on the fairgrounds, and there are plenty of vendors selling cold drinks and treats. In case anyone does have an issue, there are first aid kits readily available to help keep crowds safe.
