By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Children are getting their hands dirty as they explore the art of ceramics this summer.

Jennifer Younger, Hays High School art teacher, offered three ceramics classes at Hays High School through the Hays Arts Council.

Children ages 6 through 12 were broken into two classes based on their age to explore hand building figures or pots. Youth 11 and older could enroll in wheel-thrown pottery.

Student modeled their figures or threw their pots last week. All students will paint or glaze their pieces this week, so they can take them home at the end of the two-week session.

Students learn about the different properties of the clay and how it is affected by the moisture. Younger took them through the steps of building and curing their creations, including the first bisque firing in a kiln, glazing and then the second firing.

“It is a lot of processes they learn, and they really catch on quick,” she said. “It is really cool to see what they can come up with and how creative they are.”

The wheel-thrown class is a “crash course.” In Younger’s high school class, the students spend two weeks just learning how to center the clay on the wheel.

“For as young as they are, they do really well,” she said. “Sometimes they get frustrated, but we spend weeks in school practicing this and learning this, so they are really doing awesome.”

Younger explained why she thought exposing children to art is important.

“It helps with their creativity. A lot of them are able to use it as an outlet. I feel it is really important,” she said. “It is not quite as serious, and they can let loose and just be creative and use their imaginations. I think that is important in this day and age with all the stressors and high expectations. A lot of kids really enjoy this, and they are able to produce a lot of great things.”

Eleanor Bittel, 11, of Hays, was working on a pitcher on Thursday morning. This was Bittel’s first attempt at throwing on a wheel.

“I have been wanting to do this for a while,” she said. “I have done the hand clay a couple of times, but I have wanted to do this for a really long time.”

She talked about what she learned in the class.

“In this class, I learned that you need strength, because when you center it, you really have to move it and model it,” she said. “It is also sometimes frustrating because it will collapse on you, and you have to start over sometimes. But I really like it. I am really enjoying it.”

Darci Dreiling, 13, a TMP-Marian student, also was taking wheel-thrown pottery for the first time.

“I learned not to be frustrated, she said as she trimmed a pot on Thursday, “because you can always build it up and make it into something new.”

Janet Hugunin, 13, Victoria, is in her third year of taking wheel-thrown pottery through the HAC.

She talked about what she has learned through the classes.

“How to work with the clay and center it and making it even so you don’t have any air bubble in it so when you fire it, it doesn’t explode,” she said.

Hugunin enjoys doing other types of art in her free time.

“It is really calming to me,” she said. “It is something that if I don’t have anything else to do, I can do art … It is just fun to do.”

Students also will wrap up HAC Acting and Theater classes this week with public performances on Friday morning at the 12th Street Auditorium.

There are more HAC youth classes offered through July and a Plein Air Painting Workshop for anyone 16 and older on June 23.

See a complete schedule and information on how to enroll at the HAC website or you can visit the Hays Arts Center downtown at 112 E. 11th St.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The stage door to Disney’s “Aladdin” on Broadway, says “A wish on a lamp.”

It wasn’t a wish, but hard work that made Hays native Jacob Gutierrez’s dream come true as he made his Broadway debut in ‘Aladdin’ on May 25. Jacob, 28, son of Mario and Karen Gutierrez, has been cast in the ensemble of “Aladdin.”

“That night when I went on, it was quite overwhelming, and I have to admit there were moments when I completely blacked out. It was all fine because it is in your body, but I remember being in the middle of ‘Prince Ali,’ waving these fans thinking, ‘Where am I?’ There are lights on you. During the opening number, there is this huge men’s dance break, and I looked to my left and saw this guy who is in my cast, Josh, whose costume is purple and Stanley in his yellow costume and I thought ‘What is happening right now? Is this really happening?’ ”

After the performance, Gutierrez talked to his fellow cast members, and they all said the same things happened to them on their debut nights.

“It is pretty overwhelming,” Gutierrez said. “Beyond that, you have a house full of 1,700 people you are looking out at, and every seat is filled. It is a lot. If anything, it is just over stimulating because all of your senses are so elevated because of everything.”

Gutierrez said the musical is very demanding.

“I am in every single group number,” he said. “I am dancing. I am dancing. I am dancing. There is a lot of choreography. It is a very grand show, so every single production number is large and there are many moving parts.”

Gutierrez wears 12 costumes in the show with multiple quick changes. During the opening of Act II during a parade scene, the creators wanted the illusion of 150 people out of 20-member ensemble cast. So every ensemble member in that number has five costume changes.

“That number alone I think I am wearing four pairs of pants all underneath each other that are all quick rigged,” he said. “They switch out my shirts and vest and coats and my hats and my turbans. It is busy. To say I am just in the ensemble isn’t even a thing because the ensemble is such a huge part of the show that we are doing just as much as everyone else is doing in the entire show.”

Gutierrez said his family has been very supportive of his work. He was excited to initially let each of them know he had been cast on Broadway. For someone who had majored in musical theater in college, Broadway is the pinnacle, he said.

“For me, it is a milestone. It is not even the end goal. As actors, your goal is always longevity. You always want to be doing something and putting your hands in different material and different things in commercials or TV shows or musicals on Broadway or national tours or traveling in something.

“The amazing thing is performance can take you many places, and it isn’t linear. It is not like a conventional path. It is very unique to you and unique to what you have to offer the world and the entertainment industry.”

Gutierrez has been involved in music and theater since he was young. He spent three years after college playing Aladdin in a slightly different version of the musical on Disney cruise ships.

He also recently performed in an episode of “A Crime to Remember,” which aired on the Investigation Discovery channel in March. However, he said being cast on Broadway has been the realization of a lifelong dream.

Gutierrez had auditioned for a different part in Aladdin two years ago and did not get the part. He decided to give it another shot.

He went to a large union audition in March, not knowing in what he might be cast. “Aladdin” has several companies touring right now, and Gutierrez initially had a callback for the national tour. He had to go through a series of callbacks, including a recorded audition for Tony-award-winning director Casey Nicholaw, who recently appeared on the Tony’s for his work on “Mean Girls.”

On a Friday, Gutierrez’s agent received word the “Aladdin’s” company had openings and Jacob was in the mix for a part.

“That was torture,” he said. “It was the weekend and everything shut down on Saturday and Sunday. I was out of town. Life goes on. You have to keep going, but I couldn’t help to keep thinking about it. When casting says, ‘Could he be available in a week if we need him?’ your mind starts going down the path— ‘I wonder what it is?’ ‘I wonder what they are looking at?'”

His agent did not call until Tuesday.

“She said I have some good and bad news. I said, ‘OK, what is the bad news?’ She said the bad news is that you didn’t get the ‘Aladdin’ tour. I said, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ I had been in for so many things over those few weeks it could have been anything that the good news was. I didn’t know what she was going to say. She said the good news is you are making your Broadway debut in the same show.”

Gutierrez was home and started screaming. His roommate thought something was wrong and ran out of his room to ask him if he was OK.

When it rains, it pours, Gutierrez said. In the next 24 hours, he booked two more out-of-town shows he had to turn down to take the “Aladdin” part.

“You can go through seasons of dry spells where you audition a lot and are getting close to a lot of things, but the timing or the stars don’t align in that way. You can go months without doing something. When you do get calls that you have an offer, it is so exciting no matter what it is. The fact that I had three in the matter of a day, it was just crazy. It was also a testament to hard work paying off.”

Once he was cast, he had about two and a half weeks to rehearse and learn the complex choreography before he made his debut. He had one dress rehearsal or “put in” with the entire cast before he went on.

He was supposed to debut the night after his dress rehearsal. After rehearsal, he ran down the street to grab a double order of Chinese food. He received a call from the stage manager that the show had cast members out and he was needed that night. He rushed back to the theater to prepare and called his family, who was supposed to see him the next night.

They were able to find tickets and saw his Broadway debut from the fifth and sixth row of the theater.

“It is fast and furious and you really have to be on your game, because there are so many moving parts, ” he said.

Gutierrez credited his early musical education at Hays High School for setting him on a path toward performance.

Gutierrez played saxophone and piano. When he was entering his freshman year, he was going to drop band so he could pursue sports. However, the band teacher, Craig Manteuffel, called him and encouraged him to stay in band. He did.

“Honestly, I credit so much to that moment,” Gutierrez said, “because had I quit music at that point, it would have never opened the door for the choir I joined my sophomore year and moving forward. Looking back to when I was 13 or 14, that was a really pivotal moment in continuing my arts pursuant, because that was what opened up everything else.”

Gutierrez attended Oklahoma City University and moved to New York to pursue is acting dream when he was 22.

Almost all struggling performers have what they call a survival job— a job that supports them but also allows them to audition during the day. Gutierrez said he was very lucky his survival job was working for Mercedes-Benz. He traveled around the country to trade shows teaching people everything there is to know about the vehicles. It was a good job, but it cut into his audition time.

For now Gutierrez is on a rigorous schedule, and he said being on Broadway has been a lifestyle change.

He does eight shows a week plus rehearsals.

“It is really learning to take care of yourself physically,” he said. “When you do repetitive things over and over that are very physically taxing, you have to learn how to take care of your body. For me that’s chiropractic, massage or acupuncture or things that help with soft tissue release or getting physical therapy for little strains that happen here or there. More often than not, it is inevitable, because we are putting our bodies through such extreme circumstances.

“Oftentimes, theater performers or dancers are referred to as professional athletes and that could not be more true. No, I am not on a football field or on a basketball court or playing a sport, but dancing on a steel stage in 12 pounds of costumes eight times a week for three hours a night every night is very much an Olympic sport. It is very grueling on the body if you don’t take care of yourself.”

Gutierrez also said he tries to tend to his mental and spiritual self, and stays centered through his church family in New York.

“It is a whole body, whole world thing,” he said. “You have to be taking care of yourself as a whole person.”

If you are going to be in New York, check out the show’s website here.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays Arts Center will feature “A Summer Together” by Larry Peters and Barbara Waterman-Peters, a husband and wife team from Topeka, for the Summer Art Walk on Friday.

Barbara primarily works in oil on canvas. Larry produces ceramics as well as mixed-media artwork.

“These will be pieces that have figurative subjects in them,” Brenda Meder, director of the Hays Arts Council, said. “Larry’s works are a little more conceptual and abstract. Some of them are even inspired by the Holocaust. It is the stripes that are his inspiration. It is not an in-your-face darkness kind of thing. It has been an inspiration for a whole series of paintings he has done.”

Larry earned a BFA in 1962 from Washburn University in Topeka, and an MFA in 1965 from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, according to his bio on the Strecker Nelson West Gallery website. He joined the Topeka Library first as a reader’s adviser in the fine arts department, and went on to become the director of the library’s gallery in 1974, retiring in 2003. Special honors include the creation of a bird ornament for the 2002 White House Christmas tree and participation in the U.S. State Department “Arts in the Embassies” program.

Barbara has a BFA from Washburn University and MFA from Kansas State University, according to her website. She has shown regionally, nationally and internationally in more than 250 solo, invitational and juried exhibitions. Waterman-Peters taught at Washburn and Kansas State Universities as well as Lassen Community College in California. She writes about artists for TOPEKA and LAWRENCE Magazines and has illustrated several books.

“Even though their styles are different, you can truly see the inspiration they get from each other,” Meder said, “but they don’t attempt to do what the other does in any way, shape or form.”

Meder said some of Barbara’s paintings almost look like photographs.

“The personalities—you just feel like you know who these people are—you want to know them,” Meder said of Barbara’s paintings. “Don’t they feel so real and honest? She is an incredible figurative artist.”

The couple plans to attend the opening reception for the exhibit on Friday. The Art Walk will be 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The show will be on exhibit at the Arts Center through Aug. 10.

The Hays Arts Center Annex will feature Gordon Sherman, Dagan Sherman, Ariel Sherman and Brian Hutchinson in “Shermantiestablishmentism Part Deux.”

Gordon Sherman is a longtime professor at FHSU in printmaking. His son, Dagan, and former student, Hutchinson, are both also teachers and printmakers. Hutchinson, who was teaching art in Great Bend, has recently been hired to teach FHSU. He will be working with art education majors. Hutchinson has also taught summer youth art classes for the HAC.

Ariel works in fiber arts. Gordon also does paintings and assemblage work.

As usual, there will be several venues where you can listen to music, including Max Walker and Friends at the Downtown Pavilion, hosted by the Downtown Hays Development Corporation; Sunrise Biscuits at Breathe Coffee House; Company 11 at Paisley Pear; Wayne and Tammy Lang at the Ellis County Historical Society; and jazz by Brad Dawson and Luke Johnson at Gella’s Diner.

Dawson and Johnson will perform later in evening from 9 to 11 p.m., Company 11 will perform from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Paisley Pear, and Wayne and Tammy Lang will perform from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the museum. The historical society also will feature 2-D and 3-D artwork by Harley Torres and Tyler Dallis,

Also in the area of the Pavilion at Union Pacific Park will be “Apophenia Art” by Craig Brendan and the KSU Watersheds and City of Hays WOW Trailer. Brendan is a self-taught artist who often works in pen and ink and mixed media. The Watershed on Wheels Trailer features hand-pained murals by FHSU students that tell the story of Hays water system and need for water conversation.

“They are using the art to have it be something bigger,” Meder said of the WOW trailer.

Visual art at Breathe will be “Wednesday Morning Breakfast” Club with Jim Hinkhouse, Michael Jilg, Kathleen Kuchar, Darrell McGinnis and Cal Mahin. This group is retired art faculty who still meet regularly for breakfast.

You can see a preview of the Hays Community Theatre’s summer musical, “The King and I” at its new performance space at 121 E. Eighth.

Angela Muller, who will exhibit at Couture for Men and Women uses many organic media in her paintings, including rainwater, wheat kernels and ground limestone. Her exhibit is titled “Spirit of the Prairie.” Although her materials are natural, her visual presentation tends to be more abstract, Meder said.

“They are made with these true, organic things—a very spiritual approach to art that is very much of the earth,” Meder said.

Meder is trying to get an exhibit of Muller’s work at the Art Center later this year.

A variety of young artists will be featured during the art exhibit. The Hays Public Library will present “The Art of Coding: Stem & Robots” by local teens.

The library also will host Sean Conroy, author of “Through the Eyes of a Young Physician Assistant.” He will be selling and signing books.

A2Z Escape will feature sisters Morgan and Madison Schremmer, both of Ellis County. Morgan is a student at FHSU and is a painter. Madison is a photographers. Jeanne Schwartz, a non-traditional FHSU student from Hays, will exhibit her mixed media work.

Students Kurt Breshears, Woody Stauffer and Zane Mahanna will be a part of an exhibit that will also include Holly Ray, Nicole Thibodeau and Shannon Trevethan, director of the Denies Culture Center in Russell. The exhibit will be at Thibodeau’s home at 206 E. Sixth St. These artists work in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture and photography.

Thibodeau works at the Hays Public Library and will be leading a Plein Air Painting Workshop on Saturday, June 23 at the Ag Research Center, which is sponsored by the Hays Arts Council. Enrollment is sill open for that workshop.

Diamond R. Jewelry will feature Darris Worcester of Hill City. Meder said he paints traditional subjects in a traditional style on canvas, paper as well as saw blades and metal. This is his first time on the Art Walk.

Avalon Advanced Health, which in Eagle Plaza at 27th and Hall streets, is on the Art Walk for the first time. They will be open from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and feature the works of Aaron Phillips, recent FHSU BFA grad; Brett Novack; and Can “Cadie” Long. Long was a student at FHSU and, since graduation, has moved to the west coast. She specializes in 3-D art and illustrations. Phillips is a painter.

The Summer Art Walk tends to have fewer stops than the spring event, Meder said.

“This is still a lot of places,” she said. “Because there are fewer places, maybe people’s pace for the evening will be a little more relaxed, and that is kind of nice too. There is still enough here to completely fill up three hours. It is nice people can just take their time and really relish what I hope will be gorgeous evening.”

Below is the complete schedule:

2018 Hays Arts Council

~  Summer Art Walk  ~

Friday, June 15  – 6:30-9:30pm

Hays Arts Center 

112 E. 11^th “Peters/Waterman-Peters: A Summer Together”

Works by Barbara Waterman-Peters & Larry Peters

Hays Public Library 

1205 Main “The Art of Coding: STEM Projects & Robots”

~ presented by the Young Adult Department

Sean Conroy book signing ~

“Through the Eyes of Young Physician Assistant”

Paisley Pear Wine Bar, Bistro, Market

1100 Main Photography by Gilbert Kinderknecht

Live Music by “Company 11” 8:30-10:30pm

Couture for Men & Women 

1111 Main “Spirit of the Prairie” earth art with limestone,

wheat kernels & cottonwood by Angela Muller

J Studio & Salon 

112 W 11^th Sculpture by Danielle Robinson,

Poetry by Ross Karlin, & Music by Lane Werth

Hays Arts Center Annex  

1010 Main “Shermantiestablishmentism Part Deux”

works by Gordon Sherman, Dagan Sherman,

Ariel Sherman, & Brian Hutchinson

Paintings & Photographs by Bruce Burkholder

Union Pacific Park

10^th & Main “Apophenia Art” by Craig Brendan

KSU Watersheds & City of Hays “WOW Trailer”

~ with hand painted interior murals

Downtown Pavilion (hosted by DHDC)

10th & Main Live Music by Max Walker

Hays Community Theatre 

121 E. 8^th “The King and I” HCT Summer Musical Showcase

A2Z Escape

115 W. 8^th Paintings, photography & mixed media works

by Madison Schremmer, Morgan Schremmer

& Jeanne Schwartz

Diamond R Jewelry 

807 Main Paintings by Darris Worcester

Breathe Coffee House

703 Main “Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club”

~ works by Jim Hinkhouse, Michael Jilg,

Kathleen Kuchar, Darrell McGinnis, and Cal Mahin

Music by “Sunrise Biscuits”

Ellis County Historical Society 

100 W. 7^th “Exploration” ceramics & drawings

by Harley Torres & Tyler Dallis

Music by Wayne & Tammy Lang

Garden Art Gallery

206 E. 6^th Works by Kurt Breshears, Zane Mahanna,

Woody Stauffer, Holly Ray,

Shannon Trevethan & Nicole Thibodeau

Friday, June 15  – Early or Extended Hours

Avalon Advanced Health   5:00-7:30pm

2703 Hall, Suite13 Works by Aaron Phillips,

Can “Cadie” Long & Brett Novack

Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co.   9:00-11:00pm

117 E. 11^th Live Jazz by Brad Dawson and Luke Johnson

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays Community Theatre cut the ribbon Friday on its new space downtown at the former Eagles Lodge, 121 E. Eighth St. during a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce event.

The 2,300-square-foot main hall has been renovated into a 150-person performance space. The entire building is about 3,000 square feet.

The theater is using the space to build props, sew costumes and rehearse for its upcoming summer performance of “The King and I.” Although “The King and I” will be performed at Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center, the HCT performers can’t get in to Fort Hays State University venue until less than a week before the performance.

“The King and I” will be performed at 7 p.m. July 26, 27, and 28. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth 12 and younger. They can be purchased by going to the HCT website.

There will be a “King and I” preview during the Summer Art Walk from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the new theater.

Volunteers are still working on the space. ADA bathrooms are in the works, and HCT plans a remodel of the kitchen so that it can be used during dinner theaters.

The area where the restrooms are now will be converted into dressing rooms to be used when HCT hosts small productions in the Eighth Street location.

HCT received grants, private donations and in-kind gifts and labor for the renovations.

Travis Grizzell, board member, said it would be difficult to put a number on the total cost.

The former lodge’s drop ceilings tiles, which were stained yellow by cigarette smoke, were removed to reveal a lattice of trusses. The walls and the ceiling were painted. The tables and chairs were removed.

Gene Stramel, HCT president, said the new space scarcely resembles the old lodge.

“We are excited to have some shows and bring in some entertainment, so you will be able to see some things happening in here besides what’s happening in Beach/Schmidt and down at 12th Street,” he said.

Architect Lisa Brooksher said the construction crew tried to do as little as they could during the renovation in order to preserve the original structure.

“This was quite a project,” she said. “As many renovations go, you don’t necessarily know what you are getting into. We opened up as much of the ceiling as we could. We tried to do it as inexpensively as we could, but make it a special space. We got lucky that these trusses were here. They are the original trusses. Gella’s has the same truss design.”

The HCT also will rent the space for events, such as graduation parties, wedding receptions and banquets.

Stramel said HCT is always looking for volunteers. This can be on stage or behind the scenes working on costumes, sets, props or publicity. You can learn more about volunteering on the HCT website. Also follow HCT on Facebook.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

It’s not officially summer, but it’s still hot outside.

The rising heat puts both small children and pets at risk if they are left in hot vehicles.

A new Kansas law, which will go into effect July 1, protects anyone from civil liability who breaks into a vehicle to rescue an animal or a vulnerable person, including a small child.

However, Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler noted people need to follow certain guidelines when trying to rescue a person or pet.

• The Good Samaritan has to determine the person or animal in the vehicle is in immediate danger.
• The person has to determine there is no other safe way of getting the person or pet out of the vehicle.
• The person also must call 911 right before or after he or she breaks into the vehicle.
• The person also must remain on the scene until law enforcement arrives.

Scheibler said he hopes this new law will serve to educate the public about the dangers of hot vehicles.

“This is a good thing. It allows people to take some sort of action in those situations in which people or animals need their assistance,” Scheibler said. “The important thing is people need to use good judgement, and they should never hesitate to call us in those situations. I think this law has good intentions to try to educate the public and prevent tragedies.”

A number of years ago a child died in a hot car in Hays. The person who was attending to the child did not usually take the child to daycare and forgot the child was in the back seat. Scheibler recommended placing something in or on your vehicle to remind you a child is on board. This could be a ribbon on the door handle or a note on the dash.

Heat stroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths in children younger than 15, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Heat stroke can happen when the outside temperature is as low as 57 degrees. Organ damage starts in children when their bodies reach 104 degrees. Death can occur at 107 degrees.

Learn more on children and hot vehicles at the healthychildren.org.

There is no Kansas law that prohibits a pet owner from leaving an animal in a vehicle.

However, Scheibler said, in extreme cases, a person could be investigated for animal cruelty in the case of a pet or child endangerment in the case of a child.

Animal control will respond to all reports of endangered pets, although it may take some time for the officer to arrive.

Nikki Hausler, Hays animal control officer, said it is not enough to just see a panting dog in a vehicle. The pet must show signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion, which can be difficult to identify. Unless it is clear the animal is in immediate risk, it is best to call police to deal with the situation.

Even in cooler temperatures, the temperature inside a vehicle rises quickly and can be a danger to any living creature.

In as little as 10 minutes, the temperature in a vehicle can increase 19 degrees, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Hays Vet Dr. Mark Meier said when a dog’s body temperature reaches more than 106 degrees, its organs start to shut down. Overheating can cause death or permanent organ damage.

“I think the biggest thing is that if you don’t need to have your pets with you, leave them at home,” he said. “Pets are becoming a bigger part of our families, and it is not worth the risk.”

The city is already receiving calls about pets in hot vehicles.

“I have digital thermometer that I can use to measure the inside temperature of a vehicle,” Hausler said. “Luckily, I have not found any pets in heat distress or heat stroke, but I use the app to educate owners. Even if they crack the windows on a day with high humidity and its hot like it has been — 90 degrees — a car can heat up in the matter of minutes.”

She explained people often go into a store and think they will be there for a few minutes. They get delayed in a checkout line or they find more items they initially intended or they stop to talk to a friend — and they end up spending much more time in the store than they anticipated.

“One thing that shocks me is last summer, I was called out to the hospital for pets in vehicles,” Hausler said. “When you go for a medical appointment, it can be so much longer than you anticipate. A hospital parking lot is not the place for your dog either.”

Sharon Thompson of Hays stopped at Walmart on a recent trip to Topeka and discovered bulldogs locked in a car. She call 911 and reported it. She stayed with the vehicle for 22 minutes until the police arrived, and the owner of the pets had still not emerged from the store. She said she was in anguish watching the pets suffer in the heat until someone arrived.

Hausler said her No. 1 recommendation for pets owners is to leave the pets at home, especially during these warm months. They will be much safer.

Because of Hays being located on the interstate, local police also receive calls for people who are traveling and leave their pets in vehicles.

Hausler encouraged travelers to take their pets into to consideration when they stop. Eating at a sit-down dinner may not be the best choice for your pet. Even if you leave the car running, the car could die, the vehicle could overheat or even catch on fire.

“It may be best to get something to grab and go when you are on the road and keep the dog cool in the vehicle,” she said.