Help Animals affected by Hurricanes
| You will no doubt have seen the terrible scenes caused by Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria, and wondered how you can help. Pets, working animals, livestock, wildlife, birds and marine life have all been affected by the event and many will have no habitat to come back to as they knew it, so nowhere to rest, nest and feed. The needs of the charities working to help animals affected by these hurricanes will change frequently - even daily. They do need financial support in the form of donations, however large or small. And many will be looking for forever homes for these animals. How to protect your pets during Hurricane Irma (USA Today) |
| Here are some charities working to help the animals affected by Hurricanes Harvey & Irma and Maria. Thank you to one and all for all you're doing. I will be adding to them, so please bear with me. International Fund for Animal Welfare
Humane Society of the United States have a Disaster Relief Fund - click here to donate - World Animal Protection is working with the local governments and vets in the Caribbean and is on standby ready to provide assistance. The expectation is that the animals will need medical help and shelter. Click here to see their news Animal Rescue League of Portland are working with All Puerto Rican rescue group, All Sato Rescue (ASR) to get animals out before the storm hits and help with the aftermath of the hurricanes Network for Animals are working with organisations in Cuba and in the US to help animals. You can donate here If you live in the US, you may well find that one way of helping animals affected by the disaster is to actually help your local animal shelter; many pets previously in shelters in the affected area have been flown out to other States, to make room for those coming from the rescue area. Watch out for news on your local TV stations, your local shelters' website and Facebook pages.
The ASPCA is on the ground in Florida and South Carolina assisting with pre-evacuation, relocation and emergency sheltering efforts for animals in the path of Hurricane Irma. More info Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey Animals Rescue Support has requests for immediate assistance and enables people to connect if they are willing to take in animals. Houston SPCA has a disaster hotline on 713-861-3010 for all Hurricane Harvey animal emergencies, inquires and reports. SPCA of Texas says it’s now at full capacity for new volunteers and fosterers – what it needs is donations. It also has resources for people affected by the storm with their animals Austin Pets Alive has a list of its needs which include volunteers over 18 who are able to do physical labour. They are also looking for people who will foster with a view to adopting and medical foster homes. More info The Animal Defense League of Texas needs donations and other items - More info Humane Society of the United States Animal Rescue Team – at the time of writing, they were working on animal rescue and transport, moving animals out of the area. Donate here to help Best Friends’ disaster response team is deploying to Texas to rescue stranded animals, deliver supplies to hard-hit shelters, transport displaced shelter pets and support emergency sheltering efforts. More info Wings of Rescue in California are flying animals out of the area to other parts of the US for re-homing there (these are animals who were already in shelters looking for homes. You can donate through Paypal or their website. The ASPCA is on the ground with search-and-rescue, sheltering and relocation teams in Houston and much of Harvey's path. They need donations to help them Louisiana SPCA has already transported dozens of animals living in Harvey's path to Atlanta so creating space for those coming in from being rescued. https://www.la-spca.org/ You can donate here Atlanta Humane Society are taking in displaced Texas pets to create more room for those who have been affected by the disaster. St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, New Jersey are working to help take in dogs from Texas, and these dogs are being distributed to other shelters in the area. Find out more here Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Armarillo, Texas is helping wildlife by working with a rescue centre in Austin which had 300 squirrels to start with in a few days. Donate here Wildlife Rescue is prepared to take in injured or orphaned wildlife that have been displaced as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Available 24 hours a day to Bexar county and surrounding areas, WRR will be open around-the-clock to take in animals. To report an injured or displaced animal, you can call the WRR hotline at (830) 336-2725. WRR is relying on hundreds of volunteers over the next week weeks and who will rescue animals in need. There’s a news item here How to Help Animals Affected By Hurricanes Harvey, Irma (Chicago) The Texas Zoo’s facebook page has information on how they have and are faring. Visit Texas Zoo or their facebook page and you can make a donation here The San Antonio Zoo, with teams fromSeaWorld, Fort Worth Zoo and Animal World Snake Farm went to help. RedRover has a list of resources including pet friendly resources e.g. places to stay, pets allowed, etc |
| A report from CTVNews.ca on how the animals are affected in Florida Why Florida zoos aren't evacuating their animals Despite all the amazing efforts by charities, there are some dreadful cases of cruelty as well. More than 50 animals found tethered to trees in Florida county as Irma approaches After Hurricane Katrina, the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act was passed in 2006 to ensure that animals were included in emergency preparations, and people seemed to have learnt from that experience. Many evacuees had to leave animals behind because shelters wouldn’t allow them. However in Hurricane Harvey, many pet owners were seen carrying their pets rather than possessions. Shelters have evacuated ahead of time. However, unfortunately nothing is known yet about the devastating effect this flooding has had on wildlife and livestock
There will be something each and everyone of us can do, even if it’s to give £5 or $5. And please, if you have an animal in your care, use this as an opportunity to consider how far you’ve planned for them in the event of a disaster, natural or otherwise. |