After the storm

The storm has passed! Thankfully, most animal rescues and shelters in the tri-state area that we in the Best Friends New York programs have been in contact with weathered it sufficiently well. Most are OK, even while their situations might not be ideal.

There are two New York groups, however, one a rescue and the other a foster-based effort, that did need to completely evacuate their animals. We are waiting to hear what their needs are and how we can best assist.

We were in constant contact with animal groups before and during the storm and have remained in touch with them in the aftermath. We are grateful we were able to stay in up-to-the-minute communication with most groups until the storm hit, at which point many lost power. After regaining power, the groups were back in contact with us.

There are a few specific efforts that I can tell you about that help paint the picture of how our team has been helping folks in the tri-state area. Marianne DeMarco, one of our New York programs staff members, helped one person get some foster dogs from the town of Hempstead Animal Shelter into temporary placements.

We also offered assistance to a New Jersey woman with two beagles who had no family support. She was having trouble finding a shelter that would take animals. We made some phone calls to figure out what the situation was in the woman’s city and were able to locate a shelter that would take animals. Thankfully, she ended up not needing to
evacuate to the shelter.

Best Friends has acted as a call center for support, a repository of information. We pulled together a list of all the shelters that were and were not taking pets, and what requirements each had. We then updated that information as shelters began to reach capacity.

We haven’t heard of any life-threatening animal or human situations (knock on wood). No pets or their people that we know of are in immediate danger. Most rescues and shelters are currently dealing with loss of power and/or flooding damage. We have received some reports of fallen trees.

The weather this week is supposed to be sunny, with temperatures in the 80s. Hopefully, this better weather will help with clean-up efforts in flooded areas, and folks and their pets will be on their way to getting back to normal.

Photo courtesy of Lorraine Healy of Husky House in Bridgewater, New Jersey