GEORGETOWN, Del. - On Friday afternoon the Brandywine Valley SPCA welcomed a second flight of over 60+ shelter animals rescued from Hurricane Idalia in Jacksonville, Florida.
The SPCA says dogs arrived in Georgetown shortly after 3:30 p.m. Friday. They say the flight is a mission from Petco Love and BOBS from Sketchers.
According to the organization, all of these pets were already available for adoption prior to the storm from the Jacksonville Humane Society and Columbia County shelters. Brandywine Valley says this will allow those shelters to recover.
The SPCA says that the animals will be evaluated and put up for adoption in Georgetown on September 3rd. They say some may be moved to other Delaware BVSPCA locations as well.
“As soon as we saw Hurricane Idalia’s potential path and projected devastation, we began planning how we could help,” said Adam Lamb, BVSPCA CEO. “We are proud to specialize in large intakes and disaster response and have strong national partners like with Petco Love and Wings of Rescue that help position us to immediately respond in times of crisis like this. These are the times when we in the sheltering community need to all stand together, regardless of borders.”
Senior Operations Manager Laura Page says because the animals were already available for adoption in Florida, they're already spayed and neutered.
“We will be taking them back to our Animal Rescue Center on Shingle Point Road here in Georgetown," Page says. "They’ll get checked this (Friday) evening, mostly just vetted down this eventing, fed, watered, made comfortable. Tomorrow they’ll get a more thorough examination. They’ll get updates on any vaccinations, deworming, they’ll get microchipped.”
“This animal airlift operation is a testament to the remarkable power of collaboration. Working hand-in-hand multiple local and national nonprofits came together to facilitate safe and efficient transport of animals to shelters in the north to create capacity at local Florida organizations to serve the community in their time of need, said Susanne Kogut, President of Petco Love.
“When disaster strikes, our mission is to save at-risk dogs and cats by delivering them to safe havens,” said Ric Browde, CEO and President of Wings of Rescue. “And thanks to our partnership with Petco Love and BOBS from Skechers™ we are able to Let The Fur Fly and save pets in need.”
The BVSPCA is asking for the community’s help. “Our everyday work doesn’t stop when we step up to help during a natural disaster,” said Lamb. “We need our community to join us in this emergency situation by adopting and donating so that we can continue to assist with the much-needed and longer-term disaster response following Hurricane Idalia.”
