How the Humane Society is coming to the aid of animals in the aftermath of Helene
People aren't the only ones in need of help after Hurricane Helene, and the Humane Society is on the ground in hard-hit areas to make sure pets can stay safe and fed as well.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00The Humane Society of the United States has deployed to Florida and Tennessee to help animals in need in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
00:08And joining us to talk more about their efforts is Kelly Donathan, Animal Disaster Response Director for the Humane Society.
00:16Kelly, you have an interesting and very important job. I appreciate that you're making time for us here.
00:21Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me.
00:23Absolutely. Well, we want to begin with a conversation about Florida. How have animal shelters there been impacted by Helene?
00:32Yeah, I mean, Florida, especially the Big Bend area, you know, this is not the first storm that they've had even just this year.
00:39They've really in the last past year, they've had Idalia and Hurricane Debbie come through.
00:44And so these these storms are these shelters are being hit multiple times.
00:48But thankfully, there has been a lot of ability to kind of shift animals around prior to the storm.
00:53There weren't many major damages to the shelters, but of course, still a lot of community needs.
01:00So being able to help support these shelters and their communities with pet food and supplies and things of those kind.
01:08And what services are you offering in Florida for community members and their pets?
01:14Right now, we have a team deployed in Madison County, northern Florida, and they are providing a pod, which is a point of distribution.
01:23So yesterday was our first day operational. We handed out about 10,000 pounds of pet food and other supplies.
01:31So we'll be active there throughout the rest of the week.
01:35It's just a drive through location. People can just come through and let us know what animal needs they have and we'll do our best to to stock them up.
01:43And then we also have a team deployed in Taylor County and Perry, Florida, providing free veterinary services,
01:50especially kind of those basic services that might be necessary after the storm,
01:55whether it be dealing with animals that aren't acting quite well, skin lacerations,
02:01any injuries or other sort of skin abnormalities like allergies.
02:05We see that a lot of times after some of these storms come through, the floodwater can really cause a lot of skin outbreaks on animals.
02:12And with the local veterinary clinics still not fully operational yet,
02:16we have a clinic there that people can come through and receive those services for free.
02:21And Kelly, as we head a little farther north into other areas severely impacted,
02:25some animal shelters in Tennessee were left uninhabitable by Helene's flooding.
02:29So how have you helped animals impacted in that area?
02:33Yeah, absolutely. Actually, as we speak, we have a team on the ground in Unicoi County, Tennessee,
02:38right there on the border with North Carolina in that mountainous area.
02:41That shelter was completely devastated.
02:44They were able to evacuate their around 100 animals during the flash flooding as it was happening.
02:50So major kudos to them for their bravery and risking all their animals.
02:54But now that shelter is completely useless and and the community still has a lot of needs.
02:59So we're there right now trying to figure out how best to help that shelter recover and as well as support the community.
03:06Well, Kelly Donathan, we really appreciate all that you're doing and your time with us here.
03:10Kelly works with the Humane Society as their animal disaster response director.
03:15Very important job. And you're helping a lot of creatures and people as they're concerned about their pets as well this week.
03:22Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you, Kelly.