I’m forgoing the usual Tuesday Top Ten list because this seemed just a wee bit more important. (Yes, I know it’s a picture of a cat, but that’s what came with the press release.)
PetSmart Charities® has dispatched seven Emergency Relief Waggin’® vehicles, each stocked with $60,000 worth of crucial supplies to aid pets and rescuers hit hardest by the recent floods and tornados in the south and Midwest. A conservative estimate of 7,000 dogs, cats and horses have been injured or displaced as a result of these storms, and are in need of emergency assistance and medical care. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is the lead agency in this effort and is distributing donated supplies to disaster-struck areas.
The Emergency Relief Waggin’ vehicles were dispatched to Memphis, Tennessee, a location central to the impacted areas of the country. The 53-foot trailers and their 16-tons of cargo departed PetSmart® Distribution Centers in Illinois and Texas, bound for Memphis, where animal-rescue teams will operate emergency animal shelters. The vehicles are stocked with critical supplies, including pet food, wire crates, plastic carriers, fenced kennels, bowls, leashes, fans, a generator, a battery charger and lights to aid the animal rescuers on scene.
“PetSmart Charities also dispatches teams of specially trained volunteers to the scene,” said Susana Della Maddalena, executive director of PetSmart Charities, Inc. “The volunteers are able to unload supplies and set up the temporary shelters very quickly, enabling on-the-ground rescuers to immediately attend to the animal victims. We are happy to be able to assist in this way and help these animal victims receive the care and comfort they need and deserve.”
PetSmart Charities established the Emergency Relief Waggin’ program in 2007 to help animals who are displaced and/or suffering as a result of natural or man-made disasters. Learn more about the Emergency Relief Waggin’ program, and consider making a contribution online. Your tax-deductible donation will be used to aid pets affected by this and future Emergency Relief Waggin’ program efforts.
Pet owners who need sheltering for their pets should go to the emergency shelter located at 1716 N. Shelby Oaks Drive in Memphis, Tenn. The ASPCA asks that pet owners bring vaccination records and instructions for pets with special needs.
Kudos to the ASPCA and PetSmart for joining together in this important humanitarian effort. Can I say that about an effort to help dogs? Maybe it’s caninitarian??
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Correction on email address [email protected]
My pet resort is located in upstate ny. I would be happy to offer some space for tempory free of charge living for cats or dogs. To any of the flood victims pets.
I would like to volunteer some of my time to help out at the Shelby Oaks Drive location.
I also have an animal cage I will be dropping off at the location. It is rather big, so it can house some animals.
These are very unusual times for Memphis and its neighbors. We can all work together and get through this. So many times people forget about the animals. It is our responsibility to help those who are innocent and helpless in times like these……animals, children, elderly, etc.
Please contact me via email and let me know where to go from here.
Thanks,
C. Mathis
Yes, cats get homeless, too, in times like these – but Dusty’s probably still one of
the lucky ones to survive (when one thinks of the catastrophe in Fukushima).