McKamey Animal Center is preparing for Hurricane Florence. McKamey has been asked to assist with the sheltering of animals that are being evacuated as a result of the current projections showing Hurricane Florence is going to impact the east coast with North and South Carolina most at risk. Coastal Virginia may also be impacted as well.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, shelters and rescues in those affected areas are preparing for the worst and will need help from shelters who can take in animals that have been evacuated from shelters in those at-risk areas.
According to Kimberly Alboum, Shelter Outreach and Policy Engagement director for HSUS, “ By emptying key animal shelters in advance, communities will be able to provide assistance for displaced pets once the storm hits. The shelter pet population in North and South Carolina are predominately larger dogs.”
HSUS is reaching out to partners in advance to ask for help in placement. If this storm has the anticipated impact expected, it will take a national effort to safely place the adoptable animals currently in the shelters. Time is of the essence, said officials.
McKamey is holding an adoption special with a call out to the community to adopt or foster animals which will allow McKamey Animal Center to shelter more animals from the hurricane areas. McKamey Animal Center is asking for the community’s support so that they have room to help with Florence evacuees.
McKamey’s Care and Placement Administrator Katie Christie said, “We all feel helpless when we see the hurricane’s impact on people and animals yet we all live so far away—with shelters helping shelters we now can have a direct impact on those four-legged hurricane victims. This is a first-hand way for our community to be involved. We can’t help those animals unless our community adopts or fosters what we already have.”
Foster parents are integral to disasters like this as they provide the additional care and housing that a shelter which is already at full capacity needs to help victims like Florence, said officials. The focus is on fostering McKamey animals for 10 days in order to treat and ready the Florence animals once they arrive. The exact arrival dates and number of animals is still pending. This may not be a short term event. This is just the start of the hurricane season.
If interested in adopting or fostering please email adminassistant@mckameyanimalcenter.org or call 305-6506.