In The News: Recent Happenings

Late August and early September are the months when major hurricanes traditionally occur and Hurricane Gustov kept that tradition alive. The last week has had a lot of people on edge and on the move as the impact of Hurricane Gustav was predicted to have devastating effects on the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Thankfully the storm came ashore as a much weaker hurricane and caused far less damage.

Hurricane Gustov provided a valuable opportunity for the communities in the path of the storm to activate their evacuation plans that have continued to be fine tuned since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. SPCA International was extremely pleased to see great efforts to get animals out of harm’s way too. As assessments are done there will undoubtedly be improvements that can made during future evacuations, but overall these efforts were a huge success in comparison to a lack of organized evacuations during previous disasters to evacuate pets. Progress is indeed being made!

Thankfully Hurricane Gustov only had a minimal impact on animals. SPCA International will be administering emergency grants to local animal organizations to help pets return to homes and shelters. SPCA International was also ready to assist with emergency grants for the long-term care of displaced animals if needed, but thanks to the well orchestrated evacuations and a weaker storm than expected extensive long-term animal care needs did not materialize.

With three more storms currently brewing in the Atlantic there may be other opportunities in the very near future to move large numbers of people and animals to safety. If any of these storms strike the Gulf Coast it will be its resident’s expanding experience that will help to ensure that more people and animals are saved.

SPCA International will continue to monitor the developing hurricanes and their aftermath to find ways to help. We will also be sending grants to animal organizations in Louisiana to ensure they have enough crates to safely move animals away from the coastlines. Hopefully, they will not be needed this summer but it is inevitable that the Gulf Coast will continue to be hit by hurricanes and SPCA International will be available to assist in every way possible thanks to the support of our donors.