AL/CT: State group working to rescue tornadoes' canine victims

AL/CT: State group working to rescue tornadoes’ canine victims

State group working to rescue tornadoes’ canine victims

Published: Wednesday, May 04, 2011
By Luther Turmelle, North Bureau Chief
lturmelle@nhregister.com



They are the overlooked victims of last month’s deadly tornadoes in Alabama — the dogs of the people displaced by the violent storms.

Now, a Connecticut animal-protection group is trying to provide for some of the hundreds of such dogs while it tries to arrange adoptions by local families.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Connecticut has brought about 40 puppies from Alabama to Connecticut, including Cheshire, and wants to make another trip Sunday to rescue 150 more.

“We need the public’s help to raise $10,000 to save this next group of pets,” said Fred Acker, the state’s SPCA director. “The cost of gas and truck rentals, as well as spaying and neutering fees, adds up fast. But whether we’ve got the full amount we need or not, we’re going to find a way to make this happen.”

The group was able to rescue the first group of dogs within 36 hours after the storm hit because it already had some of its workers in the region in what Acker termed “a routine animal rescue.”

“States like Alabama have what we consider high kill rates in their animal shelters,” he said. “Many shelters there were already overflowing and, in order to make more space, some of these animals were going to be killed.”

Susan Fernandez, an SPCA employee who was in Alabama with the rescue team, said the devastation caused by the storms was gut-wrenching.

“We were lucky to get these 40 puppies out alive,” Fernandez said.

Acker said one Alabama volunteer working with the SPCA went into what had been a trailer park and found none of the mobile homes left standing. What she did find, Acker said, was 15 dogs that had been left tied to trees by their owners.

“Some of the dogs we have found have been emaciated,” he said.

And even if the dogs aren’t injured or starving, that doesn’t mean they haven’t suffered as a result of living through the storm, said Marsha Hanbery, secretary of the Alabama-based group Pets Are Worth Saving, which has been working with the SPCA of Connecticut.

“They certainly appear to be traumatized,” Hanbery said. “We find some of them just wandering around where their homes used to be.”

Hanbery said that while some animals in Alabama have been separated from their human families, others were turned in because their owners no longer have the means to care for them as they try to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the storm.

Some of the animals already brought to Connecticut are being cared for at the SPCA’s state headquarters on Spring Hill Road in Monroe, Acker said. Others are being cared for by the VCA Cheshire Animal Hospital on Route 10.

“They’ve been incredibly generous to offer us veterinary care and cage space for these animals,” Acker said. “And they’ve agreed to take 150 more.”

Acker said the SPCA hopes to hold an Adopt a Tornado Dog event at the Cheshire VCA in a few weeks.

“Our friends in Alabama are working feverishly to save them, so we need to do what we can right here in Connecticut,” he said.

Donations to help defray the cost of caring for the dogs can be sent to SPCA of Connecticut, 359 Spring Hill Road, Monroe 06468, or made online at www.spcact.org. Anyone who wants to adopt one of the dogs can call Acker at 203-445-9978.


http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/05/04/news/doc4dc1ec32cbe56550488426.txt?viewmode=fullstory