October 4, 2018 Update - In less than three weeks, 15 of the 20 animals the SPCA of Wake County took in after Hurricane Florence have found homes. These pets came to us after being rescued when their shelter began to flood in Carteret County. Each animal received vaccines, yummy food, love and spay/neuter surgery while in our care.
In addition to taking in these animals, the SPCA of Wake County also played a crucial role in connecting supplies with organizations in need after the storm. Our Director of Community Initiatives immediately went to work talking with rescue organizations on the ground in the hardest hit areas after Hurricane Florence. She was able to connect people offering transportation and emergency support during a time when needs were constantly changing and state agencies were stretched thin.
One big conner after large disasters is the spread of disease due to animals being in close quarters at evacuation shelters, contaminated flood waters and the loss of power destroying vaccines that must be refridgerated. The Greater Good Organization identified the SPCA of Wake County as the lead agency in North Carolina to help with this concern. The SPCA of Wake County and Greater Good worked with national pharmaceutical and pet food companies to acquire donations of vaccines, medicine and food. The SPCA acted as the liaison, reaching out to organizations in North Carolina and getting supplies where they needed to go. The following supplies were distributed to ten agencies in seven counties:
- 2,010 doses of oral flea/tick preventative
- 666 doses of topical flea/tick preventative
- 10,160 doses of oral HW preventative
- 12,425 individual vaccines
Thank you to those manufacturers for those life-saving supplies, Greater Good for kicking off the partnership, and our volunteers for driving supplies all over North Carolina. Thank you to those to made a donation online, by mail or called our Donor Care Team to make sure we had the funds available to offer staff support to this critical response effort and to purchase medical supplies, pay for additional temerature-controlled storage and distribute supplies as efficiently as possible. Your on-going support is saving lives every day!
Here are the animals from Carteret County still in our care and available for adoption as of today:
Esme, Sully, and Dinah the cats are ready and waiting for someone to fall in love with them. Sully is only 5 months old and seems to be ready for anything. Dinah and Esme are only a year or two old and are quite the social butterflies. Dinah even loaded herself into a cat carrier that was brought into her room for another cat. It took some convincing to get her out and she was very disappointed she wasn’t being adopted.
Challa is only two years old and he’s ready for some exercise. He is a quick learner and is food motivated. He’d love to start obedience classes with his humans and play games like “sniff out the treat.” He hopes you’ll make up lots of games for him to play. At less than 40 pounds, Calzone is basically travel-sized. He’s got enough personality to be a big dog, but he’s packed it all in a convenient size. He is eight years young. He’s made it past the puppy stage and still has the energy to get up and go for a nice walk around the neighborhood or a romp around the yard. He enjoys climbing into laps and is hoping for many nights watching Netflix on the couch. Both dogs are heart worm positive and will soon begin treatment.
September 21, 2018 - Five dogs and 15 cats are safe at the SPCA of Wake County after an emergency rescue from the Carteret County Humane Society. These animals were pulled from the shelter in the middle of the Hurricane Florence after part of the roof collapsed and kennels began to flood. Each is receiving life-saving medical care and lots of love.
By now the cats have received basic vaccines and dewormers in addition to flea/tick prevention. Four had already been spayed/neutered. Some of the others were spayed/neutered this week and the rest will soon follow. Two of the cats are feeling a bit under the weather and are being monitored by our medical staff. The dogs also received basic vaccines, dewormers, and flea, tick, and heartworm prevention. One dog had already been neutered before he arrived. The others were spayed/neutered yesterday. Two of the dogs have severe cases of heartworms and will start their treatment soon.
Despite all they've been through in the last week, both the dogs and the cats appear very well-adjusted. They are soaking up the attention from staff and volunteers. Some are already available for adoption, while others are waiting for space to open up at our Pet Adoption Center.
How can you help?
- Adopt: We can't take in more pets until we find the ones currently in our care homes first. If you are interested in adoption, remember you can begin the process even before you've picked out your new friend. Just stop by the adoption center to get your information on file. You can also browse the available animals in our care by clicking the "Adopt" tab on our website. Click here for more information on adoption.
- Give: Monetary donations have the biggest impact on our ability to save lives. It means we can provide heartworm treatment for dogs who need it. It allows us to purchase the exact types of food we need when we need it so none goes to waste or spoils. Your donations can make a larger impact by allowing us to take advantage of bulk pricing and/or non-profit discounts for food, medications, and other supplies. These lives depend on you and we are grateful you are a part of our life-saving team.
The SPCA of Wake County is an independent non-profit organization that doesn't received tax dollars. We rely entirely on generous supports. We are not affiliated with the ASPCA.
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