JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than 100 animals are heading to shelters up north to provide relief to other shelters in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia.
There were two different transports that happened Saturday morning from the Jacksonville Humane Society on Beach Boulevard.
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150 dogs and cats were driven to shelters either in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia.
Some of the shelters where they were staying as they awaited adoption were damaged by this week’s hurricane.
Those animals are now heading to other facilities up north where adoptions are in high demand.
Denise Deisler is the CEO of the Jacksonville Humane Society and says this big move also frees up space at other Florida shelters to help pets and their owners who experienced hardship from the storm.
“Then we have the capacity to respond to those who were the hardest hit and are already suffering,” Deisler said. “The loss of homes, the loss of property, potential loss of families. We do not want them to have to be separated from their pets on top of that. We need to be ready. This is just the beginning. We know that there will be greater needs.”
One group of animals was placed on a big red bus in front of the humane society to be driven to shelters in either North Carolina or South Carolina.
Jennifer Guevara helped with that particular move.
She works with Furry Friends, which is an animal rescue out of West Palm Beach, and frequently makes similar trips.
“It warms my heart,” Guevara said. “To know that these animals go from a situation where they are living on the streets, they are hungry, they are homeless, they are sick, and they go somewhere, and they get adopted right away. They get a different chance, second chances.”
25 cats and dogs like little Clover here were driven to shelters either in Georgia or Virginia.
That group came from the Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach where Adam Leath is the CEO.
That facility was not affected by the storm, but clearing space there allowed them to help 25 families and their pets who suffered loss from the hurricane.
“It allows us to provide even greater opportunity to the pets who are in need in our own community,” Leath said. “It also allows us to be able to provide them immediate placement to additional partners where there is a higher demand for adoption.”
This follows 65 cats and dogs that were flown to shelters in Delaware on Friday.
Those animals were from shelters in Lake City and Suwannee County that lost power because of the hurricane. Outdoor kennels were damaged at others.