Updated Oct. 12 at 9:27 a.m.
More than 90 cats arrived in Massachusetts from Florida in the past few weeks, before and after Hurricane Ian tore through the state and displaced animals.
The storm appears to be Florida’s deadliest since 1935, by some accounts killing at least 117 people since the storm hit nearly two weeks ago. The devastation has left local and national nonprofits working day and night to support the recovery effort. In Massachusetts, that has meant shelters taking in animals from Florida, in order to free up room there for pets that have been displaced by the storm.
“If a pet is struggling or in need of resources, the humans probably are, too. So although we are a humane society, we end up functioning as sort of a human service agency and figure out who needs what and how we can help,” said Sarah Baeckler, the chief executive officer of the Florida nonprofit shelter Humane Society Naples.
Hundreds of animals who were already without homes have been relocated to other states to make room for animals that shelters knew would be displaced by the storm. Brittany Schlacter, with the national nonprofit Bissell Pet Foundation, explained that cats and dogs found in the aftermath of a disaster aren’t immediately sent out of state in the hopes that they can be reunited with their owners.
“[What we’re seeing now is] what we knew we would see, which is a wave of animals who were directly impacted in the storm,” Baeckler said. “So a lot of those stories are families who lost their homes and are facing maybe needing to separate from their animals either temporarily or permanently. Tons of stories about animals who are out in the open when the storm came through. And just animals who are in human shelters, who evacuated with their families and are needing resources.
“I would say every hour there's a new puzzle to figure out,” she continued. “Our buildings were not impacted directly. We had some staff members who lost their homes or cars, but for the most part, we were able to hit the ground running.”
For animal shelters and advocacy organizations, the planning to get creatures without homes out of harm’s way started before Ian made landfall.
“There’s a huge scramble that happens on the ground,” said Mike Keiley, the director of adoption centers at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “And in contrast, there are some storms that we can't predict, like the floods in Kentucky, that there is no opportunity for evacuation in advance.”
The MSPCA took in 42 cats before Ian reached Florida to free up space at shelters that knew they’d soon be full of pets that were displaced by the storm. Twenty more arrived at the MSPCA’s location in Cape Cod over the weekend and, according to Keiley, dozens more cats and dogs will be arriving by plane Wednesday.
The conditions in Massachusetts have changed significantly in the last few decades to make the commonwealth a destination state for animals without homes. When Keiley started at the MSPCA in 1994, overpopulation was a major issue.
“We were overcrowded with animals being surrendered or coming in as strays, and we had more animals in our care than we had adopters,” Keiley recalled. “But there were a lot of the programs that the MSPCA, as well as other animal welfare organizations, put into place, like proactive low-cost or free spay/neuter programs for the public, as well as addressing spay/neuter for feral cats or free-roaming cats.”
Schlacter said other states are still seeing a lack of shelter space, particularly in the South where there are fewer spay-and-neuter programs.
Nationally, pet adoptions that surged during the early months of the pandemic have once again slowed, leaving less availability in shelters. Some owners are also surrendering their pets, which Schlacter largely attributed to the slowing economy, among other reasons like a shortage of veterinarians that could make it more difficult for owners to get their pets spayed.
“More people had time, they had more resources — they were available,” Schlacter said. “People might be not able to find a place to live where they can keep their large dog, per se. And we're seeing that adoptions have slowed a little bit.”
But Schlacter said Massachusetts often still has space, and eager adopters, to take pets home. So far, a third of the 90 cats that have arrived from Florida have found new homes.
“I'm just always impressed by how resilient animals are in these situations. It's something that I think really is heartwarming to see that they were able to get to safety and that they're doing so well, and no doubt that these animals that are coming up will be great companions for anyone that's able to adopt right now,” Keiley said.
“I would love to encourage listeners to go to wherever your local animal shelter is and adopt,” added Baeckler, at Human Society Naples. “It's going to put a bigger burden on shelters around the country that are absorbing all these animals that we're sending, and many were close or at capacity already. So wherever you live, go adopt or foster, if you can help out in that way.”
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
Correction: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Keiley’s last name.
