Weather conditions across the state led to some unexpected assistance in Granville County this week as a Kansas animal rescue group provided relief to the animal shelter.
In an effort to assist those impacted by Hurricane Florence, Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption of Mission, Kansas – with assistance from Polk County SPCA of Livingston, Texas and Paws4Life of Shreveport, Louisiana – reached out to North Carolina animal shelters who were at or near capacity, arriving with transport units to take animals back to safer areas. According to Granville County Animal Control Director Matt Katz, there was room for several more animals on the return trip. This was a welcome relief locally, as kennels were already pressed for space before the storm even made landfall on our coast.
Over the weekend, several more pets had been surrendered to the Granville County shelter and no more kennel space was available, Katz explains. When volunteer Roxanne Blackburn was contacted by Sherry Davis with the Polk County SPCA about pulling animals on their way out of North Carolina, the offer couldn’t have come at a better time.
Granville County’s Animal Shelter’s save rate is 80 to 90 percent, Katz noted, but the “tough decisions” sometimes have to be made. Not this time, however, as 26 animals were rescued.
Unleashed Pet Rescue is a licensed, nonprofit animal shelter that works to save the lives of rescued pets, pulling them to safety. The organization works to find homes for pets of all ages, health, temperaments and history, giving each animal an opportunity for a better life. During Hurricane Harvey, Unleashed Pet Rescue was an integral part of the animal rescue efforts along the Gulf Coast, as well as offering assistance during other emergencies across the nation.
Katz says that this will be the first time all year that the shelter has had this many open kennels.
“These folks also pulled dogs from Franklin and Vance Counties on their way out of the state,” Katz said. “This may lead to another avenue for placement of our dogs.”
Katz credits Roxanne Blackburn for taking the initiative and “jumping on this opportunity,” and asks anyone interested in the welfare of local animals to thank these groups for their assistance.
“We are grateful to Roxanne for all her help in this, and ask everyone to please take a moment to thank these groups on their Facebook pages. This opens up so many opportunities for us, and we couldn’t be more grateful.”