Natural Disasters

Even as their region was devastated by Superstorm Sandy, a New Jersey couple found time to step up for an animal in need.

After spending days inside waiting out the storm without electricity, Gloria Delgado and Wilfredo Garcia took their dog for a walk Tuesday to survey the damage to their Elizabeth neighborhood.

A few blocks from their home, they saw something strange: a little white car idling at the edge of a park. The couple heard a yelp and a car door slam, and then watched as the car sped away.

To their horror, Delgado and Garcia realized a Hound/Pit Bull mix puppy, white with brown spots and about five months old, had been pitched out of the car, left to fend for herself among the downed trees and debris. Delgado called to the confused puppy, and she came right away.

Delgado and Garcia waited for 20 minutes—perhaps, they thought, she fell out of the car? But the car never returned, so they took the puppy home to their dark apartment.

“She was so nice,” Delgado says. “So good and playful with our kids and our dog.”

The puppy stayed the night, but the Garcia family knew they couldn’t keep her forever. Delgado cleans houses in Manhattan, and she decided to bring us the puppy when she returned to work. On Wednesday, the entire Garcia family braved hours of traffic to ensure the dog reached us safely. 

“I lived in Manhattan a long time ago, so I know how the ASPCA takes care of animals,” Garcia says. “I knew they would take care of this dog.”

We are so grateful that the Garcia family took care of this sweet and happy little puppy, who is receiving care at our Adoption Center and will be made available for adoption soon. Of course, we named her Sandy.

For more information about the ASPCA’s rescue and relief efforts during Sandy, please stay tuned to our blog and Twitter account.

UPDATE: Sandy has been adopted!

As the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast assess the devastating destruction of Hurricane Sandy, I hope that you are all safe and sound inside with your pets. The ASPCA is on the ground, ready to help animals trapped or in danger in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Yesterday I visited the ASPCA's Adoption Center in New York City to ensure our staff had everything they needed to care for the animals in our shelter.  Our dedicated staffers are sleeping in cots at the shelter to make sure the animals are safe.

To help animals throughout the region, the ASPCA is setting up water rescue teams and a distribution center with PetSmart Charities in Syracuse, New York, where our sheltering supplies will be housed to assist local groups with supplies such as crates, food, food bowls, leashes and toys.

We encourage local animal shelters and rescue groups to contact us for help if you have financial needs as a result of caring for animals impacted by the hurricane. Our grants officers are ready to review all applications on an expedited basis. More information about our emergency and disaster grants can be found at: www.aspcapro.org/emergency-and-disaster-response-grants.php. 

Please be safe, and remember, if your home is no longer safe for you, it is not safe for your pets.

In this guest blog, ASPCA Director of Disaster Response Dick Green tells us what it’s like to be a disaster responder during National Preparedness Month. He also shares his tips for disaster preparedness.

September is National Preparedness Month, and it has certainly lived up to its name! September began just after Hurricane Isaac made landfall in Louisiana. Isaac not only “landed” seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina but took a very similar path. Not nearly the size of Katrina, Isaac still wreaked havoc as a Category I storm that just sat and spun off the coast, bringing more than 20 inches of rain to New Orleans and causing extensive flooding in St. John and Plaquemines parishes.

The Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART) asked us to help prepare for the storm and be ready to assist with assessment and rescue. Working in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, LSART and the ASPCA provided sheltering support, evacuation, and water and land rescue throughout the impacted areas.

Following Isaac, three members of the Field Investigations and Response Team presented at the National Animal Control Association’s Disaster Academy. My presentation, “Trends in Disasters,” showed that disasters are increasing worldwide and that, unfortunately, the U.S. is a hotbed—consistently number one or two each year in terms of frequency and impact. 

Next, six ASPCA staffers delivered talks at the National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs Summit. I provided a cost analysis for emergency animal sheltering. The take-home message was that shelters that house both people and their pets are the only way to go. My team also conducted nearly 40 interviews throughout the country over the last couple of days, sharing these key tips:

1. Have a Plan. That plan needs to be more that just evacuating with your animals. We hope everyone will do that! Your “all-family” plan needs to include how you will transport your animals, possible routes you will take and your destination/sheltering options. Practice that plan at least yearly and share it with your family and friends.
2. Build a Kit. Don’t forget a photo of your pet, medical records, vaccination records, and any special food or prescriptions.
3. Stay Informed. Keep an eye on the weather, follow the projected storm path and don’t get caught unprepared. Staying informed also means knowing which shelters house both people and pets, monitoring possible road closures and having alternate travel plans.
4. Know your Neighbors. Now is a great time to have a block party. Develop a telephone tree and determine who is home when. If a disaster occurs when you are at work, your neighbor may be the only one able to reach your pets.
5. Vaccinate and Microchip your Pets. If you are ever required to shelter your pets, you will want them protected against disease. And the single most important piece of advice we can offer is to microchip your pets. It is truly their ticket home. And remember to update your contact information if it changes.

Register for our free pet safety pack and stay safe with your pet this September!

Guest blog written by Cathy W., ASPCA Legacy Society member

I was part of the search and rescue team after the tornado hit Joplin. We lost 161 people in our community that evening—and lives were forever changed. We are still recovering and rebuilding. 

I found a little dog that had been so injured and nearly died. I went to the area where the ASPCA had set up a shelter—taking in, loving and caring for animals. Surgeries were performed as needed, and shots, collars and other items were provided. It was so organized.

Several weeks later adoptions were advertised and people came from all over the country to adopt the precious pets. Every animal was adopted…given another chance. Some were reunited with their original families. A happy ending to a tragic day.  

That is when we decided to include ASPCA, PETA and Hospice Care in our wills. We are supporters of life, freedom, kindness and our most beloved four-legged pets. I will never forget that day! Never!!   

We are truly their voice.