SPCA Pledges 500k For Animals Lost Due To Hurricanes Katrina And Rita

ASPCA has committed $500,000 to help reunite Pets & People in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. With a $500 reward being offered for each reunion of pets and their families, this would cover up to 1,000 reunions. ASPCA and HSUS have also pledged to reimburse the shelters for the costs of transporting animals back to their families, regardless of wherever they may be situated.

New York

October 13, 2005

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and Humane Society of the United States, United Animal Nations (UAN), and Best Friends Animal Society have asked all animal shelters, breed rescue groups and all others who are sheltering animal victims of Hurricane Katrina to voluntarily extend the hold period of those animals to allow for more family reunions to occur.

Most of the 8,500+ dogs, cats, horses, livestock and other animals that have been rescued in Louisiana and Mississippi were triaged through emergency shelters established at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., Louisiana State University (LSU), and the Forrest County Multi-purpose Center in Hattiesburg, Miss. Well over 200 animal shelters in the U.S., and various rescue groups have taken many Katrina survivors into their care while the rescue operations were ongoing in regions affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

This fund ($500,000) applies to all agencies (i.e. all shelters, municipal agencies and rescue groups -regardless of location) that are providing housing for rescued animals from Hurricane Katrina or Rita.

This ASPCA award aims to help unite the majority of those thousands of those orphaned animals with their families.