Two dozen dogs from South Carolina will soon be available for adoption after being transported to Massachusetts ahead of Tropical Storm Debby, the MSPCA announced.
The MSPCA in a statement said the dogs had been housed at the Charleston Animal Society’s facility in North Charleston, South Carolina. With Debby bearing down on the region, though, crews began the process of transferring the dogs to the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem.
Despite a busy summer, MSPCA-Angell Vice President of Animal Protection Mike Keiley said “natural disasters never come at a convenient time.”
“We have a natural disaster relief program, and we’re committed to jumping in to help, regardless of when these things strike,” Keiley said. “[S]o when we heard about Debby, we knew [we] needed to immediately pivot.”
The dogs will arrive in Salem sometime before 12 p.m. Wednesday. They will become available for adoption after receiving any necessary medical care and after waiting through a 48-hour quarantine.
Debby made landfall in Florida as a category 1 hurricane on Monday. It weakened into a tropical storm but continued spinning through the southeastern US, dumping rain on multiple states.
As of Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service predicted Debby will move back over open water before making landfall again in South Carolina on Thursday.
The MSPCA said the dogs that are headed to Salem were living at the Charleston Animal Society’s facility before Debby approached the area, meaning they were not impacted by the storm itself. By freeing up space at its facility, though, Keiley said the Charleston Animal Society will be better able to house new dogs once the storm comes ashore.
In addition to helping canines in the Charleston area, Keiley said the Charleston Animal Society will be bringing in dogs from shelters closer to the South Carolina coast that might face record-setting flooding later this week.
“Some shelters in those areas house dogs outside, so it’s critically important that we’re able to free up indoor space for them, and this transport will do that,” Keiley said.
The MSPCA said the Salem-bound dogs range in age from five-months-old to three-years-old.
The MSPCA has asked that anyone who can donate to help offset the cost of transporting and caring for these dogs do so at mspca.org/southcarolina.
Facing a capacity crunch, though, the MSPCA has also waived adoption fees for all dogs aged one and older between Aug. 7 and Aug. 11.
“Our capacity for housing dogs was already pretty tight, given the ongoing dog population crisis,” Keiley said. “We’re tapping into our emergency foster network to help house them, but we really need to find permanent loving homes, and fast.”
