Transport of More Than a Dozen Animals Comes Amid Catastrophic Flooding in Vermont
BOSTON, July 12, 2023 – Unprecedented flooding resulting from this week’s torrential downpours across the Hudson Valley has left wide swaths of Southern New York and Vermont underwater.
And, as is so often the case: When people get in trouble, animals soon follow. As a result, Boston’s MSPCA-Angell is set to receive later today nine dogs, 11 cats and a Chinchilla who are part of a large roster of animals set to depart Vermont on an emergency evacuation flight from Vermont to Bedford, Mass.
The plane is expected to land at 4:30 pm today, and the animals will be transported to the MSPCA’s Boston, Methuen, Salem and Cape Cod adoption centers, where they will serve out their mandatory 48-hour quarantine before being placed for adoption.
Staff at the Central Vermont Humane Society are struggling to even get to work—with at least one staffer sleeping at the shelter so as to be there for the animals in need.
“Never before has our disaster response program been more necessary, given this unfolding disaster in Vermont,” said Mike Keiley, director of adoption centers and programs at the MSPCA-Angell. “Like nearly every other shelter in the country, [Central Vermont Humane Society] is already at capacity for dogs, making it essential to relocate those that we can.”
Keiley made clear that the animals being evacuated were already living in the shelter, so there is no possibility that someone’s lost pet will have been transported to Massachusetts.
Keiley also anticipates that affected shelters will struggle to place animals into homes after the storms pass. “Obviously with devastation at this scale, residents’ priority will shift to repairing their homes and, in many cases, their lives. And shelters and rescue groups will need to focus on reunifying lost pets with their families,” he said.
The flight from Vermont to Massachusetts is sponsored by BISSELL Pet Foundation.
Keiley stressed the importance of donations at a time when the relocation efforts are just underway. “This life-saving work would not be possible without support from our donors, and I would ask everyone who is able to consider donating right away to ensure we have the resources necessary to be there for the animals who need us.” Those who wish to donate can click www.mspca.org/Vermont.
