Your donations through iHeartDogs and iHeartCats have provided much needed support to groups in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. The impact has been incredible! We’ve been overwhelmed by your generosity, and we’re incredibly thankful to have the support of fantastic people like you!
Greater Good is the same organization we partnered with to provide much needed food and supplies for shelter dogs. When disaster struck, we knew that they would do everything they could to make a real difference. Here’s how:
Rescue Bank is in the process of receiving and distributing a mixture of pet food, supplies, enrichment toys, beds, shavings, horse feed, crates, carriers, litter and hay. Trucks and supplies are being directed to the following areas: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, Kissimmee, and others areas affected by Harvey and Irma.
The commercial warehouse used by Rescue Bank in Houston is accustomed to handling about 14 to 16 Houston area trucks per year. They are managing about 48 trucks at this time, with some supplies and food in a hold pattern until they can assess locations that need food and have the opportunity to distribute food and supplies on hand.
Irma Updates:
Irma is a very fluid situation. Greater Good is still gathering critical information and have begun moving supplies into the impacted areas. Rescue Bank sent 50 pallets of pet food to help four groups in Puerto Rico. The food arrived right as Hurricane Irma was hitting the island. These groups graciously agreed only to pick up half of their allocated amount and share the remaining half with other groups. FEMA has also requested access to this food for shipping to USVI. These three groups have picked up food:
Save a Gato – 50 bags of cat food, 2 bags of dog food
Friends of Culebra Animals – 50 bags of cat food, 10 bags of dog food
Love Puerto Rico Golden Retriever Rescue – 130 bags of dog food
Two trucks have been sent to Florida: The first truck to Kissimmee, FL, to the Florida State Animal Resource Coalition. They will receive 35 pallets of dog food, cat food, and kitty litter.
Second truck to Alachua County Humane Society. They will receive 3 pallets of pet beds and 3 pallets of pet food.
Rescue Bank is also sending 28 pallets of wire dog kennels and 3 pallets of dog beds to Atlanta Humane Society in Georgia.
Society of St. John Animal Care (SJAC) in the U.S. Virgin Islands is receiving two shipments of supplies: The first shipment is an emergency air drop of 10 pallets of dog, cat, kitty litter, and a generator. The generator is for SJAC to use their fridge for vaccines, their water pump, and their water filtration system, so they have a way to get their animals water and keep them clean. The second shipment is a shipping container of 28 pallets containing dog food, cat food, and kitty litter.
Harvey Updates:
Greater Good sent three complete 18 wheelers of dog and cat food to Emily’s Animal Welfare in St. Louis. They will distribute this food to shelters that have taken in pre-hurricane Houston shelter pets.
They also donated 20 pallets of pine horse bedding to Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. A lot of horses are suffering from foot (hoof) rot from standing in water, so Bluebonnet is using this bedding to dry out and soothe their feet.
Pine horse bedding was also donated to K9 Airlift (2 pallets); Paws and Hooves and Claws (2 pallets).
Cats For Life received two pallets of dog food to aid their efforts to help take in and foster displaced pets in Houston, Houston SPCA received three pallets of cleaning products, Houston Humane Society received three pallets of dog beds, and Everything Grey Greyhound Haven in Houston received one pallet of dog food.
Rescue Bank delivered over 11,000 doses of Interceptor to American Humane at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Conroe, Texas. The fairgrounds are currently the home of over 800 dogs and cats who survived Hurricane Harvey; these animals are vetted and cared for until they can be reunited with their lost families or adopted into a loving home.
The Houston Rescue Bank warehouse received three truckloads of pet food from Blue Buffalo, TRC, and PetSmart Charities and a truckload of crates from Midwest Dog Crates Metal Products. These products will be distributed into the Texas Gulf Coast region.
Four pallets of dog food and two pallets of cat food to Texas A&M Agriculture Extension Services: The goal is to provide displaced families and individuals in eastern Harris County communities along Galveston Bay with much-needed supplies. To provide the community with pet food, this Rescue Bank donation will be used. Texas A&M Agriculture Extension Services and Rescue Bank expect the effort to grow to three additional Houston locations.
Three pallets of dog food and two pallets of cat food to Dr. Kerry’s Petvet: As an active member of the Conroe, TX community, Dr. Kerry Cline was all too aware that Hurricane Harvey had a deep impact on her small Houston suburb. Hearing news that many of her clients lost their homes or experienced a severe financial impact due to Hurricane Harvey, Dr. Kerry began seeking a way to help. Rescue Bank has provided some relief to the community through this donation. Dr. Kerry is currently distributing the donated food to those families affected by Hurricane Harvey.
One pallet of dog food to Fort Bend County Animals Services: Rescue Bank’s post-Hurricane Harvey outreach program contacted this group to assess their need. Since the shelter’s intake of displaced animals is steadily increasing following the storm, they need additional pet food to help provide for their growing numbers. This donation will allow the shelter to take in additional animals.
Seven pallets of dog food and one pallet of cat food to Lake Charles Pit Bull Rescue: Lake Charles Pit Bull Rescue maintains personal connections with the community of Orange, TX, that was devastated by Hurricane Harvey just across the state line. The rescue organization approached Rescue Bank requesting pet food to provide to the community of Orange. Following a delivery of seven pallets of dog food and one pallet of cat food, Lake Charles Pit Bull Rescue successfully stocked a community distribution point to help their Texas neighbors and provide post-hurricane relief.
Nine pallets of dog food and one pallet of cat food to the Texas A&M Process Engineering Research and Development Center (PERDC): Seeing the need to help their community, faculty and students of PERDC contacted Rescue Bank to obtain hurricane relief supplies. Since many families in the area incurred damage or had to evacuate due to Hurricane Harvey, Rescue Bank provided the community volunteers with the donation. The volunteers are now conducting outreach in the community to distribute the pet food to families in need.
Six pallets of dog food and two pallets of cat food to the Texas A&M Veterinary Team: After hearing that the Texas A&M veterinary team was operating a post-Hurricane Harvey triage center at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds, Rescue Bank decided to send aid. As part of their community outreach program, Rescue Bank provided six pallets of dog food and two pallets of cat food to the fairgrounds. The veterinary team is now treating the intake animals and transferring the animals to their foster network. The fairgrounds team is supplying the pet food to the foster families.
Rescue Bank organized the efforts to deliver 30 cases of Comfortis® and 12 trays of rabies vaccines to Dickinson, Texas. A representative from Elanco™ is personally delivering the donation to Biocity Animal Services for use in their post-Hurricane Harvey community outreach program.
After receiving notification of herds of farm animals stranded by high flood waters, Rescue Bank facilitated the distribution of HSUS-provided hay and pine shavings to these animals. The feed was dropped from Chinook helicopters into the area so the animals have a food source until the high water recedes and they can return to safety.
Three pallets of dog food granted to God’s Dogs Rescue: In response to Hurricane Harvey, volunteers at God’s Dogs Rescue in San Antonio, TX, set out for the Texas coast to rescue and provide for as many displaced animals as possible. With a surge of animals in their care, God’s Dogs reached out to Rescue Bank for aid. Rescue Bank provided three pallets of dog food to distribute to their dogs; God’s Dogs Rescue then drove the food back to Houston to use on their front lines where the animals need it the most.
Eight pallets of dog food and two pallets of cat food granted to the community of Bloomington, TX: The Bloomington DPS contacted Rescue Bank seeking aide for families and elderly individuals in the community who were struggling to find pet food for their dogs and cats. Rescue Bank responded by providing eight pallets of dog food and two pallets of cat food to the area. Since Bloomington is a small community of approximately 2,500 residents, the pallets were dropped at a gas station for the community to pick up and share as needed.
11,500 doses of medicine and vaccine which will help over 34,000 pets: The Rescue Bank team distributes these medicines under the guidance of our veterinary consultant, and by American Humane at the Mega Shelters they are servicing.
800 Rapid-Response Tests: These much needed items are used to test a variety of dog and cat diseases as the rescued animals arrive at the shelters. The Brazoria Animal Shelter, under the guidance and support of Lucy Pet Foundation, and Austin Pets Alive will be the recipient.
Relief efforts are still in full swing in the Irma and Harvey affected areas, and there are many people and pets still a long way from getting life back to normal. We appreciate you entrusting your donations to our efforts, and we want to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your help.
If you’d like to help GreaterGood and iHeartDogs/iHeartCats make a difference, you can help here.
To learn how your purchases through iHeartDogs feed shelter animals every day, click here.
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