Animal shelters in tornadoes' path clearing room for incoming pets left astray
The Kentucky Humane Society and ASPCA are taking over 100 cats and several dogs who had been awaiting adoption before the storms hit other areas of the region and country.
Amanda Nichols holds a pet rabbit that she helped to rescue from underneath the debris of a collapsed home that was destroyed after it was hit by a tornado late Friday evening on December 12, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky.
(Scott Olson / Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Animal shelters across tornado-ravaged areas of western Kentucky are working to clear out space ahead of an expected influx of pets set astray after homes were destroyed.
The Kentucky Humane Society and ASPCA are taking over 100 cats and several dogs awaiting adoption before the storms hit other areas of the region and country.
"We are doing this so that shelters in tornado-impacted areas have room for incoming stray pets so they can be reunited with their families and so their staff can focus on what their community needs most," the Kentucky Humane Society wrote on their Facebook page Tuesday morning.
Their main campus in Louisville took in 143 cats from the damaged area. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the ASPCA will fly about 120 Kentucky shelter cats to Massachusetts to be placed in shelters to await adoption. The ASPCA will also take 22 shelter dogs from the Kentucky Humane Society and put them in other ASPCA shelters outside the damaged region.
"Many staff members have voluntarily worked on days they are normally scheduled off, and many who had the choice to leave after their scheduled 8 hours have chosen to stay," the Kentucky Humane Society said of their workers. "We are so grateful to our team for their compassion and dedication to saving the lives of animals in these tornado-impacted areas."