VALPARAISO — Heartbroken over the plight of animals in the Gulf Coast, multiple Northwest Indiana rescue shelters are preparing to send assistance in the coming days.

Both Open Arms Animal Rescue in Valparaiso and Bella’s House in Griffith expect to send volunteers with supplies to Houston this weekend to assist shelters there with rescue efforts for animals affected by Hurricane Harvey.

“I was reading articles that they were euthanizing dogs in shelters to make room for animals,” said Kathy Sullivan, a volunteer for Open Arms Animal Rescue in Valparaiso.

“Let’s see what what we can do to help,” she said. “Just watching these dogs out in the water and have no place to go, we just wanted to reach out.”

Like Bella’s House, they are in need of donations like dog and cat food, bottled water, leashes, cat litter, blankets and shampoo, according to Sullivan.

Sullivan said the group plans to return with animals to help shelters clear out space for more pets.

Reaching out for help on social media was a typical response.

Toni Bianchi said she felt like she had to do something. 

By Wednesday morning, the director of the Porter County Animal Shelter had a call out on the shelter’s Facebook page asking for donations of food, bedding and other supplies to help the animals affected by Hurricane Harvey.

The shelter will accept donated goods through Friday and on Saturday, a friend of Bianchi’s with a pickup truck and a 20-foot trailer will head south. She hopes to send more items down in a second shipment in the coming weeks.

“We just want to help out,” she said, adding she expected to start receiving donations Wednesday afternoon and they would be stored in the shelter’s sally port. “We get tons of donations here of food and bedding and I think they need it more than we do right now.”

Bianchi came up with a list of needs by checking the Humane Society of the U.S. website, which has links to Houston-area shelters and what they need, and her friend is taking the items to a distribution warehouse in Texas.

“We can’t ask for money because we don’t have any way of getting it to them,” she said.

Twelve years ago, after Hurricane Katrina, Bianchi organized a similar effort on her own, collecting crates, pet beds and other items.

“I don’t even know if we can get it down there,” she said of the items that will be collected at the shelter. “It took some doing 12 years ago when I did it for Katrina but it came together and I think this will, too.”

Guardians of the Green Mile in Portage are raising donations for a fellow shelter devastated by flooding near Houston, according to Executive Director Sherri Christopher.

According to a post on its Facebook page, the shelter is looking for dog bowls, leashes, collars, cleaning supplies, blankets, large crates, water and adult clothes.

In a Facebook post, the Munster-based Humane Society Calumet Area has contacted its parent chapter to offer assistance. CEO Rachel Delaney could not be reached for comment.

“HSCA has reached out to the Humane Society of the United States to offer assistance with displaced cats and dogs,” according to a post on its Facebook page. “We will keep you updated as more information is available on how HSCA can help.”

Many changes on evacuation plans for animals now seen during natural disasters came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The total number of pets that perished due to Katrina is not known. Without a formal evacuation plan for animals, the Louisiana Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Animals estimated at least 50,000 and 70,000 pets across the Gulf Coast died.

During Katrina, nearly half the people who needed rescue refused to go without their pets, and first responders would not take them — even service animals. Now, U.S. law requires every Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster plan to include a way to evacuate pets.

Since Katrina, government agencies and animal welfare groups have improved coordination efforts to better organize disaster response. Groups such as the ASPCA also have made changes during rescues and while bringing animals into emergency shelters to increase the likelihood of reuniting people and pets, including clearly identifying where animals were found and describing their looks, according to the Associated Press.

At least one local animal hospital is joining in the shelter’s effort. Vale Park Animal Hospital in Valparaiso will serve as a drop-off point for donated goods, said Gabrielle Music, the community outreach manager there.

Items can be dropped off at the shelter from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from noon until 4 p.m. on weekends. The shelter is at 3355 Bertholet Blvd., between the sheriff’s department and the Expo Center off Indiana 49.

Needed items include dog crates and cat carriers; dog and cat food; bedding; snacks; and food and water bowls.

Source: Chicago Tribune