CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Animal shelters in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties are preparing for the incoming rains of Tropical Storm Debby by asking people to foster or adopt animals.
Sunday afternoon, Dorchester Paws celebrated emptying all their kennels to foster homes. Dorchester Paws often experiences flooding, and thanked fosters for their support by posting a video of the empty kennels online.
In Charleston County, the Animal Society is asking people to open their hearts to adoption the days before the storm, and to make it easier, the shelter is waiving their adoption fee. People are welcome to come in between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday to adopt for free. Charleston Animal Society President and CEO Joe Elmore says they’ve seen a few adoptions so far.
“What we’re trying to do is to appeal to folks to make room for one more. Just make room for one more in your home and in your heart. So we need these animals adopted, especially so that we can rescue other animals that actually are in heavy flooding areas,” Elmore says.
Elmore explains that their shelter holds about 230 animals. He expects that they will soon need that space for rescues that come in because of the storm.
“Now we’re on high ground, but that is the reason we need to get these animals out as quickly as possible because we know we will be going into rescue mode, as we have in previous years due to flooding. Charleston Animal Society is the leading disaster rescuer type organization in South Carolina, and one of the leading ones across the entire southeast. So a lot of shelters out there are depending on us,” Elmore says.
He says the animal society has over 700 animals in their system right now, so they have a lot already being fostered. Their push before Tropical Storm Debby is to get as many adoptions in as possible.
Over in Berkeley County, the animal center is looking for fosters to help take care of their animals through the storm, ahead of an adoption event on Saturday. Relief Veterinarian Ashley Parsons says being in a home is what’s best for pets during such a large-scale storm event.
“I would say set up kind of a safe environment for them. So that may be the crate that they seek that they want to go lay down and that may be on the couch next to you to give them kind of a safe haven to go to. You can also put on calming music. Amazon has what’s called ‘Through a Dog’s Ear’ which is a calming playlist that they’ve done a lot of research on. Things of that nature white noise machines just to kind of help drown out the sound of the storm around them.” Parsons says.
Berkeley Animal Center will provide a foster home with everything the pet needs from medicine and paperwork to crates and food. She says the center is currently overcrowded and is hosting an adoption event at Foxbank Veterinary Hospital on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“Every pet is different. So a lot of these animals have just kind of been here in the shelter, which is a pretty stressful environment. And so we don’t know a whole lot about their personality a lot of times. So getting out into a calm home environment really tells us a lot about them. And it allows us the opportunity to have some feedback for a potential adopter, which is really nice.
Berkeley will keep their Facebook page updated with their needs and hours for Tuesday.
Charleston and Berkeley County animal shelters each stressed the importance of properly prepping for your pet or foster for the storm. They recommend having a bag filled with important papers and medicine ready to go, in case of an emergency in the storm.
They also suggest registering your personal pet on Petco’s online search site in case people are separated from their pet during an emergency.
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