Temporary shelter scheduled to shut down on Thursday, July 3rd.
The Best Friends Rapid Response team has been busy searching for and rescuing the cats and dogs who were left behind last week in Oakville, Iowa following the flood. However, once the animals are secured from around the area, what then happens to them?
Many of the veterinary clinics and shelters that had been accepting feline and canine flood refugees have ceased taking in animals. In order to accommodate those who have been saved, a temporary shelter has been created at the Lee County Fairgrounds, located in Donnellson, Iowa. There, Barb Bryant of
Animal Protection League (APL) administrates the interim sheltering facility. Her organization does not shelter animals, but instead offers adoption referrals for people who need to rehome their pets. She noted, “We connect people who want, with people who have.”
When the area flooded, many of their group’s volunteers were asked to kennel the animals of residents who were forced to evacuate. “We had to help people out,” commented Bryant. “These were owners who were displaced and didn’t want to get rid of their dogs or cats and leave them in the floodwaters.” Without a building to shelter them, the pets were accepted into their own homes. However, when she heard from the Department of Agriculture that cages were available at the fairgrounds to house the displaced animals, she contacted the necessary officials and staged their current location.
Now they are receiving rescued animals from as far as Oakville, located 1 ½ hours away, in addition to the dogs and cats they promised to look after until their guardians are relocated. People now come to their facility to search for their missing pets. Unfortunately, many of the animals saved from flooded areas remain unclaimed. The heartbreaker is that APL will be forced to cease their sheltering operations effective Thursday, July 3, due to the upcoming Lee County Fair, which begins on July 9.
It is now necessary to find immediate accommodations for all the rescued pets. There are currently around 40 unclaimed animals who they are housing, including cats, pit bulls, and lab mixes, although that number is changing on a daily basis. The fact that remains is that placements are needed now.
Among those animals having yet to be claimed are 13 cats that Best Friends’ Rapid Response team pulled out of houses and trees in Oakville. You have seen the compelling photos and read about these efforts, but these felines now need safe places to stay until they are hopefully reclaimed by their owners.
First and foremost, Bryant wants the pets’ legal guardians to come forward. Although the kenneling area is not open to the public, people who are missing their animals are asked to come to the fairgrounds to describe their missing pet. If proof is provided that the animal is theirs, a reunion takes place. Sadly, many of the Iowa residents, displaced themselves, are unable to travel to the fairgrounds to retrieve their lost pets, yet new housing is needed by July 3.
Due to the tight deadline to vacate the premises, Bryant is requesting the assistance of shelter and rescue organizations to come take the unclaimed animals. A 14 day hold is required from the point of pickup to give the guardians time to look for their animal. After that point, ownership of the animal will be transferred to the organization and the cat or dog can then be put up for adoption.
If there are not enough placements at animal welfare organizations, individual foster homes are needed. Those interested must be willing to keep the animal for a minimum of 14 days, longer if necessary. At that point, the person may choose to adopt their foster or the pet will be put into the APL system and promoted as adoptable.
Despite the trauma that they have endured, the cats are sweet, playful, and enjoy sleeping in the hammocks that a volunteer provided. “We’ve had them long enough that when we walk into the room and they hear your voice, they run over to get attention,” stated Bryant. “So they’re all very friendly and some of them are quite young.” There is one feral mother who has two friendly kittens, whom she guards like “the crown jewels,” however who could blame her after all that she has been through?
“They’re ready to settle in someplace,” Bryant summarized. “They need to leave this facility and find a home, they really do. They’re all good animals and they just don’t understand what’s going on and they need to get into a home setting.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
APL will continue to maintain the temporary shelter until they are dismissed from the fairgrounds on July 3, by which time
accommodations will be needed for all unclaimed animals.
If you were forced to leave your pet behind, please go to the Lee County Fairgrounds to see if your animal has been recovered.
Lee County Fairgrounds
Highway 218, at the north edge of town
Donnellson, Iowa
Phone: 319-835-3087
Anyone associated with a shelter or rescue that can accept one or more animals into their adoption program, or individuals who would be willing to foster displaced animals, are asked to contact Barb Bryant at the Lee County Fairgrounds through July 3rd at 319-835-3087. Thereafter, she may be reached at her home 319-524-5137. Note, all animals must be held for 14 days prior to any permanent rehoming, to allow time for the guardian to reclaim their pet.
For more information:
•
Best Friends Animal Society Rapid Response Community•
Iowa Floods Special Feature• For those who are interested in Rapid Response, please see
Ongoing Rescue Efforts in Iowa for details on how you can prepare for action in future emergencies.
• For more details on the day-to-day Rapid Response operations, read their blog,
Notes from the Field, which chronicles the ongoing rescue effort from the front lines.
Special Note from Ellen Gilmore, Best Friends Volunteer Project Coordinator: The Iowa EOC has asked for Best Friends’ assistance, and we are doing swift water search and rescue
only. At this time, Best Friends is not directly involved with sheltering or caring for the animals in Iowa nor is it deploying volunteers for those purposes.
Although you may have noticed that other groups are requesting volunteers, Rapid Response team leader Rich Crook advises these are considered convergent volunteers (no certifications required) for the day-to-day efforts, and that our team is being kept on hold for more technical and tactical work, if needed.
Some of these groups may host communities on the Best Friends Network where content is posted freely by web site members and may or may not reflect the opinions, goals, or mission of Best Friends Animal Society.
Posted by Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends Staff
Photo credit: pictures of some of the cats needing placement, taken by Kim Hansen, independent rescuer volunteering at the Lee County Fairgrounds