The Alexandria Animal Welfare League (AWLA) brought in 50 cats from eight Texas animal shelters on Saturday March 13th that were still recovering from the devastating February snowstorms and subsequent power outages.
Many of these Texas facilities are currently experiencing a deluge of abandoned pets. By moving animals that were already in these shelters to Virginia, these organizations can better meet ongoing care needs and help even more homeless animals.
“We received a request from the National Human Animal Support Services (HASS) network asking if shelters can accommodate homeless animals to make room for shelters in Texas to handle the influx of animals they own see, “said Stella, Executive Director of AWLA Hanly. “We knew the plans would still come together, but we also knew we had to help.”
The biggest hurdle was making sure one vehicle could safely transport that many cats. While the AWLA has several vehicles for daily use in the animal shelter, none is equipped with fixed cages for so many animals. Fortunately, an AWLA volunteer, a retired marine engineer, had the solution, and within a few days he created a detachable rig that could be placed in one of the AWLA vans that could hold travel crates for up to 50 cats. Two other AWLA volunteers offered their time for the 14-hour round-trip drive to Tennessee, where they met with a HASS representative to pick up the traveling cats.
“This mission has been quite an endeavor from the start,” said Katie DeMent, director of AWLA
Operations and liaison for this endeavor. “In less than two weeks, we had connected to a shelters liaison in Texas, worked with other local shelters and rescue workers to see who could take cats, found volunteers ready to take the long haul trip, and equipped our van with them that we ‘I will also be able to use it to help even more animals in the future. We asked a lot of our team, but everyone worked together so we could help these institutions in Texas and all these homeless cats. “
In addition to facilitating transportation, the AWLA served as a local hub to connect many of the cats to animal shelters and rescue workers in the area. Twenty of the cats, ages 6 months to 5 years old, stayed with the AWLA for a general and veterinary examination before being made available for adoption.
The remaining 30 cats have gone to other local animal shelters and rescue services, including the Arlington Animal Welfare League, Loudoun County Animal Services, Four Paws Rescue, and Helping Homeless Felines. Visit AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt to see how the cats are brought to the AWLA and how you can meet them virtually or in person.
After the return trip of more than seven hours, transport volunteer Kerin Ord remarked: “When they saw cats in their condominiums on AWLA, kittens played with toys, many cats just reached for petting and attention … They seemed to realize that everything was in Order was good from here on and with the resilience of the animals, their long journey was quickly overcome. “
In addition to moving these 50 cats on March 13, the AWLA also took in 40 dogs of various ages and breeds and worked with the True & Faithful Rescue Mission to help underserved animal shelters in Florida and Texas. Like the 20 cats, these dogs will be made available for adoption once they have undergone medical and behavioral exams.
March 15, 2021
3:47 pm