As Hurricane Florence bears down on the East Coast, the Cleveland Animal Protective League remains on standby, willing and ready to take in animals from shelters that may be displaced by the storm.
Similar to what happened after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017, the Cleveland APL will not be taking in the pets of displaced families.
“If we were called upon, we’d take the animals that are already in the shelters, already waiting for homes,” said Ayse Dunlap, the operations director at Cleveland APL. “We would bring those up here and try to find them a home in this community. That allows those shelters to have room to then take care of the animals that were displaced.”
Being in standby is admittedly a precarious situation to be in, Dunlap said, because the Cleveland APL does not know how many animals it might take in or when.
“Once we know, we’ll evaluate our ability to help and we’ll bring in as many animals as we can responsibly care for,” Dunlap said.
It also comes at a time when the APL’s dog kennels are at capacity. The non-profit has a promotion on Thursday in which the adoption fees for dogs, cats and kittens have been greatly reduced. The adoption fees for dogs will be $88. The adoption fees for adult cats will be $8 and kittens will be $50. The APL hopes to create additional space to allow for the influx of animals who weathered Hurricane Florence’s wrath.
“These animals have already been through so much — no matter the situation they come to us. Yet, when they’re here, they’re living in that moment. They’re so happy, they're so grateful,” Dunlap said. “I would say we can all learn a lesson from that.”
