In the wake of Hurricane Helene, employees of the Asheville Humane Society gathered on the tarmac at the Asheville airport to receive some 1,000 pounds of supplies from Bissell Pet Foundation—a lifeline for a shelter left with hundreds of animals to care for and no running water. Then, staff loaded forty dogs and fifty-seven cats onto a plane bound for Forsyth Humane in Winston-Salem. “As we stood on the tarmac, waving goodbye to animals we love fiercely, we were filled with gratitude knowing that our animals were in capable hands,” read an Instagram post.
Across the hurricane’s path, shelters desperately relocated animals to foster homes or other rescue organizations. Brother Wolf, an Asheville-based organization, suffered total destruction in the storm. “As floodwaters ravaged our communities and ripped homes off their foundations, animals were right there beside us. They were trying to survive,” they posted. Miraculously they managed to evacuate all of their animals, but are in need of donations to help rebuild.
In the meantime, urgent rescue efforts continue. Bissell Pet Foundation has run four flights today alone to deliver supplies and collect animals from shelters in Polk, Henderson, and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina. The Humane Society, meanwhile, is on the ground in Florida and Tennessee, transporting animals to safety, aiding devastated shelters, and providing food and veterinary care to hard-hit communities. And the national Animal Search and Rescue Training and Response is helping to evacuate animals—many of them livestock—stranded in hard-to-reach places. Following days of work with equines trapped on Black Mountain, the team most recently led a senior horse to safety, painstakingly wading through creeks and crossing washed-out roads and a river.
In the past week, donations have streamed in to all of these organizations, shoring up their resolve to stick to their missions. But the road ahead is long, and more resources are urgently needed.
“The heart of Brother Wolf is not a shelter; it’s all of us coming together to impact both people’s and animals’ lives in a positive way,” the organization posted. “[We] will rebuild. We are the lifeline for thousands of animals each year.”
To support animal relief efforts:
Donate to the Humane Society’s Helene efforts here
Donate to Brother Wolf here
Donate to Bissell Pet Foundation’s efforts here
Donate to the Animal Search and Rescue Training and Response here
