Please HELP pet in TEXAS if you CAN
 

San Leon shelter desperate to place 80 animals
Those willing to shelter an animal should phone the shelter at 281-339-2086
before 5 p.m., Demarest said.

By HARVEY RICE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...olitan/3363388

GALVESTON -- As the shelter here smoothly evacuated 107 cats and dogs out of
the path of hurricane Rita this morning, a shelter in San Leon was
frantically trying to find refuge for about 80 animals.

The Bay Area Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter was
preparing animals to ride out the storm after failing to find foster homes
for 40 dogs, 20 cats, five rabbits, two guinea pigs, six gerbils and six
parrots, Executive Director Travis Demarest said.

"I don't know what options I have," Demarest said.

Shelter Board member Kat Joel-Reich said she had asked for help from the
Houston SPCA, but was told they were evacuating their animals to other
cities.

"We're doing everything in our power to keep the animals safe," Joel-Reich
said.

Demarest, three staff members and about seven volunteers have desperately
sought foster homes in hurricane-safe areas.

They found homes for about 20 and hoped to place another 20 before they
evacuate at 5 p.m., he said.

"We are taking them and preparing the ones that are here to ride the storm
out," he said.

Demarest was driving four dogs to Sulphur, La., to handoff to a volunteer
who will drive a leg of a journey to a shelter in Connecticut.

He said the cages of animals they are forced to leave in the shelter are
being placed on tables and other high spots in the building in hope of
keeping them above high water.

The shelter is made of cinder blocks and concrete on high ground, giving it
a better chance than other buildings in the area of surviving the storm, he
said.

A volunteer who has decided to ride out the storm will be watching the
animals, he said.

Demarest said the volunteer is risking her life. "She sure is, but she's not
leaving by her own choice," he said.

Those willing to shelter an animal should phone the shelter at 281-339-2086
before 5 p.m., Demarest said.

In Galveston, among the first evacuees early this morning were dogs and cats
from the Animal Shelter and Adoption Center.

The shelter's five-member staff and three volunteers began crating 79 cats
and 28 dogs into pet carriers at 6 a.m., said shelter Executive Director
Caroline Dorsett.

"It went well, just like clockwork," Dorsett said.

The animals were crated by 6:45 a.m. and loaded onto a horse trailer donated
by Habitat for Horses, a shelter for horses, two SUVs, a van and a pickup
truck for a ride to the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.

There they will join animals evacuated from areas hit by hurricane Katrina
who are being moved to shelters throughout Texas, Dorsett said.

With the exception of four dogs in quarantine for biting and a stray white
Bulldog with tags whose owner could not be found in time, all the animals
are up for adoption, she said.

Dorsett said the staff will stay with family members until they are called
back to work. Dorsett is heading to Crocket where she has relatives, but
expects to be back at the shelter as soon as the storm passes.

The shelter is built of sturdy concrete and brick in one of the higher areas
of the island, so she believes it will have a good chance of surviving. The
shelter's three computers, fax, printer and other essential equipment were
bagged and placed in a central room.

"I think we're going to be OK," Dorsett said.

She has a pass that allows her back on the island before the general public
and expects to get the shelter back in operation quickly with help from the
Houston SPCA