Update by Barbara Newtown.
If you don’t live close enough to a disaster area to participate in rescuing or care-giving, the most useful thing you can do is donate. But — is your money being spent wisely? The organization Charity Navigator ( www.charitynavigator.org ) rates charities on their effective and principled use of donations.
Here are excellent Florida charities helping with animal rescue and animal shelter:
Gulf Coast Humane Society www.gulfcoasthumanesociety.org
Halifax Humane Society, Inc. www.halifaxhumanesociety.org
The Humane Society Naples www.hsnaples.org
Humane Society of Manatee County www.humanemanatee.org
Humane Society of Tampa Bay www.humanesocietytampa.org
Humane Society of the Treasure Coast www.hstc1.org
Jacksonville Humane Society www.jaxhumane.org
Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League www.peggyadams.org
Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando www.petallianceorlando.org
Suncoast Humane Society www.humane.org
Tri County Humane Society www.tricountyanimalrescue.com
The State of Florida Large Animal Response Plan can be read here: http://www.flsart.org/larp/
The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine fields VETS, the Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service, which responds to wide-ranging disasters as well as individual animal emergencies. For up-to-date information about large and small animal emergency shelters and pet-friendly lodging, go to the website of the Florida State Agricultural Response Team:
http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Consumer-Resources/Hurricane-Irma
The highest-rated national charities already aiding victims of Hurricane Harvey, according to www.charitynavigator.org :
Direct Relief www.directrelief.org
Matthew 25: Ministries www.m25m.org
GlobalGiving www.globalgiving.org
Americares www.americares.org
International Relief Teams www.irteams.org
MAP International www.map.org
And more charities with good ratings that will be helping specifically with Irma:
Samaritan’s Purse www.samaritanspurse.org
Donors Choose www.donorschoose.org
Heart to Heart International www.hearttoheart.org
Catholic Relief Services www.crs.org
Hope for Haiti www.hopeforhaiti.com
Highly-rated local Houston charities, according to www.charitynavigator.org :
Houston Food Bank www.houstonfoodbank.org
Food Bank of Corpus Christi www.foodbankcc.com
Houston Humane Society www.houstonhumane.org
San Antonio Humane Society www.sahumane.org
And here are some excellent organizations not yet rated by www.charitynavigator.org :
USEF EQUINE DISASTER RELIEF FUND
https://www.usef.org/media/press-releases/donate-to-usef-equine-disaster-relief-fund
Formed after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Quality control: According to the USEF, money donated to the fund can only be released for disaster preparation or relief by the US Equestrian Chief Executive Officer. Contact: Mark Coley, 859-225-6965.
HUMANE SOCIETY OF LOUISIANA
The Humane Society of Louisiana has been helping relocate animals stranded in Texas as well as advising Louisiana pet owners about flood conditions in their own state. If evacuating, the main advice is: TAKE YOUR PETS WITH YOU. If you wish to donate, checks and gift cards (Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc.) are most helpful.
LOUISIANA STATE ANIMAL RESPONSE TEAM
LSART recommends contacting the OEP for unresolved animal emergencies:
OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
http://gohsep.la.gov/about/parishpa
The Texas A & M College of Veterinary Medicine has sent its Veterinary Emergency Team down to Houston to assist in large and small animal rescue and care. The A & M animal hospital does not have shelter facilities, but the team refers owners and rescuers to this list of Texas shelters, organized by county:
http://www.tahc.texas.gov/emergency/TAHC_SheltersHoldingFacilities.pdf
[photo: houston spca]
