ASSISTANCE ARRIVES IN FLORIDA HURRICANE CHARLEY ZONE

Pets & Animals in Distress - Hurricane Charley Pet Food Relief Update!
THANK YOU! WE DID IT! Pet Food relief has arrived.

Dear:WILDTIMBER2112@AOL.COM

Pets & Animals in Distress has returned back from the west coast of Florida (Punta Gorda & Port Charlotte) with a update after coordinating and transporting several thousand pounds of Dog & Cat food to go to the Hurricane Charley Pet Food relief fund that arrived at the Suncoast Humane Society who are the central location for pet food relief distribution for all areas that were hit by Hurricane Charley. Here is a overview of our experience when we arrived and drove through Porta Gorda and Port Charlotte that were the hardest hit Hurricane areas and got to see with our own eyes the total mass of destruction that Hurricane Charley had left behind to this once peaceful and beautiful community was just overwhelming to say the least.

My heart goes out to the many thousands of people that have lost everything, and have been left homeless to have lived through such a major catastrophic disaster. Words cannot even express to have seen these communities that were completely destroyed was just so hard for me to comprehend that left me in a state of total shock and awe. After arriving we heard that many of the animal shelters were either devastated or inundated to over capacity with lost and abandoned animals. Most of the animals that are being found from Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte are being sent to the main staging relief area at the Sun Coast Humane Society in Englewood which was not affected by Hurricane Charley.

A Scene update in Southwest Florida after the storm.
The focal point for emergency animal care in Charlotte County is a temporary facility in a sports/recreational complex in Punta Gorda called Carmelita Park, which is about a mile away from the county's Emergency Operations Center. The county ordered a mobile veterinary team to begin operations there on Monday, August 16, since officials believe that most vets in the damaged region are without power and fresh supplies.
Activated earlier by the state of Florida, The HSUS's Disaster Animal Response Team (DART), which includes nearly 30 volunteers from around the Sunshine State, which has set up tents in Carmelita Park to serve as an animal services area. It's here that volunteers will care for animals brought in by the public and by rescue teams. The temporary facility will also take in found animals as well as those pets voluntarily surrendered by displaced owners. Horses and livestock will be placed on a series of baseball fields across the street and held there until they can be sent to temporary shelters. The goal, of course, will be to reunite all lost animals with their families.
"It's important for people whose homes are uninhabitable to find temporary shelter for their animals," says Anne Culver, director of disaster services for The HSUS. "We can't emphasize this enough: Please don't leave your animals behind. If your house is not habitable for you, it's not habitable for your pets. Some of the saddest scenes we encounter are animals left behind by owners."
Because the Carmelita Park facility may need to deal with hundreds of pets over the course of the next few days, none of the animals will be able to stay there for longer than a couple of hours, says Laura Bevan, director of The HSUS's Southeast Regional Office (SERO), a disaster-response veteran who is leading the organization's charge in southwest Florida.
The idea is to quickly move the animals to the Suncoast Humane Society in Englewood, just across the county line in Sarasota County. Suncoast was on the western side of Hurricane Charley and received very little damage; it has moved its adoptable animals to other shelters in the state to leave extra room for lost or abandoned pets. Suncoast will also serve as a funnel for veterinary supplies and pet food distribution into the Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte.

Please spread the word to any media outlets (TV, Radio, Newspapers) in those designated Hurricane Charley disaster areas located in Porta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, Myakka City or any of the surrounding disaster areas for anyone looking to locate lost pets , need medical help or where to go to pick up any dog, cat, puppy or kitten food can contact Suncoast Humane Society in Englewood, Florida or Pets & Animals in Distress at:

Suncoast Humane Society -Hurricane Charley Pet food Relief Central Distribution
Attn: Debbie Drake - Director
6781 San Casa Drive
Englewood FL 34224 -Phone: (941) 474-7884 / e-mail: director@humane.org

Pets & Animals in Distress - Brenda Beck, President (954) 202-9991 / ilovepets@msn.com

Pets & Animals in Distress will be posting pictures on our website (petsandanimals.org) next week that will include both Hurricane Charley Pet Food Disaster Relief and the 4th Annual Feed-A-Pet Food Drive photos that were both major back to back victory accomplishments all done in the same week.

Pets & Animals in Distress would like to also give a great BIG thank you to all of our fellow PAW supporters that helped make the Hurricane Charley Pet Food Relief possible by opening your hearts in such a short notice that helped get this much needed pet food loaded, transported and distributed to those affected disaster areas. We would also like send a very BIG special thank to the PetSupermarket Corporation located in Sunrise, Florida for there generous donation of several thousand pounds of Science Diet, Nutro, Pro Plan and Iams Dog and Cat food along with The Meow Mix Company with there generous donation of several thousand pounds of Meow Mix cat food that helped with both the Feed-A-Pet Food Drive and the Hurricane Charley Pet Food Relief effort. Please remember to support both these great pet friendly companies that DO care about helping animals and for making these large generous Pet Food contributions to our organization knowing that this much needed food is now available helping to feed the many thousands of homeless and hungry animals that have been displaced by Hurricane Charley.

We would also like to send a special thank you out to the Suncoast Humane Society, and all the volunteers for their courageous efforts in helping to rescue and feed the many homeless, injured and hungry animals in this emergency disaster crisis. Pets & animals in Distress would also like to thank the National Guard, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Fire Rescue, Police Agencies for there tireless and endless work , and to the many more agencies, businesses and volunteers that are helping with bringing in a variety of supplies to help all the people with this massive disaster relief and clean up effort.

Through all of our combined efforts, working together in a major disaster Pet Food relief we can help move a mountain of food and make a BIG difference to help feed the many hungry and homeless animals anytime, anywhere. Pets & Animals in Distress thanks everyone that has helped make this possible to HELP US HELP THEM!

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi - India.

Sincerely,
Brenda Beck, President

Pets & Animals in Distress
"Your Best Friends Helping Our Best Friends"
http://en.groundspring.org/en/go?j=6435618&u=50865

Tax Deductible Donations can be made online at :
http://en.groundspring.org/en/go?j=6435618&u=50866

Or mailed to:
Pets & Animals in Distress
C/O Hurricane Charley Pet Food Relief Fund
1511 east Commercial Blvd
PMB #129
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33334
United States

1511 east Commercial Blvd
PMB #129
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33334
United States