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Canines and Felines Flee Storm for VA Homes

Fredericksburg SPCA

Even before Hurricane Laura hit Texas, Virginia was opening its doors to refugees from the storm. 

Dozens of dogs and cats are now at local animal shelters waiting for permanent homes.

As director of the SPCA in Fredericksburg, Carrie Withers was not surprised to hear from colleagues in Texas.

“Petco Foundation reached out to me by e-mail asking for help to evacuate 130 animals from the Houston area ahead of Hurricane Laura,” she explains.

After reaching out to other local shelters, Withers said yes and a short time later 65 dogs and 65 cats were placed on a flight bound for Richmond.

“They came in by the organization called Wings of Rescue.  It was a direct flight from Houston, so it was about 3 and one half hours,” she says.

Credit Fredericksburg SPCA
Homeless animals from Houston arrive at Richmond International Airport.

Local shelters met the animals at the airport and drove them to temporary quarters.

“They’re all settled in, and they’ve all had a chance to get out and stretch their legs and everybody is whipping up some food for them and getting them all tucked in,” Withers says.

Now staff will wait for animal lovers to fill out forms online so matchmakers at the SPCA can arrange virtual visits and – if the humans decide to proceed – make an appointment for pets and people to meet and finalize an adoption.  

For more information about pet adoption go to:

Fredericksburg:https://fredspca.org/

Richmond: https://richmondspca.org/

Charlottesville: https://caspca.org/

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief