Philadelphia-area animal shelter looking for fosters to help care for Hurricane Helene rescue dogs
An animal shelter in Delaware County, Pennsylvania is looking for help adopting and fostering more than 20 dogs rescued in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Providence Animal Center in Media received the dogs on Sunday, Oct. 6 from shelters in rural southern Georgia that are currently working to rebuild and reunite pets with their families after Helene barreled over the southeastern United States.
"These dogs were already homeless before the hurricane," explained PAC's Chief Operating Officer Victoria Kinden. "What we did was open spaces for them to help in the areas that are having issues, so that they have open kennels to help those displaced dogs, so that someone can come find their pet while down there."
The 21 rescued dogs range in size and age, from puppies to adults.
PAC, previously known as the Delaware County SPCA, is looking for people to help foster the Hurricane Helene dogs, or one of the other animals already housed at the shelter.
"The more space we can make through foster and adoption, the more we can help," Kinden said. "We help locally all the time, but during these big needs and these hurricanes, we want to do what we can to help all our partners."
According to PAC, fostering a hurricane rescue would be about a two-week commitment, and fosters would have the first chance to adopt.
How Philadelphia-area communities are helping after Helene
The need for food, supplies and support in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene continues to impact communities across Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Across the Delaware Valley, individuals, businesses and first responders have worked to collect and transport donations to the hardest-hit western North Carolina.
In Delaware County, Iacobucci Formal Wear in Havertown collected batteries, diapers and even chainsaws to donate to hurricane survivors, while a group of volunteer pilots from Chester County flew to flood-ravaged North Carolina last week to drop off thousands of pounds of relief supplies.
Members of New Jersey Task Force One remain in the state to help those devastated by the storm.
"It's surreal. It's the truest definition of a flash flood came down the mountains, brought up massive amounts of debris and dirt had, you know, strength that I've never seen before," said NJ-TF1 program director Kevin Morrissey.