At the Cincinnati SPCA, the gas tank is full and the equipment is ready, for their mobile pet care unit to head to Texas as soon as animal help groups there tell them it is safe to go.
SPCA director Harold Dates explained "it's a mobile animal hospital," where they can perform surgery and give intensive care to dogs and cats injured in Hurricane Harvey.
Tri-Staters want to help
Dates says people in the area are already contacting him, asking how they can assist pets stranded in the hurricane.
Hallie Jones and Henry West, who were looking for a puppy to adopt, say they'll be happy to give a loving home to a homeless dog, if the opportunity arises.
"We want to help in any way that we can," Jones said.
Dates says many Cincinnati-area people are wondering if they can adopt a pet displaced by the hurricane.
But he says told that's still months away. First, he explains, they have to try to get those cats and dogs back to their rightful homes.
What you can do
Dates says the best way to help right now is with credit card or PayPal donations to reputable animal help agencies.
"The best way to offer assistance is to go to theHouston SPCA website, or the Humane Society of the United States or theASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Those groups are the coordinating agencies for relief to go there."
However, he cautions you not to donate cat or dog food, as there's no way to get it to Houston right now.
"Trying to do dog food or trying to do other things, it just gets spoiled in the process," Dates said. "Pet food companies typically donate cases of food, and send them down in special tractor trailer trucks."
Ultimately he says several dozen lost pets could end up flown to Cincinnati for new homes in the coming months. as they did a decade ago, after Hurricane Katrina, and again after Hurricane Matthew.
Give as much as you can to the hurricane victims, though as always, don't waste your money.
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