The Cat Solarium has a customer, Wayne, that lives in Galveston that we have been communicating with throughout Hurricane Harvey. Wayne goes out every night and feeds feral cats living in the downtown area and has been worried about them surviving the storm. I lived in Tampa and went through 5 hurricanes in one season. After Charlie went through Central Florida, a Cat 5, I loaded up my SUV with over 1000 pounds of dog and cat food and took it to Veterinarians who distributed to shelters or families that had been displaced. I even found someone that went out and fed feral animals. It’s sad to say, but there are no restaurants open, no yummy leftovers. These cats and dogs will end up starving. Even squirrels and rats will die. Hurricanes strip all the leaves of trees, there is no shelter and the water is going up to 5′ in some areas.
I need you to send a bag of dog or cat food to Houston. I will work with Wayne and find a location to ship the food to. I believe the easiest thing for “us” to do is order from Chewy.com and ship the food all at once. Shipping is free and it will get there fairly quick. Thank you, Melissa
Please read the message from Wayne:
Melissa, that is so sweet of people to want to do that. They are, in fact, asking for pet food because so many people are leaving with their pets and can’t take much pet food with them.
I will check the news story that mentioned that and see if I can find anyone in authority who can accept either supplies or money that will go to buy pet food. There are so many displaced people in Houston right now it is going to be a mind boggling logistical effort to come back from. People are pitching in with their boats and there have been many, many rescues from private parties helping when the EM resources aren’t there. People are pulling together, one of the things about Texas I really like.
There is food available in the few stores that are open but they are getting concerned about resupply when this all goes. I was in a grocery today and they had actually had a bread delivery and there was plenty of canned goods on the shelf. I have a feeling that off the island, that is not the case.
At any rate, I will see what I can find out. I’m the resident representative on the City of Galveston’s Animal Services Board so I will check with the folks from the humane society and the new paper associate editor (a neighbor) and see if I can find out how to get some pet food supplies in to the places that really need it.
Thanks for posting and please tell your folks that it is very appreciated. This is a major disaster but people seem to be pulling together fantastically so far…
UPDATE: Here is the information I have collected:
Looking for a charity to donate to help Houston. Paypal has a link to several different charities that are assisting families in the Houston area. PayPal covers all transaction costs for donations made on this site, ensuring that 100% of each gift made is available to charity. https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/107638597766619098/
Pet Relief: I have a client in Galveston that says their Humane Society is raising funds to purchase food, litter, cages, etc for the hardest hit areas. As the requests come in, Galveston will get supplies out to families or other shelters. The post office/Mail delivery is not running so using Chewy is not an option. Instead, use this link to donate to the pets that were left behind. https://form.jotform.com/61248655471157 and under the very first form line, tell them the purpose of your donation. They suggest putting HURRICANE HARVEY PET RELIEF so they know it is to be used for that need. They say that is the fastest way to get supplies to those who need it while not making it harder for the PO to get the mail back-up under control.
