Post-hurricane, animal rescue groups need money, not dog food

North Carolina communities have rallied together in the past week to gather food, blankets, clothes and other supplies for people in shelters. But when it comes to helping abandoned and rescued dogs and cats, Tara Lynn from the SPCA of Wake County says money is what rescue groups really need to keep saving animals.

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"We want to emphasize the importance of monetary donations vs. supplies," said Lynn, explaining that, often, so much food comes in after a disaster that it becomes a burden for relief workers to try to store and use the food before it goes bad.

"In this weather, pet food spoils very quickly, so storing massive amounts of it ends up wasting it," said Lynn. "Our temperature controlled space is limited. We will need to send food to rural shelters but not now and we don’t know exactly when."

According to Lynn, the SPCA has a national relief partnership with pet food manufacturers, so plenty of food will reach animals in need.

Lynn told WRAL News that the money will go towards paying for all the gas it takes to transport rescued animals back and forth. The funds will also be used to purchase coolers so important vaccines for animals can be delivered to the affected counties (and to supply refrigerators to store the 4,000 donated vaccines).

All donations made to the SPCA will go to assisting relief workers with recovery efforts and animal care costs now and over the next few weeks.