ATLANTA — According to officials with the Atlanta Humane Society, at least 48 dogs and cats from central Florida will be making their way to the Atlanta shelter on Saturday and Sunday to escape the coming wrath of Hurricane Dorian.
These animals were already in shelters before Dorian, and are not strays or lost animals picked up during evacuations.
There are 40 cats from the Suwanee County Animal Shelter in McAlpin Florida. Some of them have medical issues that will need attending to once they arrive in Atlanta.
The eight dogs arriving are from a shelter in Taylor County, Florida. According to officials at the Atlanta Humane Society, six of those have already tested positive for heartworms and will need specialized medical care and treatment before being made available for adoption.
The shelter in Taylor County is a small, rural shelter without significant resources. They have indoor space for dogs but have asked for assistance with these dogs because they are completely full inside, and have no room to house these eight inside.
With Hurricane Dorian heading toward Taylor County, they said they would rather send them to somewhere safe.
The Atlanta Humane Society says they have a disaster response team that they put in place in times of natural disaster like this.
The team works closely with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and other designated relief agencies to provide resources during times of great need.
The animals are anticipated to arrive in two waves on Saturday and Sunday.
State of Georgia Resources
- View up-to-date emergency declarations from Governor Kemp here.
- View updates from Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency here.
- Visit Ready Georgia for weather alerts and emergency preparedness tips.
- Follow Georgia 511 for real-time traffic information.
- Learn what to do before, during, and after a flood here.
- Report power outages by contacting your power provider. The two main providers in Georgia are:
- Call your local non-emergency police line to report a downed tree on a main road.
Please stay aware of any forecast changes as there are still many questions that remain about where Dorian goes after impacting Florida.
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