This past October, Hurricane Sandy ravaged hundreds of homes and places of business in the tri-state area. One facility that suffered greatly was the Bideawee animal shelter located in Manhattan within very close proximity to the East River. The water came gushing on to street level and it wasn’t long before it seeped in to the shelter’s basement sustaining up to four feet of water damage.
Valuable items such as medications, pet food, cat litter, bedding for the animals, and uniforms for the staff were ruined by the contaminated water. Appliances and electrical equipment such as the washers and dryers, and even the motor that operates the elevator became dysfunctional. While new washers and dryers have been added, the elevator still remains out of service, leaving staff members and potential adoptive families to walk up as many as six flights of stairs.
When the storm hit, the animals were evacuated to the Bideawee animal shelter in Wantagh which had been operating via a generator that broke down after 11 straight days of use. Bideawee’s president and CEO Nancy Taylor estimates it will cost a minimum of $75,000 to replace the generator. Taylor describes the evacuation process by saying “We were basically camping with 100 animals (in Wantagh). I think the animals are thrilled to be back here.”
After nearly two weeks without power, Bideawee reopened its Manhattan location on November 17th, but the staff has been overwhelmed in trying to provide the proper care to all its cats and dogs again.The shelter has not rescued any new animals since the Hurricane because, as Taylor explained, “We’ve been so occupied with dealing with the problems that we had without taking on any more animals. So everybody here feels badly but we had our hands full. Between Bideawee’s three locations (in Manhattan, Wantagh, and Westhampton) have a total of 250 animals and for these past few weeks that’s all we’ve been able to deal with although we know that there is a tremendous need for pets, the need to get reunited with their owners.”
The cost of replacing all of the damaged equipment hasn’t been completely totaled up yet but Taylor speculates it will be in the region of hundreds of thousands of dollars. She is optimistic though and is grateful for all the generous donations the shelter has received so far. We sent out two online email blasts to everyone that we have email addresses for and people have responded very generously.
We also told people about our needs on our Facebook page, we have almost 25,000 Facebook friends and those people responded generously as well,” she said. Taylor also points out that in the days following the hurricane, bedding and blankets for the animals were needed most urgently.
The Thompson Hotel group in New York City also lent a hand by providing bedding supplies, sheets,
and towels. Taylor credits the group’s generosity in helping the staff re-stock and enabling
Bideawee to re-open as quickly as it did. Others have donated greatly as well including one woman
from Maryland who drove the distance to deliver piles of bedding and blankets for the cats and dogs.
Taylor knows of ways to protect a pet from harm in the event of another destructive natural disaster. “My advice to pet owners would be to get their pets micro-chipped so in the event that they do get separated from their pets, they can be reunited,” she said. Taylor also suggests that pet owners keep on hand important animal records, vaccination records, food, medicine, and “a familiar piece of bedding” as soon as the threat of another major hurricane occurs.
Bideawee wasn’t the only shelter that felt the effects of the storm. The Animal Haven shelter located in Manhattan’s Financial District, had no power for nearly a week following the storm, leaving refrigerated supplies such as vaccines and medications spoiled, according to a post from Animal Haven's official website. The shelter is in need of extra funding to replace these items and also to be able to accommodate the number of animals that have been transferred to Animal Haven from other severely damaged shelters.
The Humane Society of New York located near the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan, has been struggling to provide space for recently displaced animals, especially those that are ill and need medical attention. According to a post on the on the The Humane Society’s of New York’s official website, the staff is facing the challenge of caring for more animals than they are accustomed to. The shelter even went so far as to cancel a benefit auction to be re-scheduled next spring, according to a separate post on the shelter’s homepage.
These shelters need your help now. Please donate and do whatever you can to help these shelters give the best care to its animals as they deserve. See photos of Bideawee's recovery here.
-->when Hurricane Sandy struck on October 29, 2012
Video by Adalia Lopez
