LARGO, Fla. — Nearly 100 animals are set to make a 14-hour journey from Tampa Bay to Houston.
The move will help open space at SPCA Tampa Bay amid more animals arriving after Hurricane Milton.
Crews from Houston’s SPCA will start the drive from Tampa Bay back to Houston early Thursday morning.
SPCA Tampa Bay President and CEO Martha Boden said the partnership has been in the works since Hurricane Milton appeared on their radar. Boden calls the work important especially as she anticipates more people having to give up their pets in the near future.
"There are about 380 pets here right now,” Boden said.
The non-profit animal shelter in Pinellas County is Boden’s second home. She’s been in charge for 13 years and knows all too well the impact a hurricane can have on people with pets.
"There were thousands of homes impacted over the last two weeks and unfortunately that means families are having to give up their pets,” Boden said.
This is why you see so many people in red shirts at their shelter on Wednesday. They’re loading cans with crates, blankets and supplies.
"We've been there. We've done this. We've gone through this. We know the impact it can have,” Houston SPCA’s Wildlife Director Brooke Yahney said.
Yahney is one of the volunteers with Houston’s SPCA.
She said they didn’t hesitate to make the 14-hour drive to transport some animals back to the Lone Star State to help free up space.
"We're taking dogs, we're taking cats, we're taking rabbits, we're taking guinea pigs. We're taking as much as we can,” Yahney said.
This is something the SPCA Tampa Bay team calls critical because they know the number of animals they could receive in the days and weeks to come could rise.
"With Hurricane Beryl earlier this year, the Wildlife Center especially was heavily impacted by that. So, we took in about 2,000 animals over the course of a week. So, we really want to be able to help out other communities,” Yahney said.
Boden said they work together to ensure the animals they’re sending to other cities are the right fit and not potentially a lost pet.
"Found animals all go to animal services so none of the animals typically found here are stray animals. We're not in that situation of having to work on reuniting them,” Boden said.
Boden said it’s this cooperation that helps its staff continue to get animals to their forever homes.
"It's that weird sense of relief and gratitude and just sort of the anxiety dropping off your body all at once,” Boden said.
If you do find yourself in a tough situation with your pet, Boden said do not abandon it as they have resources to help.