BC SPCA Urges Public to Help Animals Victimized by Hurricane Katrina
September 8, 2005. For immediate release. While rescue teams in Mississippi and Louisiana continue to help the thousands of residents left homeless and injured by Hurricane Katrina, the BC SPCA is urging the public to remember the abandoned and injured animals who also desperately need help.

The BC SPCA will have special donation boxes on hand to collect money to help the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina this Sunday (Sept. 11th) during the Society's Paws for a Cause Walks taking place in communities across the province. The annual fundraising event raises urgently-needed support for homeless, abused and injured animals in BC, but the SPCA is hoping the public will also use the opportunity to drop by with a donation for the animals affected by the devastation in the southern United States.

"Obviously we are all extremely concerned about the human victims of Katrina and ensuring that aid reach these individuals as quickly as possible," says Lorie Chortyk, General Manager of Community Relations for the BC SPCA. "But we hope people will also remember the thousands of animals who are still stranded on rooftops or trying to survive - hungry, dehydrated and injured -- in the flood waters of the region." Chortyk says many families were forced to leave their beloved pets behind when rescue teams arrived to evacuate them. "It is a heartbreaking situation and there are animal rescue agencies on the ground trying to ensure that these animals are taken to safety and hopefully reunited with their families."

BC SPCA staff members and volunteers who have been trained in disaster rescue are travelling to the affected regions next week to volunteer and the SPCA is also making arrangements to take large supplies of pet food donated by BC companies to feed animals being care for in make-shift shelters.

"If people want to help we encourage them to send a donation to one of the U.S. animal welfare agencies working in the area," says Chortyk. The BC SPCA will be collecting funds for Noah's Wish, a U.S.-based organization that provides emergency rescue and aid for animals affected by natural disasters. Last year the BC SPCA and Noah's Wish signed an official partnership to work together in disaster relief.

Noah's Wish has set up a temporary shelter to house more than 1,000 animals in a warehouse in Slidell, Louisiana, a town located directly north of Lake Ponchatrain. Hundreds of trained animal rescue volunteers and veterinarians are stationed in the area to transport abandoned and injured animals to the shelter, where they are receiving 24-hour-a-day care.

To make a donation to Noah's Wish, please visit www.noahswish.org or in Vancouver drop by the BC SPCA's Paws for a Cause Walk in Vanier Park this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more details, call 604-681-7271 or contact your local BC SPCA community Branch.

Further information:
Lorie Chortyk, Community Relations Manager, BC SPCA:
(604) 647-1316, 1-800-665-1868, or 830-7179 (cell);