Maury County Animal Shelter working to help displaced animals after storm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nearly a week after a tornado hit Maury County, the animal shelter is working to help dogs and cats rescued from the storm.
Dozens of animals have been rescued following last week’s deadly tornado. Staff said the shelter was at capacity before the storm hit and volunteers and staff are now working around the clock.
At least 245 Maury County homes damaged during severe storms
Shelter officials told News 2 they took in close to 40 animals right after the storm. So far, 12 have been reunited with their owners and some are staying at the shelter because their owners lost so much in the storm and they need the help and others are in need of a new forever home, but they’re finding now that more animals are trickling in even days after the storm.
“They are traumatized. Every one of them that we’ve brought in is in shock. I mean, they’re just shaking. They’re scared to death,” said Kim Raffauf, the director for the Maury County Animal Shelter. “We are just doing our best to try and keep up with everything. We are finding that we’re getting more animals here that are trickling in after the storms.”
In an effort to help, staff with the Williamson County Animal Center (WCAC) not only sent technicians to help right after the storm, but they also took in four litters of cats that weren’t storm rescues. This comes as Maury County’s shelter already had nearly 60 cats before the tornado hit. Some of those are now being treated for various illnesses and stress at WCAC.
“I wanted to make sure that if we pulled cats from them that it would be cats that weren’t displaced by the storm, but ones that had already been surrendered to try to help them make rooms for the ones that would be coming in,” said Ondrea Johnson, director of WCAC.
As they are still kittens, they’re all not up for adoption until they reach a certain weight. On top of that, it’s kitten season, but spay and neuter center’s programs can help to mitigate number.
Volunteers collecting donations for tornado survivors
“In June of 2018, we have 500 cats we took in just in that one month. So, that can kind of give you a little bit of a comparison. We’ll see about 1,000 total through the summer this year versus 500 in just one month just six years ago,” said Johnson.
Staff from both shelters said it’s important to band together to help animals, especially in emergency situations. If you would like to adopt a pet from the Maury County Animal Shelter, you can find more information here. Volunteers are also needed to help bottle feed kittens.
“We are doing our best to make them feel like it’s no other day,” said Raffauf.
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