DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - Volunteers with two South Florida pet rescue organizations are on the way to Louisiana to help rescue dogs and cats that are homeless since Hurricane Laura struck the state last week.
Officials and volunteers with Good Karma Pet Rescue and Pet Haven Rescue could be seen loading up their vehicles as they begin their trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana, Friday.
“Lots of animals have been displaced. A lot of owners have been displaced, and they need to surrender their animals since there is no place for them to go right now,” Good Karma Pet Rescue volunteer Deven Soto said.
After Hurricane Laura left parts of the state in shambles, families were not the only ones left without homes. Most animals were left on the streets with no water or food.
Gigi Stetler, who runs RV Sales of Broward, said when the rescue group couldn’t secure an RV for their trip, she donated a truck and an RV to the rescue group.
“When Carole called me and the animals are just floating downstream and lost, and the wind was so strong that it’s blowing animals, you know, blew them miles and miles away,” Gigi Stetler, the CEO of RV Sales of Broward, said. “Some don’t have tags on, tags blew off, so you know we all just have to do our part. It’s what people do. It’s what you’re supposed to do. It’s what I do. It’s what I believe in.”
Six volunteers will be joining the journey, bringing supplies such as crates, generators, water, fans and tents to set up once they get there.
“We’re looking to get them in an area where they’re confined, set up camp, so we can feed them, medicate them, give them a place to lay their head down at night,” Carole Chapeys, the founder of Pet Haven Rescue, said.
The plan is to get the animals healthy, find foster homes for them and eventually bring them to South Florida, but the animals aren’t the only ones getting help on this trip.
“We’re not only bringing supplies up in her RV that they’re donating, but we’re leaving the RV or the camper to a place in Louisiana at Lake Charles for this family to live,” Chapeys said.
Some rescuers drove to Louisiana to start helping set up the area where the animals will be placed.
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