New Zealand rallies behind cyclone and flood-impacted animals and pets with hundreds of donations to the Hastings SPCA. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand rallies behind cyclone and flood-impacted animals and pets with hundreds of donations to the Hastings SPCA. Photo / Supplied
New Zealanders from all over the country have swung in behind to help out animals in some of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.
In the days following the cyclone’s destruction and flooding people began to donate to the SPCA and haven’t stopped, with New Zealanders so far having donated more than $240,000 specifically towards the cyclone response.
Hastings SPCA centre manager Joy Walker said the general Hawke’s Bay public had been amazing along with the rest of New Zealand.
“Thousands of bags of pet food have been dropped off since the cyclone hit, and we’re just so grateful for the donations,” Walker said.
The local SPCA centres have been receiving food, blankets, money and other donations from both the North Island and South Island.
A load of donations came from a member of the public who drove 17 hours with donations from the Te Kuiti, Waitomo and King Country communities.
Along with donations, people have also been offering to help foster animals or provide emergency boarding for displaced animals.
“The offers for help have been absolutely fantastic, and we have passed those offering emergency boarding to MPI and Civil Defence,” the centre manager said.
Hawke’s Bay SPCA centres are blown away by the generosity of New Zealanders in wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Supplied
Other SPCA centres across New Zealand have been coming down and helping out to assist and also give the Hawke’s Bay teams some days off where needed.
The number of animals coming into the centre has slowed down, however, at the beginning of the cyclone the SPCA had a lot of animals brought in but a number were microchipped and were returned to their owners.
“It was a very quick sort of in-and-out process if animals had chips,” Walker explained.
The SPCA said microchipping was key, especially with natural disasters like Cyclone Gabrielle. Microchipping your pet was the easiest and fastest way to get your animal back.
“If they come into the SPCA, animal control, the vets or another shelter, they can contact you straight away and it just speeds that process up, so we strongly, strongly encourage microchipping,” Walker said.
Not sure how to get your pet microchipped? call your local SPCA centre and they will help organise appointments with you.
If your animal is already microchipped the SPCA asks that you try to keep up to date with the information on the chip or add as much detail as you can, either an email address or a backup contact number.
For those still wanting to donate or help, volunteering and fostering along with pet blankets and bedding is the biggest way to help.
Pet food donations are slowly being sifted through and handed out.
“We are relatively okay for that [animal food] right now and we obviously do not want to take too much especially if it might expire before it can be given out and used, but if that’s how people can donate the centre is happy to take those donations and try to get them where they are needed,” Walker said.
