Hundreds of animals rescued after Hurricane Laura

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - So many animals were left behind to fend for themselves after Hurricane Laura. In fact, Lake Charles Pit Bull Rescue, in partnership with Compassion Kind, has received around 300 pets after the storm.

Founder and director of Lake Charles Pit Bull Rescue, Renee Sims, says a lot of the rescues were abandoned animals. Their families had evacuated during Laura and left the dogs and cats behind.

“A lot of people abandoned their animals and left them during the hurricane and evacuated without them,” Sims said. "Those got loose obviously and came into our care. There were a lot of cases where because dogs had been severely neglected anyway behind a fence and nobody could see that, when the fences started coming down and linemen and other workers started coming into town, it really exposed a lot of animals in need.”

The organization partnered up with Compassion Kind to find new homes for these animals since right now, the organization does not have a facility to house the animals. They’re held in foster homes until they can be transported.

"What we do is we take in abandoned or abused animals, and then we rehabilitate them and get them back to health, get them up to date on shots, heartworm negative, microchipped, spayed or neutered, and then we adopt them out.”

Sims says they became so overwhelmed that they had to transport most of the animals to rescues around the country.

"It always amazes me when people leave without their animals. If you’re afraid of what will happen to you as a person and a human being during an almost category five hurricane, why would you not be concerned about what it would also do to another living being?”

Sims says working together with the organization’s partners helped them accomplish their rehoming goal.

"It was almost 300 animals that we had in a tent with bottled water and generators. It’s amazing what you can accomplish and get done when you can work together as a team and have a common goal. I learned a whole lot during Laura about that.”

If you would like to adopt a rescue, become a foster home for an abandoned pet, or donate to the rescue’s efforts, you can visit lakecharlespitbullrescue.com.

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