Pet care facilities available during storms

When it comes to major storms, residents and local officials must do as much to prepare pets as they do for humans.

"All people really need to do is what's sensible and put yourself in your pet's shoes," Mike Westfall, the Lenoir County SPCA's assistant shelter manager, said Thursday. "You wouldn't want to be out there; if we're going to run and hide we ought to offer pets that same courtesy."

Westfall urged residents to keep their dogs and cats inside when Tropical Storm Hanna rolled through the area this weekend, and have several days' worth of food and water on hand.

Local officials have recommended that people do the same thing for themselves - keep water, food, batteries and medications close by.

"Do what you would do for us, plain and simple," Westfall said. "Follow the rules we go by."

While the local SPCA does not have space to hold pets during the storm, space is available at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension's pet shelter on the Lenoir Community College Campus and at local animal hospitals.

Dr. Jimmy Shaver of Northside Animal Hospital in Kinston said his facility has some space for pets. If owners decide to stay home with their animals, he recommends that they have enough food and water available, plus any medications pets take, especially their daily meds.

Shaver also encouraged residents to keep pets confined to one space, such as a carrying crate, during the storm. They should also secure any loose items in the home to prevent them from flying around and hitting their pets.

Lenoir County's Cooperative Extension office is operating a pet shelter, located in Lenoir Community College's maintenance building. That facility is a short distance from the college's Union Building, which serves as a shelter for residents.

"The reason for that is, we want people to be in close proximity to their pets," Cooperative Extension Director Tammy Kelly said Friday.

If the weather allows for it, pet owners are able to walk to the shelter and visit their animals or take them for a walk in a fenced-in grassy area outside the building, Kelly said.

She urged owners to bring their pets' food, leashes for dogs, carrying crates and food and water bowls. People have donated a small number of those items to the Extension's shelter for owners who might not have them.

Kelly explained that more donations are needed, along with more volunteers to staff the shelter during the various storms expected to hit the area over the next week.

She said that the shelter was created to give pet owners the opportunity to stay near their furry, feathered or scaly friends if they have to leave home. Sanitation regulations prohibit humans and animals from staying in the same shelter, so owners are often forced to leave pets behind.

"The primary reason for the shelter is a lot of folks were not willing to leave their pets at home," Kelly said. "This way they can all be in the same place, which we think is so much better."

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.