Four weeks post Hurricane Matthew, and the Humane Society of Grand Bahama is still standing! It's been a rough few weeks, but progress is being made slowly but surely. Our power was restored after only 20 days which helped immensely. We had endured numerous frustrating generator issues including fuel availability.
We are not connected to city water but rather a well which requires an electric pump. Trying to clean up after 200 dogs and 100 cats with only a few buckets of water dipped out of our holding tank is not easy! We now also have internet and phones semi-working, at least most of the time.
No government, city or NEMA personnel have visited us to see if we had damage or need assistance. No offers from any authority to help us get back on our feet to provide the vital community service that only we provide on this entire island.
We still have 28 owned dogs and five cats who have either been boarding here since the storm or have been brought in for medical treatment. We have treated many dozens of wounds and illnesses. We have taken in 117 animals since October 1st, not including boarders and medical. Our current shelter population is 180 dogs and 100 cats.
However, there is a bright side! We are humbled and grateful at the response thus far from both friends and strangers, near and far. We are indebted to those who have volunteered their time helping clean up, to those who have donated supplies, food or medicine, to those who have donated badly needed funds. And to our rescue partners abroad who have saved 43 of our dogs in the last four weeks, and to the amazing Pilots n Paws pilots who flew them to safety and second chances, and have flown in over 3000 lbs of donated pet food as well.
We have a huge cleanup and major fence repairs to be done yet. We need a few replacement windows, including the one in our X-ray room, which blew out during the storm and caused some damage. The estimated cost of repairing our X-ray machine is $2500 for parts, shipping and labor. Our damage wasn't enough to meet our insurance deductible. The insurance adjuster estimated our total damage at almost $14,000. This does not include the staff overtime for hurricane duty, the security guard we had to employ when we had no power and therefore no alarm, or the generator repairs and fuel; the total of all this was $5,600.
There are still many animals in need, both in the communities and our shelter. We have implemented a feeding program in the hardest hit communities, for the animals affected. Many pet owners are experiencing extreme hardship and their pets are suffering as well. This program is so necessary - and may remain so for weeks and months to come, but it is another stretch of our meager resources. Volunteers are still needed for this and other things; please come by or call Tip at 727.2477 if you would like to help.
Please keep sharing our Facebook Page, TKF's Page, and the online fundraisers, as the needs will be great for months to come. Heartfelt thanks again to everyone for the prayers, good wishes, donations and volunteering!
Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates and donations can be made from there as well, or dropped off at the shelter.
Or one of these two fundraisers (100% of funds from both come to us):
https://fundly.com/help-the-potcakes-recover-from-hurricane-matthew?ft_src=search_campaign_card
Source: Grand Bahama Humane Society
