Dakin & Community Rally for Storm-Ravaged Southern Shelter

Arrival of the South Carolina pups

When Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26, there would be a long path of destruction following her in the days ahead. One of our shelter partners, Aiken County Animal Shelter in South Carolina, would be hit especially hard by Helene’s damage and needed immediate help.

Aiken lost its internet connection and access to water directly after the storm.  Their power wasn’t restored until a week later, and they had shelter animals to relocate as soon as possible.  Their goal was to see as many of their current in-shelter population relocated quickly to make room for the local pets who had become separated from their families due to the hurricane and its aftermath.  Aiken’s focus would be on their care and making every effort to reunite them with their people.

Dakin agreed to accept 12 in-shelter dogs and puppies via a transport from Aiken the following week, on October 10.  In the meantime, we needed to make room in our own shelter to accommodate our new arrivals, so adoption fees were reduced by 50% from October 4-12 to encourage people to adopt, and 97 animals found new homes!

In addition to helping through adoption, many people generously donated wet and dry food for dogs and cats, which was directed to Aiken to help them through their post-hurricane challenges.  As soon as the dozen adorable dogs and puppies were helped out of the transport van and placed their paws on New England soil, our team members lined up and quickly packed the Aiken transport van with dozens of bags and cans of food, plus donated dog toys.  The doors could barely close!

When tragedies hit, shelters do their best to link arms and help their partner organizations get through their crisis.  We are so fortunate to have a dedicated team of staff, volunteers, and foster caregivers who are quick to rally together to help.  

The role that our community plays in this is critical; and Dakin’s community really came through for the people and pets at Aiken County Animal Shelter.  Your generosity in providing pet food and toys, and especially adopting Dakin pets (and now our new arrivals from Aiken), and giving them loving homes and warm futures, helped everyone weather the storm.  

Thank you for the role you played in this important effort!

Dakin team members preparing to load the Aiken van with donated supplies

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