NH Humane Looks to Support Louisiana Animal Shelters in Crisis Due to Hurricane Ida

LACONIA — Due to lack of running water, large scale power outages and disruptions of energy due to a lack of gasoline, animal shelters are struggling to care for the animals under their charge. The NH Humane Society is encouraging individuals to help out in this time of need by making cash donations that can be used to address the most critical needs.

“We’re collecting donations to send down south so shelters can buy food, supplies and gas to power generators, among other needs,” said Charles Stanton, executive director of the NH Humane Society. “This massive storm caused such severe disruption and the stories coming in from Louisiana report that they are in a crisis situation. We’re hoping the friends of the NH Humane Society will extend their generosity to those in need down south to help them through this extremely challenging time.”

Donations can be made to NH Humane Society through the online portal. To ensure that donations are directed to shelters in Louisiana, donors should click on the “I would like to dedicate this donation” box at the bottom of the page and select “in honor of” in the “type of tribute” box and then type in “Louisiana” in the “tribute name” box. Donations can also be made directly to the Humane Society of Louisiana and their Hurricane Ida disaster relief fund and to the Villalobos Rescue Center, which has significant needs right now and has launched a GoFundMe campaign.

“While we know that people often want to donate food, blankets or other supplies, right now these shelters need to have the flexibility to purchase what they need the most and this is why we are asking people to consider a cash donation,” Stanton said. “We’d like to be able to report on what we’ve been able to do in support of this and ask those who donate directly to a Louisiana cause to let us know by email me at charles@nhhumane.org."

Many shelters relocated animals to other states ahead of the storm, but many others were unable to and given the storm’s impact on New Orleans and other regions, more animals need shelter. Support is expected to be needed for several weeks due to expectations that power outages and disruptions could last for a month or more in some places.