Tag: Bahamas

How to Help Dogs in the Bahamas Displaced by Hurricane Dorian

 

Hurricane Dorian literally obliterated many areas of the Bahamas while causing catastrophic flooding. At least 40 people have died. Tragically, that number is expected to increase a lot.

Here are some of the ways you can help the dogs who survived this record-breaking disaster by helping the shelters, rescues and nonprofit organizations that are caring for them.

Humane Society of Grand Bahama

More than 100 dogs and cats lost their lives at the Humane Society of Grand Bahama (HSGB) when over five feet of water came rushing into the shelter. But thanks to the heroic efforts of six staff members who remained there — with the water up to their necks — more than 150 pets miraculously survived.

Among the survivors was a dog who the staff found in an upstairs bathroom, sitting on debris, two days after the storm. “The owner has been contacted and cried with gratitude to hear the news,” the HSGB reported on its Facebook page.

The HSGB is planning to have all the survivors airlifted to shelters in the United States.

HOW TO HELP

Make a cash donation to the Save the Potcakes Bahamas online fundraiser. This is the only GoFundMe fundraiser sanctioned by the HSGB.

Make a donation to the Kohn Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the HSGB.

Voiceless Dogs of Nassau

Graciela “Chella” Phillips, founder of The Voiceless Dogs of Nassau and truly an angel on Earth, made news headlines by taking nearly 100 stray dogs into her home as Dorian was approaching. They all survived.

“I am just an animal lover,” Phillips told the Miami Herald. Her goal was to raise $20,000 online to help care for the dogs. As of Sept. 7, people inspired by her compassion have donated over $276,000 — or 1,383% of that goal.

HOW TO HELP

Make a cash donation to The Voiceless Dogs of Pawtcake Refuge online fundraiser.

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

Founded 50 years ago, the nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) improves conditions for animals, people and the environment. IFAW’s disaster response team has been deployed to the Bahamas “to provide on-the-ground support to communities and wildlife and reunite families with their pets,” according to its Facebook page.

The HSGB reports on its Facebook page today that IFAW is assisting the shelter “with care for the animals and to give some of the shelter staff a much-needed reprieve.”

HOW TO HELP

Make a donation on the IFAW website.

Greater Good

This nonprofit is also on the ground in the Bahamas, helping people and pets. Before Dorian struck, Greater Good’s disaster response team shipped more than 500 crates to the Bahamas from its partner, The Animal Rescue Site, so animals could be evacuated before the hurricane or relocated to the United States afterward.

HOW TO HELP

Make a donation on the GreaterGood.org website. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is currently matching each donation dollar for dollar, up to $10,000.

Photo: Chella Phillips/Facebook

If you know of another shelter, rescue or nonprofit organization in need of donations to help to care for Bahamas dogs, please leave a comment and I’ll add it to this story.

 

Raccoonhound? Orphaned Raccoon Becomes BFFs with Dogs

Please don’t tell Pumpkin she’s not a dog.

The 1-year-old raccoon was rescued as a baby when she fell from a tree in Rosie Kemp’s Nassau, Bahamas, backyard.

Kemp and her daughter, Laura Young, waited for the raccoon’s mother to show up, but when that didn’t happen, they contacted the Bahamas Humane Society. The shelter couldn’t take the raccoon.

“So, with the guidance of friends who have had experience with raccoons, we cared for her,” Young told CBS News. They named her Pumpkin, and had her treated for a leg she broke in the fall, fed her every few hours and kept her warm.

As long as they are kept up-to-date on rabies vaccinations, raccoons are allowed as pets in the Bahamas. Young said if the baby raccoon hadn’t fallen from the tree, she would never consider having one as a pet.

“Raccoons are NOT pets,” Young told The Dodo. “They are wild animals, so they are quite moody. Unlike dogs and cats, they are not domesticated. Like a spoiled child, if she doesn’t get her way, she will let you know.”

Young said she and her mom intend to give Pumpkin the best life possible.

But it seems like a challenge to that best life would be two other rescued pets of Kemp and Young: dogs Toffee and Oreo. Could a raccoon actually live happily ever after in a house with two predators?

Amazingly, yes. Apparently the dogs think Pumpkin is a dog — and Pumpkin thinks she is a dog.

“Pumpkin considers the dogs her mums,” Young told CBS News. “She respects them when they have had enough rough play and she loves to cuddle next to them when she is tired.”

An Instagram account with lots of adorable photos of Pumpkin and her two besties currently has more than 134,000 followers.

“She is so wonderful and highly intelligent and always very entertaining,” Young told CBS News. “She is a cheeky little thing, but we love her dearly.”

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