At the beginning of August, BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Animal Incident Management (AIM) team mobilized to provide essential support in response to Tropical Storm Debby. Debby made landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 80 mph, bringing catastrophic rainfall and flooding from storm surge to parts of the Southeast. Knowing pets’ lives were at stake, we acted quickly!  

When a crisis or disaster strikes, AIM takes action through partnerships with professional animal welfare organizations nationwide. Support is available to emergency management and communities in the form of resources such as pre-event planning to post-event recovery, animal search and rescue, shelter support, transport and mass care/humanitarian efforts where people and animals are assisted together. 

At the request of the state and local governments in Georgia, AIM deployed its animal search and rescue team, ASAR Training and Response, to provide lifesaving assistance in impacted communities. While on the ground, AIM joined forces with American Humane, ASPCA, Code 3 Associates, and Michigan Humane to perform critical assessments of flooded areas to ensure no pets or people needed evacuation. On Friday, August 9, the ground team received a call to rescue four cats from a flooded house in Effingham County, Georgia. The AIM team and partners responded fast, and the cats were reunited with their families.  

BPF’s disaster response also included facilitating and funding the transportation and placement of shelter pets from impacted areas. We transported pets from Live Oak, Florida, to Fort Myers, Florida, after their shelter was flooded by the storm. Additionally, BPF provided several transport trips for dogs from shelters in South Carolina to clear space for emergency intake from other low-lying coastal shelters. The storm has passed, but BPF continues to work with area shelters to provide critical assistance.  

Thanks to the generous support of donors like you, our AIM team was able to respond quickly to save pets who would not have had a chance without us. Thank you for helping us save lives!