Sacramento, CA (January 6, 2006) – United Animal Nations (UAN) this week distributed $165,000 in grants to bring additional relief to animals in the Gulf Coast who are still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. UAN’s total grant distribution for Katrina relief is $255,000.
According to UAN president and CEO Jennifer Fearing, the hurricane relief grants represent more than one-quarter of the organization’s entire annual expense budget for 2005.
“Thanks to generous support from donors nationwide, we have assisted the Katrina-affected area in ways we never could have imagined,” Fearing said. “We’re glad we can help groups that are still struggling to provide basic services for the animal victims of the hurricanes and the people who care for them. And we’re particularly happy to be contributing to efforts aimed at reducing the long-term animal overpopulation problem in the area.”
A summary of UAN’s Katrina grants:
- $100,000 to fund spay/neuter programs in Louisiana and Mississippi. To help establish aggressive spay/neuter voucher programs and clinics in those states. UAN is working with the ASPCA, the HSUS and local agencies to quickly establish a massive program. UAN’s Fearing will also travel to the region to consult on creation of the voucher program.
- $55,000 to Rescue Ranch in Belle Chase, Louisiana. To enable replacement of equipment destroyed during the disaster relief effort, including a tractor, trailer and truck. Despite personal struggles, Rescue Ranch continues to care for 62 horses stranded across an 80-mile area after Katrina.
- $10,000 to Vermillion Animal Aid in Abbeville, Louisiana. To provide feed and supplies to farmers in Vermillion Parish who are struggling to care for their animals and cannot replant feed crops due to soil contamination caused by flooding.
- $75,000 to the Louisiana SPCA. To aid animal shelter rebuilding efforts.
- $10,000 to the Massachusetts Animal Coalition. To cover costs associated with medical care for 39 rescued dogs transferred to their custody from UAN’s temporary shelter in Monroe, Louisiana.
- $2,500 grants to the Pet Animal Welfare Society of Northeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. To defray costs associated with providing disaster relief for animals.
UAN’s direct relief efforts through its volunteer-based Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) included providing shelter to more than 2,100 animals at six locations in three states in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. More than 400 trained EARS volunteers deployed to assist with the operation of four emergency animal shelters in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and to provide support for animal recovery operations in St. Bernard Parish in Chalmette, Louisiana.
Founded in 1987, United Animal Nations is North America’s leading provider of emergency animal sheltering and disaster relief services and a key advocate for the critical needs of animals.
###
