Cape Cod Pets Were Also Struck By Blizzard, But There's Good News

BARNSTABLE, MA — Like most other Cape residents, the animals at Cape Cod Adoption Center faced dire and chilly straits late Tuesday after a devastating blizzard.

With no electricity and little fuel left to keep its generator and heat going, the center had no choice but to evacuate nearly 50 dogs, cats and other critters to affiliated sites far off the Cape – in Boston and Methuen.

No easy task, especially when many local roads were then impassable. But the center’s staff safely moved the animals, and there’s been a bonus.

The animal adoption center, operated by MSPCA-Angell at 1577 Falmouth Road in Centerville, now has space for pets whose homes are uninhabitable due to power outages and other problems related to the winter storm.

That’s a critical need, since most warming centers and emergency shelters don’t allow Cape residents to bring their domestic animals. The facilities simply aren’t equipped.

As in similar emergencies everywhere, pet-parents can then face a heartbreaking dilemma.

MSPCA-Angell Vice President Mike Keiley said in a statement Wednesday, “We’re grateful to be in a position to offer this resource so that people don’t have to choose to be unsafe in order to do what they believe is best for their pets.”

MSPCA-Angell, an animal welfare nonprofit based in Boston, credits Cape community members for the unexpected hospitality.

After the Centerville staff got their animals off to safer locations, a social media appeal on Tuesday resulted in a delivery of diesel fuel, soon before the generator would have run out at midnight.

“While we evacuated the animals, we also put out a call to the community for help,” Keiley said. “Thankfully, we were able to get fuel to keep the generator running.”

On Thursday afternoon, crews of utility Eversource had restored power to many Cape customers. The number of outages had fallen to roughly 7,500 in Barnstable and 6,900 in Falmouth, about one-quarter of the homes and businesses served in each town.