Flood-Ravaged Vermont Stranded Pets Flown To MA Shelters For Adoption

SALEM, MA — A plane carrying nine dogs, 11 cats and one chinchilla evacuated from the historic Vermont floods was expected to land at Hanscom Air Force base in Bedford Wednesday afternoon as MSPCA-Angell and the Northeast Animal Shelter of Salem look to find forever homes for the stranded pets.

The pets come from the Vermont Humane Society's efforts to keep their shelters open for new surrenders and displaced pets in the Hudson Valley at the Montpelier Animal Shelter following up to nine inches of rain across the Green Mountain State. These pets were already in shelters at the time of the heavy rains and needed to be moved for the more pets anticipated to arrive in the upcoming days.

"Never before has our disaster response program been more necessary, given this unfolding disaster in Vermont," said Mike Keiley, Director of Adoption Centers and Programs at the MSPCA-Angell. "Like nearly every other shelter in the country, (Central Vermont Humane Society) is already at capacity for dogs, making it essential to relocate those that we can."

The new arrivals come as MSPCA-Angell and the Northeast Animal Shelter are at 90 percent capacity and are offering fee-waived adoptions through Sunday for large-breed dogs at least 1 year old amid what has been described as a "dog euthanasia crisis" nationwide.

"Obviously, with devastation at this scale, residents' priority will shift to repairing their homes and, in many cases, their lives," Keiley said. "And shelters and rescue groups will need to focus on reunifying lost pets with their families."

The BISSELL Pet Foundation sponsored the flights with donations being sought to offset the cost of caring for these and other pets that may be brought to Massachusetts during the upcoming hurricane season.

"This life-saving work would not be possible without support from our donors and I would ask everyone who is able to consider donating right away to ensure we have the resources necessary to be there for the animals who need us," Keiley said.

Donations can be made here.

The Vermont pets will serve out a 48-hour quarantine period and then be eligible for adoption in Salem and MSPCA-Angell shelters in Boston, Methuen and Cape Cod.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.