Shelter fire in WV/Help needed !!!

[pblove]

Please crosspost everywhere
Please post on BLOGS and bulletin boards

SHELTER FIRE overnight in Harrisville WV!
See plea from shelter below.

Most urgent needs immediately: food & medical supplies
They also need cat foster homes or somewhere to house kittens/cats indoors.
PayPal: rchumane@zoominternet.net (zoominternet. net)
Paypal also on the website:
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/ WV22.html

Contact info:
Shelter phone: 304-643-4721
June: rchumane@zoomintern et.net (zoominternet. net) She probably won't have much time to be online.
Crystal: curlybutts@zoominte rnet.net (zoominternet. net)


PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST

The cat building is gone, and we fear all the cats and kittens. It's still too dark to know if any cats escaped. Forgive me if I am missing anyone, but the dogs in there were a mama dog and her puppies, the shelter mascot Momma, Lil Dude, and Chance. I got the call from June at 3 AM, and the fire dept. was still there.

The supply rooms were also in this building. As far as we know, everything is gone: food, medicines, vaccines, transport crates, refrigerators to store medicines, cat kennel cages, ex-pens for puppies, cleaning supplies, trash bags, litter pans, litter, cat food, feeding bowls, newspapers, bedding, etc. June will try to set up a temporary area for cat-intake.

The most immediate need now is to replace the destroyed food.

PayPal is rchumane@zoomintern et.net, or link thru the shelter website, http://www.petfinde r.com/shelters/ WV22.html

Checks can be sent to:

Ritchie County Humane Society
RR 1 BOX 3
Harrisville, WV 26362

If you have items you can donate, please call the shelter to arrange a time to bring them in, or we'll find a way to meet you part way (I'm off work Thur/Fri). The shelter phone is 304-643-4721. At this point, I'd ask you only to call to make arrangements to offer assistance during daytime hours. We'll send out emails and updates to the Petfinder site as soon as we have any information to pass along. It is still too early to know the source of the fire.

We are grateful to the rescues who took in several of the puppies & small dogs from that bldg. in two transports in the last week. And, I'm especially thankful to the rescue that begged us to transport last week when I was planning to wait another week until bad weather conditions cleared up. Those pups owe you their lives even more so now than they before.

Thanks in advance to anything you can do to help us recover from this tragedy.

[PitBull-Lady]

In the DC area, there is a drive of items to go up there today, so I missed the van on that one.
For those not familiar with the area it is close to the Ohio border north of Huntington.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3605-DC-Anima ... scue-Group

posted 1/13/10
"Last night at the Ritchie County Animal Shelter in Harrisville, West Virginia, a devastating fire took the lives of dogs, cats, kittens, and puppies, and additionally wiped out all the supplies of this already struggling shelter. With the economy, the unseasonably cold weather, and the general problem of pet overpopulation in rural shelters, Ritchie County is already dealing with their fair share of struggles. Thankfully, when local rescue group Homeward Trails hear the tragic news this morning, they immediately began planning how the local D.C. community could assist the surviving animals.

In a plea that went out this morning across the animal welfare community, Homeward Trails stated, “the most immediate need now is to replace the destroyed food. The building that burned included the supply rooms. As far as we know, everything is gone: food, medicines, vaccines, transport crates, refrigerators to store medicines, cat kennel cages, ex-pens for puppies, cleaning supplies, trash bags, litter pans, litter, cat food, feeding bowls, newspapers, bedding, etc.”

The rescue organization will be traveling the 300 miles up to the Ritchie County Animal Shelter this Friday, January 15th, so they are pleading with the community to drop off donations at Dog Paws and Cat Claws University in Arlington today or tomorrow. Additionally, financial donations can be made directly to the shelter by visiting http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/WV22.html and clicking the donate button. Financial donations through this website are preferred as it is the quickest way to help so that the shelter staff can buy the supplies they need immediately."

[pblove]

UPDATE....

I have spoken to someone from the Humane Society and they are really good on food at this point but money or gift cards for Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc would be helpful. He also mentioned that bedding is critical at this time so blankets, dog and cat beds and the like is high on their list of needs!!!!

Their web address is http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/WV22.html if you would like to make a donation. Again, for anyone who lives in the Baltimore area, if you have items you would like to send - I will be sending boxes on Tuesday or Wednesday and am happy to pay for shipping costs for all (please no food - it is just too heavy)!!!

Please call my cell phone Jenna(443-527-5318) if you are interested in making arrangements to drop things off!!