ARTICLE
Rescue flight will arrive in Georgetown Monday afternoon. The Brandywine Valley SPCA (BVSPCA) will receive 89 more dogs from Texas tomorrow to assist a shelter damaged by Winter Storm Uri. The dogs will arrive at the Delaware Coastal Airport on a rescue airlift in collaboration with Wings of Rescue and Petco Foundation. This intake brings the total Texas cats and dogs assisted by the BVSPCA in the past ten days to 266. The dogs will be coming from Palm Valley Animal Society, a high intake shelter in the Rio Grande Valley that sustained damage to its two adoption centers as a result of failed electricity, frozen pipes and other weather-related issues. "Our shelters are overcrowded with anywhere from 30 to 100 animals coming in daily,” says Executive Director, Donna Casamento. Intake will be increasing because the county has just reduced Covid restrictions again. Help like this is so important to our ability to sustain our no-kill status." The dogs will go to the BVSPCA Animal Rescue Center (ARC) in Georgetown, where they will be evaluated and receive medical care as needed. They will begin going up for adoption later in the week across the BVSPCA’s Delaware campuses. “Our Animal Rescue Center was opened specifically for emergency needs like this,” said Adam Lamb, Brandywine Valley SPCA CEO. “We’re looking forward to putting it to use to help finish the hard work of the folks in Palm Valley to save these animals by finding them homes here in our area.” This intake will bring the total number of animals rescued by the BVSPCA in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri to 266 in the past 10 days. Of last weekend’s 125 Texas intakes, 113 have found homes. Yesterday the BVSPCA received a rescue flight of 52 more dogs and cats from the three Texas shelters helped last week; the flight landed at the Chester County Airport, and the dogs and cats will be available for adoption starting Tuesday at the BVSPCA West Chester and New Castle Campuses. This flight tomorrow then brings the BVSPCA intake total to 266 cats and dogs. “We see it as our responsibility to help other communities during a time of crisis,” said Adam Lamb, BVSPCA CEO, “and we’ve been so moved by the outpouring from our community to join us in this important work by adopting and supporting our efforts.” Tomorrow’s dogs will arrive on a flight operated by Wings of Rescue that is funded by Petco Foundation. Members of the press are invited to attend the flight unloading on Monday, March 1. ETA Monday, March 1, 2:30pm Track arrival time at www.flightaware.com with tail number 411 Delaware Coastal Airport 21553 Rudder Lane Georgetown, DE 19947 The pets being relocated were in shelters prior to the winter storm issues and are being relocated to relieve the Palm Valley shelter to repair damages and care for new arrivals. Any pets lost during the storm are being held in the local area to be reunited with their families. The community can help in three ways. With the resources required for intaking more than 250 animals from Texas on top of the local work, the BVSPCA welcomes donations from the community at www.bvspca.org/texas-freeze. The community can help these pets find adoptive families by visiting the shelter to adopt or, if they aren’t in a position to adopt, sharing news of this large intake to reach families that have been considering adoption. About the Brandywine Valley SPCA Founded in 1929, the Brandywine Valley SPCA is the first open admission no-kill shelter in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 2020, the BVSPCA cared for more than 16,000 lost, stray, owner-surrendered, and abused and neglected animals while achieving a 96% live release rate. The BVSPCA provides animal protective services for Chester County and much of Delaware County in Pennsylvania, and it holds a five-year contract with the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare to provide state-wide animal services. Animals are placed through four adoption centers: Dover Campus, Georgetown Campus, New Castle Campus, and West Chester Campus. In addition, the BVSPCA provides families with safety net and low-cost veterinary services at its four clinic locations: the Malvern Animal Health Center, the New Castle Animal Health Center, and the Georgetown Animal Health Center. The BVSPCA also operates the Animal Rescue Center (ARC), a facility dedicated to helping animals with additional needs prior to being ready for adoption, such as cruelty cases, disaster victims, and infants. bvspca.org.