Sarasota animal sanctuaries prepare for Hurricane Irma

While Hurricane Irma approaches, Save Our Seabirds, Mote Marine and Cat Depot prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

By Anna Brugmann & Katie Johns
| 3:45 p.m. September 6, 2017

Sarasota
Neighbors

Hurricane Irma has yet to make landfall in the United States, but local animal sanctuaries are preparing for impact.

Shelters such as Cat Depot were a flurry of activity on Sept. 6. There are animals to account for and evacuations plans to be made, but for staff, the first step was making sure their operation was mobile.

“First and foremost is the carriers,” Director of Communications Claudia Harden said.

Cat Depot's hallways are lined with more than 100 pet carriers.

Volunteers and staff spent the morning assembling more than 100 cat carriers Wednesday morning to account for the shelter’s 96 cats in case of evacuation.

“Believe it or not, the most important thing is putting a piece of duct tape across the top of it so we can ID the cats,” Harden said. “So we know who is in which cage and where we can move them. It’s kind of like a living game of Tetris.”

For now, Harden said they are waiting to see to what degree Irma will impact the Sarasota area.

“We are looking at making a call as of tomorrow morning,” Harden said. “If it looks like we will probably be sustaining category 3 winds, we will more than likely stay.”

Meanwhile, The Humane Society of Sarasota County is offering decreased option fees to help

Volunteers assembled more than 100 pet carriers Wednesday morning.

#ClearTheShelter in preparation for the storm.

“We want to make space for animals that will need our help after Hurricane Irma,” the shelter said in a release. “We are asking all Florida residents to come to HSSC this week to adopt.”

But for now, it’s a waiting game. With carriers assembled and plans made at Cat Depot, Harden said staff and volunteers are keeping their eyes on the forecast and hoping for the best.

“Our fingers are crossed for that right now,” Harden said.

But Sarasota’s four-legged friends aren’t the only ones getting prepared.

How to prepare

The Humane Society of Sarasota County suggests keeping copies of your pet’s current vaccination records on hand as well as photos of you with your pets, pet’s medications, carriers, cages, collars and leashes, in addition to food and water for five days.

Cat Depot’s Claudia Harden said it is important to make sure your pets are microchipped, but, first and foremost, make sure you have a means to transport your animal, especially a cat.

“Pretty much is the biggest piece of advice I can give is when you are moving your cat, make sure you have a carrier for it,” Harden said. “Don’t try moving your cat in your hands or anything like that.”

Cat Depot has carriers for sale in its store and offers microchipping services. The Animal Rescue Coalition, 6320 Tower Lane, is also offering discounted microchipping and vaccination services Sept. 7 from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. All vaccines and microchips will be $10 each. Executive Director Mary Dietterle said it is particularly important to consider your pet’s vaccinations in the days before a major weather event. Many emergency shelters require proof of up to date rabies vaccinations before pets are admitted.

“Make sure you have your county tags, make sure you have your rabies vaccine,” Dietterle said. “It’s exceptionally important because you don’t want to be in a situation and you have your pet with you and you can’t get into the shelter because your pets don’t have the information.”

Over on City Island at Save our Seabirds, CEO David Pilston said they are “battening down the hatches.” Some birds are being moved to higher ground on Save our Seabirds’ property, some parrots and other birds are being moved indoors. Some birds are even going home with staff members. A small crew of staff will check in on the birds at the property each morning this weekend to feed them.

Recent models show the storm turning east after making landfall in Florida possibly early Sunday morning.

“We’ve been planning for the worst but hoping for the best, and it looks like it’s not going to be the worst, which is good for all of us,” Pilston said.

Some birds were even released back into the wild, Pilston said. While Save our Seabirds would never release an at-risk bird, Pilston said about a dozen were releasable.

“Any bird that was releasable was released because they’ll be better off out there,” he said.

Across from Save our Seabirds, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium staff is working closely with the Sarasota County Emergency Management and monitoring weather conditions via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to prepare the aquarium and animals.

“We do have contingency plans for all of our animals and systems and how to operate, and it really varies depending on what’s going on with the storm,” Mote Aquarium’s Assistant Vice President Evan Barniskis said.

Barniskis said it’s difficult to plan with the hurricane still being so far out from the U.S. In the past, he said, Mote staff has had to move animals because of weather, but that can be stressful for animals.

“We don’t want to jump into the worst-case scenario yet if we don’t have to because the best situation for all of our animals is to maintain life as is,” he said.