why-animals-do-the-thing:

As the East Coast braces for a potentially catastrophic hit from Irma and disaster response is in full swing in Houston, a people obviously want to know what they can do to help. The politics of disaster response regarding animals can be complicated, so here’s some quick information:

Pets:

• If you want to donate money, the best thing you can do is to donate it to a rescue organization local to the area that was hit. These smaller organizations often need the help the most, and it’s important to support the local businesses that are likely dealing with storm damage themselves (I wish I had a list of local rescues to recommend – please feel free to add suggestions in the reblogs or comments). 
• If you want to adopt an animal post-Harvey and you live somewhere else in the country, or your shelter is asking for donations to support rescued animals from the storm, double-check that they’re only adopting out animals that were already living in shelters before the storm hit. After Katrina, a lot of animals who had families waiting to reunite them were transported across the country to other shelters – so just check and make sure they’re not actually adopting out animals who might have families back in Texas.
• Don’t donate to large animal advocacy organizations that have gotten involved unless you’ve vetted their work very thoroughly. HSUS and PETA have both shown up in the Houston area and are doing massive fundraising drives for their efforts there, but before choosing to donate to them keep in mind PETA’s track record for euthanizing adoptable animals and the fact that HSUS only put a fraction of the donations they received post-Sandy towards helping animals impacted by that storm. There are some seriously iffy posts coming out of Texas about the conduct of HSUS and the ASPCA regarding their takeovers of local rescue efforts and the disappearance of large numbers of dogs – I can’t vet the truth of those reports, but given the previously known conduct of these organizations, it may just be worth staying clear of them if you want to be sure your money is actually going to help animals. (IMPORTANT: HSUS is NOT associated with local Humane Societies unless their website explicitly states that affiliation, so those groups are fine to donate to). 

Wildlife:

• Donate to wildlife centers and rehabs, as they’re likely taking in a huge number of animals after the storm. The Houston SPCA Wildlife Center of Texas is one facility that has been reported on needing help to care for the sheer number of animals brought in by concerned people post-Harvey. 
• If you like bats, consider contributing to the Bat World Sanctuary – they’ve taken in over 400 rescued bats that lived under the bridges in Houston. 

Zoos:

The zoos in Texas are working together to help affected facilities – it’s been great to see facilities and trade organizations that normally compete with each other putting all that aside and collaborating on disaster response. When it comes to helping out zoos after Harvey, there are two things you can do: donate to the zoos, and donate to the zookeepers.

• The Texas Zoo in Victoria was really hard hit by the hurricane, with 

  mature trees were blown onto most of the buildings and several exhibits, causing major damage and all buildings on site flooding. Their animals are currently housed with other zoos while they repair the damage – you can donate directly to them here. 

• The Forth Worth Zoo is taking donations to help fund the disaster response program at the Texas Zoo. 
• The San Antonio Zoo is taking donations to help fund disaster relief for zoos across the state, and although their website doesn’t specify which facilities, news articles indicate they’re involved with helping both the Texas Zoo and the Downtown Aquarium in Houston. 
• The Downtown Aquarium in Houston does not have a direct donate link on their website, but news reports indicated there was flooding in the building during the storm. 

The zookeepers in the areas affected by Harvey also need help to rebuild their lives after the storm, as many of them lost quite a lot to the storm. 

AZA has set up an employee relief fund for the staffers at AZA institutions affected by the storm (such as the Downtown Aquarium and the San Antonio Zoo).

The Houston Zoo has started an employee relief fund specifically to support their staffers.