‘It’s our responsibility;’ Animal shelter takes in cats from shelters devasted by Hurricane Helene

DAYTON — A local animal shelter took in 17 cats from shelters affected by Helene.

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The Dayton Humane Society is asking for emergency foster homes to aid in their efforts.

The 17 cats are from Georgia, only a few remain because 11 of them were immediately fostered.

“In a time of crisis like this, we recognize our responsibility to help other shelters that are in need,” Brian Weltge, president of the humane society.

The cats came in Tuesday night.

“They were in a bad situation. And many times the bad situation is that even though they’re in a shelter, a shelter might be out of power, they may not have water, they may have flooding,” Weltge explained.

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They were able to get fostered so quickly because they’d been preparing for the natural disaster.

“Many, many people stepped up and put in applications,” Weltge said.

As Hurricane Milton quickly approaches, Weltge said his team will continue to help.

“If we had a crisis here, I’m sure shelters in other parts of the country would also help us. So it’s one of those things where we just feel like it’s our responsibility,” he said.

He added even saving one or two animals is making a difference.

“We’re not trying to save all the animals down there because we hope other shelters are doing the same thing through the country,” Weltge said.

He said they are expecting more animals from shelters impacted, specifically dogs but unsure of the timeline.

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