Dozens of adoptable animals were unloaded from a plane Wednesday afternoon, flown to Connecticut from hurricane-ravaged Florida.
“These dogs were either in shelters during the hurricane or in homes that may have been uprooted during the hurricane," said James Bias, executive director of the Connecticut Humane Society. "Now, what I’m hoping is that this will become a distant memory for them and they are going to have wagging tails, licking people in the face, and a really good future.”
The dogs and cats, about 100 on the plane total, arrived from Naples, Florida. They were greeted in Connecticut by animal rescue groups from across the northeast region. The Connecticut Humane Society took 21 dogs to their Newington facility to help with disaster relief after Hurricane Ian.
"These animals that are coming in are primarily the bigger dogs. They are a little harder to place," Bias said. "We won’t have an issue here in CT because we have great big hearts and plenty of families that are hopefully going to be saying we want to help out and adopt a pet."
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Most of the animals were living in shelters when the hurricane hit. This rescue effort helps create room and increase capacity in Florida shelters impacted by Hurricane Ian, according to the humane society.
“By creating that capacity, it means Florida is going to keep their animals longer for people who are going through recovery," Bias said.
In addition to the 21 dogs that the Connecticut Humane Society will take in, the other dogs and cats that were on the flight will go to different shelters from Canton, Massachusetts to Cleveland, Ohio, according to the humane society.
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The dogs will go through two to three days of medical and behavioral evaluation before they are available for adoption. As they get ready for new homes, more information about adoptable dogs can be found at CThumane.org/adopt.
“When you take a look at the disaster in Florida, it is amazing what the people and animals have had to go through," Bias said. "Recognizing what these pets now, this next chapter in their lives, is hopefully going to be a positive one for them.”
