GEORGETOWN – Brandywine Valley SPCA is scheduled to receive more dogs from winter-storm battered Texas Monday afternoon.

Eighty-nine dogs from a shelter damaged by Winter Storm Uri will arrive at the Delaware Coastal Airport in Georgetown around 2:30 p.m. on a rescue airlift in collaboration with Wings of Rescue and Petco Foundation, according to BVPSCA spokeswoman Linda Torelli.

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,” said Palm Valley Animal Society 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.

 Saturday, 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 Mr. Lamb, “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.”

Ways to help

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.