24 Hours, 75 Lives

Written By: David Stroud - Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society | Issue: 2018/11 - November

This past September, the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society Animal Rescue Team was deployed for a marathon 24 consecutive hours to rescue and relocate 75 animals in harm’s way of Hurricane Florence.

The rescue team left Cashiers on Tuesday, September 11, in the pre-dawn darkness at 5:00 A.M. for the long trip to help animals at the Outer Banks SPCA, and by 5:30 P.M. we had emptied their shelter of 75 cats and dogs and began our journey to safe refuge inland.

At 8:30 P.M. that evening we met with Safe Haven for Cats in Raleigh and placed 20 kittens in their care.  Then it was back on the road to Charlotte where the team met with Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control and Humane Society Charlotte and transferred 34 feline and canine survivors to those two agencies.  At 1:00 A.M. on the morning of Wednesday, September 12, CHHS started the final leg of our lifesaving journey for the trip back to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  After 24 hours and 1,037 miles, the CHHS Animal Rescue Team arrived back in Cashiers at 5:15 A.M. with 21 weary but comforted and safe cats and dogs.

“We were beyond relieved when the Humane Society of the United States told us they were sending emergency placement partners to transfer our animals,” said John Graves, Executive Director of the Outer Banks SPCA.  “We were even more elated to discover our friends at the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society were handling the rescue.  Our respect for the compassion and dedication of this team is beyond measure.  Our hearts go out to all the partners and extra-special thanks goes to CHHS for making the exhausting trip across the entire state.”

John Graves is a great friend of mine and a fearless fellow animal advocate.  I actually refer to him as my blood brother.  So when it first became apparent that Hurricane Florence was headed in the direction of his shelter, I let him know that help was on the way.  HSUS was extremely supportive in routing our rescue mission on the way back home so that we could stop at animal welfare partners in Raleigh and Charlotte to transfer most of the 75 animals.  The 21 cats and dogs remaining who made the long trip back to the mountains with us are all very special, and they will always have a unique story to share with their forever families.

Of the estimated 14,000 animal shelters and rescue groups in the United States, only 350 have qualified to be in the HSUS emergency placement partner program. CHHS is one of those 350, and one of only four in North Carolina with large-scale transport capability.

Kim Alboum, the National Shelter Outreach & Policy Engagement Director for HSUS, runs the program.

“HSUS is incredibly grateful for our vast network of shelter partners across the country,” Alboum said.  “Without our partners like the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society we would not be able to continue our lifesaving rescue work.”

Established in 1987, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal shelter that receives no state or county tax dollars, and no funding from any national animal organization. CHHS is located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire, 1.5 miles east of the Cashiers Ingles in between Cedar Creek Club and Lonesome Valley on Highway 64.  Our shelter is open 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday.  For more information, visit us online at www.CHhumanesociety.org or call CHHS at (828) 743-5752.  Tax-deductible donations to support our lifesaving work can be mailed to: CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717.