IDA's Project Hope Provides Hurricane Relief to Mississippi Animal Victims
Group Gives Urgently Needed Aid to Save Animals from Storm's Destruction

Jackson, Miss.— Project Hope, a project of the international animal protection organization, In Defense of Animals (IDA), has set up a rescue and recovery effort at the County Fairgrounds in Jackson along with Mississippi Emergency Response for Animals (MEPA) and the Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) to help animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. 

The Project Hope team secured a donation of supplies for the rescue operation from PETsMART charities including carriers and crates to house animals at the rescue center, as well as to transport animals to shelters and foster homes. While much of Jackson is flooded and most areas have no electricity, emergency animal rescue teams continue to arrive at the rescue center from all over the U.S., and conduct rescues in impacted areas in the southern part of the state.

“Though many of these families may have lost their homes and all their possessions to the storm, they express gratitude for the kindness that rescuers have shown them and their animal companions, which include cats, dogs, birds, pot bellied pigs, goats and ferrets,” says Project Hope director Doll Stanley. 

IDA’s Project Hope Sanctuary provides a permanent caring home to animals rescued from abusive situations in rural Mississippi, serves as an adoption facility for animals in need of placement, and conducts cruelty investigations and rescues. Located in Grenada, Miss., the Sanctuary sits in the northern half of the state between Jackson and Memphis, Tenn. Although Grenada was drenched with rain and high winds, Project Hope was spared the full brunt of Hurricane Katrina. The sanctuary suffered around $5,000 in damages from fallen branches, broken fences, and some doghouses being ripped by the wind from their concrete foundations. 

IDA has established a Hurricane Katrina Animal Relief Fund to finance transportation, food for animals and volunteers, and to repair the damage done by the storm at the Project Hope sanctuary. Any funds exceeding the Project Hope team’s expenses will be donated directly to the Louisiana SPCA in New Orleans, which has been hit hard by the storm. IDA is accepting donations to support its relief efforts on its web site IDAUSA.org or by mail. Send checks to: Hurricane Relief, c/o In Defense of Animals, 131 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA 94941.