30 dogs saved from the Puerto Rican earthquakes are coming to Philly for adoption

A local animal shelter is taking part in an emergency evacuation of more than 100 at-risk pets impacted by a series of powerful earthquakes that have devastated Puerto Rico.

The Brandywine Valley SPCA this weekend will receive 30 dogs from a group of about 110 animals being flown to Delaware Coastal Airport from animal shelters in Puerto Rico that have been damaged or left lacking food and water following the earthquakes. Many shelters there have been forced to close to the public, and in some cases, begin euthanizing adoptable pets due to lack of food and space.

The BVSCPA is a no-kill, open-enrollment shelter first established in 1929.

Organized by Wings of Rescue, GreaterGood.org, and The Sato Project, the emergency evacuation flight is scheduled to arrive in the area Sunday morning. The BVSPCA said it would have its 30 dogs available for adoption at all three of its campuses (West Chester, Pa.; Georgetown, Del.; and New Castle, Del.) starting Tuesday.

The remainder of the rescued animals will be distributed to St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey, the Humane Society of Broward County in Florida, and various foster homes. The dogs, the shelter said, are “fully vetted and health certificated.”

A series of earthquakes have hit Puerto Rico since late last month, with the largest — a 6.4-magnitude tremor— hitting the island Jan. 7. That earthquake, National Geographic reports, was Puerto Rico’s most-destructive in about a century.

President Donald Trump this week declared that “a major disaster exists” in Puerto Rico’s southern region due to the earthquakes, and indicated that federal assistance would be used to “supplement Commonwealth and local recovery efforts” in the area, according to a statement from the White House.

Since the earthquakes began, at least one person has died, while others have been injured or rendered homeless following building collapses, NPR reports.