Dealing with an emergency? These Charlotte groups offer help with pet care
Pets are part of some families, but they can also add a hefty expense to your budget that can become even more burdensome when your finances are tight.
And a rising number of people in the Charlotte area are needing help to care for their pets during unexpected emergencies such as an eviction can put a strain on local animal care groups’ limited resources.
Still, there are some avenues for getting help with pet care when you fall on hard times.
Here’s what to know about what happens to your pet when you’re evicted and how to get help caring for them in the event of an emergency from local organizations:
CMPD animal shelter
When a Charlotte pet owner is evicted from their home, the pet is sometimes taken in by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police’s Animal Care and Control team for up to 10 days, Julia Conner, a humane education specialist with CMPD, told The Charlotte Observer.
“We do not help beyond that time frame. If the owner can come and get them back within that 10 days, that’s the best outcome and we always hope for that,” Conner said.
If “the owner either surrenders or the time frame lapses,” then the pet becomes Animal Care’s and can be put up for adoption.
In cases of extreme disasters, such as house fires or flooding, Animal Care may be able to take a pet in for up to six weeks, she added.
“We do not recommend this unless the owner really has no other options,” Conner said. “That’s a long time for an animal to be housed in a shelter and it can cause undue stress on the pet. And each case is assessed on whether we can accommodate that pet for that long of a hold time frame.”
Humane Society of Charlotte
The Humane Society of Charlotte offers “emergency pet food, supplies, medical vouchers on a case-by-case basis and more” to local pet owners dealing with hardships, community outreach manager K.C. Thompson told the Observer.
To get help from the “pet food bank,” fill out an information form at humanesocietyofcharlotte.org/retention/pet-food-bank or reach out by emailing outreach@humanecharlotte.org or calling 980-313-4472.
To schedule an appointment with the humane society’s “low-cost clinic,” visit humanesocietyofcharlotte.org/health-wellness or call 704-333-4130. You can get more information on additional emergency medical support by emailing outreach@humanecharlotte.org or calling 980-313-4472.
The humane society is “not able” to temporarily take in pets, Thompson added.
“We always recommend folks have a plan in place for their pet in the event of an emergency with a family member, friend or otherwise,” she said.
