Hurricane Irma & Harvey help: These dogs and cats need you!

Even as efforts continue to rescue dogs and cats from areas flooded by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, animals from Florida and other parts of the south battered by Hurricane Irma are now arriving at Garden State animal rescue centers.

According to Heather Cammisa, the president and CEO of St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, 232 animals from Florida and South Carolina were flown and driven to New Jersey this past weekend.

“By emptying the shelters of animals that were in their care before the storm struck, it really enables resources and frees up manpower to go to help animals that get displaced by the storm,” she said. “We are welcoming these animals. some of them need some medical care. They need spay-and-neuter, extra vaccines."

She said the dogs, cats and bunnies came from animal rescue groups in Tampa, Florida; Myrtle Beach, Charleston; and Greenville, South Carolina.

“Right now adoption capacity in these areas is really decimated, so we’re just so glad there is something we can do to help out," Cammisa said.

Cammisa said St. Hubert’s normally works with 27 other shelters in New Jersey and New England to help find homes for displaced pets, but that number has grown over the past few weeks to help care for animals coming from disaster zones.

Partners include the Monmouth County SPCA, Somerset Regional Animal Shelter, Jersey Shore Animal Center and Camden County Animal Shelter.

She said the Irma dogs will stay in New Jersey but the cats went to New England after first arriving in the Garden State.

“We set up some temporary emergency housing. We called it 'Kitty City,' and the next day we drove 44 cats and kittens up to our partners up in New Hampshire,” Cammisa said.

She said St. Hubert’s will continue to help relocated storm pets in the days and weeks ahead.

“It’s an evolving situation right now, and we do not know yet when we will receive more animals," Cammisa said. "But we often don’t get a lot of notice — but we’re here, we’re ready.”

She said the situation is obviously difficult and animal shelters in New Jersey are working together to respond to these emergencies as well as possible.

The group Greater Good, with help from the Humane Society of the United States, paid for the plane to pick up some of the Irma pets.

Cammisa said animal lovers can help in several different ways.

“If you’ve been thinking about adopting a pet come on down, see us, see any of the groups or your local shelter," she said, "Adopting an animal frees up more room for us all.”

She said supporting St. Hubert’s and other animal rescue groups with donations allows it to continue to buy the supplies they need to continue their work but also “fostering is helpful as is just being a volunteer with us or any of our partners.”

For more information you can visit www.sthuberts.org

You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com.