From Puerto Rico to Norfolk, With Love: Meet 10 Desperate Dogs PETA Is Flying in After Hurricane Maria

For Immediate Release:
October 11, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA’s Animal Rescue Team has been hard at work helping animals and humans on-site in devastated areas of Puerto Rico for the last several weeks, supplying food and clean water, scrubbing holding cages, clearing debris, driving injured animals to veterinary clinics, and helping out at temporary shelters—some housing up to 650 dogs.

On Thursday, the team’s charter plane will land at Norfolk International Airport with 10 vulnerable dogs, including the totally blind Coconut, who will be available for adoption at PETA’s headquarters, the Norfolk SPCA, or the Virginia Beach SPCA.

The dogs who will be arriving in Norfolk were identified by PETA’s team as among those most in need. Coconut is a traumatized and sweet blind dog who had been living in a shelter cage for years when the hurricane hit. When PETA’s rescue workers found her, she was still shaking from the ordeal and was comforted by a team member who sat with her in a quiet stairwell.

Other dogs include a mother and puppy who had taken shelter at a gas station—and were desperately hungry and thirsty when we found them—and Rocker, who doesn’t let a jaw birth defect stop him from snuggling. His tongue sticks out, but he doesn’t mean it!

As recovery efforts in Puerto Rico continue, PETA remains in touch with shelters and others there, working to help animals on the ground. With every facility (and caring person’s home) overwhelmed, PETA is planning how to offer further assistance.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.