Power outage a challenge for Sikeston animal shelter

The ice storm that ravaged Southeast Missouri and left thousands without power also left many dogs, cats and livestock throughout the region without heat or water.

The Sikeston Area Humane Society has been without power for more than a week, and it could be another week until electricity is restored, said director Lanette Baker.

Two puppies and one adult dog have died during the power outage, though she believes the older animal may have had other health problems contributing to his death.

The shelter has had no heat, and employees have been using more than 20 bales of straw donated by state agencies to keep dogs warm in their kennels, Baker said.

"It's been kind of hard for us without heat, with all of our pens full," Baker said.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comWith no electricity, Labrador mix puppies struggle to stay warm on straw with the help Lanette Baker, director of the Sikeston Area Humane Society. The temperature in the kennels was 37 degrees Thursday. The power is expected to be on in another week, so Baker has requested donations of more straw.

The Humane Society of Missouri's Disaster Response Team picked up a dozen cats and took them to St. Louis for adoption because the cats were less likely to weather the low temperatures, Baker said.

Keeping the place sanitized has also been a challenge, even with the water working, Baker said, because they hesitate to soak the floors without any heat in the building.

Bleach and other cleaning supplies have been donated, and Baker said she has been stocking up on batteries.

The shelter has been using several small space heaters to add warmth while someone is at the facility.

They've been using a donated generator so they have hot water available, and Baker has been scavenging carpet retailers for used rolls of carpet they can use as bedding underneath the straw to help keep dogs warm.

A Labrador puppy is one of 60 dogs at the Sikeston Area Humane Society without power and heat. The cats and sick dogs were shipped to St. Louis.

More than 18,000 pounds of pet food and cat litter were donated by Purina, PetSmart, PETCO and Wal-Mart to Humane Societies across Southeast Missouri and the disaster response team helped deliver the supplies to animal shelters and residents without power, according to the Humane Society of Missouri.

"We've had some wonderful donations. I think they would bring us heat if they could bag it up," Baker said.

The Sikeston Area Humane Society still needs volunteers to "foster" dogs temporarily, giving them play and exercise time and a warm place to stay until things return to normal at the facility, Baker said.

"The dogs are getting kind of stir crazy," she said.

The disaster response team found Southeast Missourians better equipped to handle the animal-care problems than most in similar emergency situations, said Tim Rickey, director of the team. For example, getting water to livestock has been a huge problem in past emergencies, but most large animal owners seemed to have been well-prepared for the storm, he said.

The disaster response team set up an emergency animal shelter, using a climate-controlled mobile animal rescue trailer to house animals for people seeking shelter themselves from the sustained power loss.

Two kittens were born in the trailer, according to the Humane Society.

By Thursday, enough Southeast Missouri residents had their power restored that the shelter was shut down, and 150 animals that people turned over to the Human Society were taken to St. Louis, Rickey said.

Some people simply turned in pets they could no longer care for, but others will be reunited with their pets once they recover from the storm, Rickey said. The Humane Society plans on coming back to Southeast Missouri in the coming weeks to deliver the animals, Rickey said.

bdicosmo@semissorian.com

388-3635

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Animals coping with the power outages

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