If you remain in Auckland and require emergency situation shelter for your animal, the HuhaNZ shelter is at 743 Papakura-Clevedon Road, Papakura, and can be reached on 027 441 6474.
Carolyn McKenzie, CEO of HuhaNZ (Helping You Help Animals New Zealand), has actually been flat out given that she got here in Auckland in the little hours of Sunday early morning. She and her 6 individual group at Huha had actually only simply recuperated from helping animals in Warkworth throughout the current flooding when they got the call from MPI to have their emergency situation animal shelter service on standby as Cyclone Gabrielle approached the North Island recently.
As dogs yap excitedly in the background, McKenzie says they made the executive choice to leave Wellington right away. “We hadn’t been given the official word yet, but we actually packed up and started creeping forward.” While remaining over in Waiouru, they got the verification call: they were required in Auckland as quickly as possible. “We drove through the night with our two trailers, all just filled with temporary shelter building gear.”
Thanks to their buddies at Dog NZ, Huha had the ability to secure a place for an emergency situation shelter almost right away – a big storage facility space normally utilized for dog programs in Papakura. They got to work building shelters and areas for any animals requiring a location to remain. “What we try and build is a home away from home for the animals full of love and comfort.” That suggests fluffy blankets, visual barriers in between areas and “lots of toys and walks”.
McKenzie says those areas are already filling. “We’ve had four greyhounds that have just come in, the owner had to carry them out of the house in waist-high flood water. They’re very emotional. It’s been a very, very scary and worrying time for them.” Some of the group have actually left the center to help in evacuations. “We went to help this family who had 15 schnauzers and two German Shepherds and a lovely farmer with a tractor ended up going in.”
Although the shelter is presently occupied with dogs, McKenzie wishes to tension that they will take in any animals in requirement of a short-term home. “Sometimes people evacuate with fish, so we’ve got a marine biologist on our team with portable, battery-operated oxygen aerators. We’ve brought anything that anyone might need that will be critical to their animal having quality care.” They’ve even brought a stock trailer with a portable livestock lawn.
The Huha staff themselves are presently sleeping together with the animals onsite. “We always believe when we go to a situation, we don’t want to be part of the problem,” says McKenzie. “So we always come very self sufficiently, but also we want to be close to the animals.” People are welcome to drop in anytime day or night, says McKenzie, and shouldn’t feel anxious or ashamed about troubling them needlessly.
“Even if it’s a false alarm, we will always take an animal and we’ll always give it the best possible care – we’ll also give the owner a cup of tea,” she says. If you are requiring your animals off your hands for a “daycare” stay, or perhaps an hour or more, McKenzie says that is all great too. “Drop them off with us and go and do what you need to do,” she says. “We’re honestly just here to be used in a way that helps.”
With that, she apologises that she needs to hang up and return to work – in the brief time we’ve been talking, she’s already missed out on 3 calls from individuals with animals requiring help.
