Puerto Rico

Broward Shelter Takes In Pets Rescued From Earthquake-Riddled Puerto Rico

A shelter representative said more than a hundred animals in total were rescued

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Of more than a hundred animals who were rescued from destroyed shelters in Puerto Rico, a Broward shelter has taken in over twenty, and they will be up for adoption soon.

Mary Steffen of the Humane Society of Broward said the organization had taken in 9 cats and 18 dogs in their Dania beach shelter on Sunday. The rest of the 120 animals are being flown to shelters in Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Left with nowhere else to go after their shelters were deemed uninhabitable, more than a hundred animals have been taken out of Puerto Rico and relocated in the continental U.S., including in Broward County where they can be adopted on MLK Day. NBC 6's Arlene Borenstein reports from Dania Beach.

Steffen said the animals had to be removed from their shelters in Puerto Rico because, following a series of earthquakes that have taken a severe toll on the island's infrastructure, the buildings were deemed "uninhabitable."

The shelters, Villa Michelle Albergues de Animales and Santuario de San Francisco de Asis, suffer from overcrowding as well as damage. They are among the only amimal rescue centers still open in the hard-hit southern portion of the island, according to Steffen.

"The structure has been damaged in foundation, so walls are cracked, the foundations are cracked," Steffen said of one of the shelters. "It was deemed just unsafe, especially with the amount of aftershocks they're having."

Puerto Rico was rocked by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on January 7, and then again by another 6.0 quake several days later. The rumbles have caused hardship for residents, knocking out power and leaving many without water.

The animal rescue was a joint effort by Wings of Rescue, which flew the animals out, and Greater Good, which provided funding.

In order to give the animals a day to rest, they will be available for adoption at the Humane Society of Broward starting on Martin Luther King Day, according to Steffen.

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