BRATTLEBORO — They don't have big hair, gold chains, implants, tattoos, or screechy voices.
But they're all furry, purry, and from Jersey. And Long Island too.
They're a group of cats and dogs from shelters in the New Jersey and New York City area who were taken in by the Windham County Humane Society (WCHS) after Hurricane Sandy.
Of the 11 cats and six dogs brought to Brattleboro, nearly all have found new homes, according to WCHS Operations Coordinator Carolyn Conrad.
Conrad said WCHS, and other humane societies in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts were contacted by the Best Friends Animal Rescue League of New York City.
Faced with a large number of strays and lost animals from Sandy, Conrad said Best Friends asked New England shelters whether they wanted to take in animals that were already waiting for adoption when the storm hit.
“They knew they needed more space for the strays caused by the storm, and they knew they would have to keep them longer because it would take longer for their owners to track them down,” she said.
Conrad said many of the animals came from the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter on Long Island. Others came from the Monmouth County SPCA and Second Chance Animal Rescue, both in New Jersey.
Best Friends, which has been active in aiding pet owners in the New York City area since the storm, arranged for the transport of the animals to the New England shelters.
With the memory of Tropical Storm Irene fresh in Vermonters' minds, Conrad said there was no hesitation from Vermont shelters about helping their counterparts to their south.
“Our shelter wasn't impacted by Irene, but we know what our neighbors went through after the storm,” she said. “That gave us an automatic sympathy what with these shelters are going through.”
As a no-kill shelter, Conrad said WCHS keeps the animals they take in until they're adopted. And they are quick to help shelters in other states deal with overcrowding problems. In recent years, they have taken in dogs from shelters in the Southern states.
For more information about animals available for adoption, or to donate to help with the costs of taking care of their adoptees, visit www.wchs4pets.org.