Friends –

For many of us, fall means long walks with our pets through golden leaves, pumpkin spice drinks, and extra opportunities to snuggle up on the sofa with our best friends. For the American Humane Rescue team, though, too often it means hurricane season….leaving home and rushing into dangerous and unpredictable situations to save and shelter lost animals. True to deadly form, Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas with unprecedented force, leaving devastation and displacing thousands of people and pets. Our rescue team, which has been through virtually every major disaster over the past 100 years, reported that they had rarely if ever seen such destruction. With an official invitation from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), our seasoned team flew in and began the hard work of search and rescue among the debris, saving, sheltering, airlifting, and caring for frightened, emaciated and dehydrated dogs, cats, ducks, pigs, goats, turtles, and other animals.

Back at home, we evacuated a vulnerable shelter in the path of Hurricane Dorian, provided free medical care to animals in desperately underserved communities, and came to the aid of 400 starving cats left on a property by trucking in literally tons of love and food.

We also reunited retired military hero dogs with their handlers and celebrated their work with military leaders and members of Congress on Capitol Hill. Our Pups4Patriots™ program provided more trained service dogs free of charge to veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. And we celebrated the birth of adorable baby Emperor Tamarins, the adoption of orphaned cougar cubs, and the launch of a new marine mammal rescue and research center at our American Humane Certified™ zoos and aquariums – just a few examples from the thousands of survival-driven stories we’re helping bring about through our worldwide humane conservation program.

And if you’re one of the millions of animal lovers who have been avidly following our efforts to spotlight the importance of the animals in our lives and those who care for them, you’ll find out who won the top titles at the 2019 American Humane Hero Dog Awards® and this year’s American Humane Hero Veterinarian and Hero Veterinary Nurse Awards™. Plus check out our tips for some of the best fall entertainment you can find….feel-good movies you can feel good about seeing because each of them earned our “No Animals Were Harmed®” seal of approval.

I hope you enjoy our latest stories of compassion, hope, and love, and please follow American Humane on social media for the latest breaking news and inspiring tales from the animal world. On behalf of each and every one of the beautiful creatures we help every day, thank you for your caring and support!