Villalobos Rescue’s Founder Launches GoFundMe
Villalobos Rescue, the focus of the Animal Planet series known as “Pit Bulls and Parolees”, was on the way to Hurricane Ida when it made landfall in Louisiana. The rescue center set up a GoFundMe campaign to help deal with the aftermath of the Category 4 storm. The rescue received tens of thousands in donations after founder Tia Torres revealed she was scared about what was about to happen. with the storm. Here are the latest updates.
Over $ 142,000 has been donated to GoFundMe after Torres shared: ‘We Are Scared’
GoFundMe
Ransom GoFundMe The campaign, which initially had a goal of $ 100,000, raised more than $ 70,000 on August 29 and had raised more than $ 142,000 of a new goal of $ 150,000 the next day. Founder Tia Torres launched GoFundMe and included a photo of her during Hurricane Isaac in 2012, which was only a Category 1 hurricane.
She wrote on GoFundMe that they were afraid of how they would handle the damage that would come from the storm. She said they would likely run out of power, unable to “rush” to get donations. In addition, they had not been on television since last April due to the pandemic, so they were already running out of funds.
She wrote:
Hurricane Ida will become the biggest battle VRC has had to face since moving to Louisiana. In California it was the wildfires and the Santa Ana winds. And while we’ve been through other hurricanes since we moved here in 2011 and flooding on a regular basis, Hurricane Ida arriving as a high-level Category 4 hurricane will definitely put test our strength.
Added to all of this, we have not filmed since last year, we have not been on television since last April, and we have been struggling with donations due to the COVID pandemic. VRC is fighting … desperately.
We will not be able to bear the cost of damages anticipated in the future. Add to this, I / Tia Torres will not be able to keep “rushing” on a daily basis for donations, grants, fundraisers, etc., because not only will we all be without power for a while, but we will be giving our lives back. together for the next few weeks.
We won’t make it without all of you. I say it from the heart. We are scared. Please help us.
The rescue website also has donation details. online.
The 2 Rescue locations were on the path of the storm
The rescue has two locations, one in New Orleans and one in Assumption Parish. Both places were in the path of the storm, the rescue shared on Facebook. The rescue later shared that the Assumption Parish jail and shelter dogs were safe and sound after being relocated to their office in Napoleonville.
On a Facebook Live Around 10 a.m. on Aug. 29, Torres shared that rescue arrived in Louisiana knowing there were hurricanes, but needing to get out of the wildfires.
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“We left a land of forest fires,” he said. “I guess it’s a different natural disaster. We’re not playing the victim here … So let me get that out of the way. ”
She shared more details on why relocating her dogs is so difficult. They had moved some dogs to Texas, but were limited in how many they could send. She said:
As for the evacuation process, it is not as easy as everyone thinks. The best way I can describe it is as a Titanic. They saw the iceberg ahead and tried to maneuver out of the way… We saw the iceberg a few days ago, but we have hundreds of dogs. You don’t just pack up and go like this. We would literally need an empty kennel facility with about 300 kennels, housing for all my employees … It is very stressful for the dogs.
Yesterday we took out some dogs. I sent some of my employees who have young children and a dog truck with them to Texas. The dogs were so stressed. They were so scared. And that’s what happens … It’s like tossing a coin: what is more stressful? … If we had to evacuate some dogs, that means that we would have to bring some employees to accompany them. And then the employees who were left behind would not have the manpower they need. … There is power in numbers. That’s why we stick together …
He then revealed that there was not enough space in New Orleans to bring all the dogs from Assumption Parish.
“We have two locations,” he said. “One here at Assumption Parish and we have New Orleans. People think we can pack up at Assumption Parish and move into the building in New Orleans. That is not true. … We are consolidating some of the locations in New Orleans and moving them to the new building. ”
“Obviously we have a lot of difficult dogs,” he added.
He explained that some are aggressive towards dogs and others are not friendly. That makes it harder to put everyone in one place.
“Unfortunately, both of our locations will be affected,” he shared.
The projected landfall location was very close to them, he added, and they expected to be out of service for some time afterward. She said they had very little income this year because they weren’t on TV and adoptions were slower during the pandemic. Donations have kept them going.
‘We’re going to get hurt,’ he revealed
“We’re going to get hurt,” Torres acknowledged. “We are going to see some damage. We will probably be out of power for a while. So I’m trying to figure out what to do about getting dogs elsewhere. ”
He explained that a property they have in Texas was set up for wolfdogs and that they had no kennels to house any of their Louisiana dogs there. He also said they had a small property in Louisiana that they could take some dogs to, but they also need to stay together because of the labor, making decisions difficult.
Torres said they will be in great need of volunteers after the storm and that people can report to their building in New Orleans around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31, after the storm has passed, possibly Monday, Aug. 30. in the afternoon. But for Assumption Parish, volunteers should email him at [email protected] to find out how they can help.