The Animal Incident Command Center - Galveston Island, set up to rescue stray and stranded animals in the wake of Hurricane Ike, rescued 200 animals in the two days they were open.

"We are close to capacity and we have no doubt we will exceed our resources by the end of today," stated Caroline Dorsett, Animal Incident Command Center Director. "We are hoping to reunite animals with their owners as quickly as possible," she added.

In partnership with the Houston SPCA, photos of rescued animals along with a brief description will be loaded onto their website, www.hspca.org starting as soon as possible. Pet owners will have a 10-day window of time to identify and collect their animals from the date of the photo's posting. After that point, the animals will be adopted out. Due to the fact that two days have put the shelter at capacity, animals will begin transport to Houston SPCA Thursday to be held for the required hold period. Shelter officials will use discretion in placing animals that arrive with tags and microchips. Identified pets may be redeemed directly from the Houston SPCA during the time that people are not allowed on the island.

"We are using established verification techniques to ensure we reconnect owners with their pets. Our field team is recording information to help ensure animals are not misplaced or misidentified," Dorsett added.

Pet owners with inquiries about their animals welfare or whereabouts can call the Houston SPCA's hotline (713) 435-2990.

Field teams will provide food and water to animals found in accessible houses for as long as possible before relocating them to the shelter facility as well as rescuing animals from closed-up structures, chained pets in yards, and strays. Veterinarians, technicians, and animal control officers from across the country have converged on Galveston to help the animals left on the island. Four-legged friends including cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, lizards and even prairie dogs are currently housed at the facility.

The Animal Incident Command Center - Galveston Island, was established to treat and house stray and rescued animals. Their island facilities opened Tuesday at the corner of 53rd Street and Avenue S. Hours of operation are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

For more information, please visit www.galvestonhumane.org as well as www.hspca.org. To support Hurricane Ike animal rescue efforts, donations are needed and being accepted on both websites.

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