Puppie Love Donates $50,000 to Gulf Coast Humane Society after Hurricane Ian!

Posted on Oct 27, 2022

Thursday October 27^th, 2022. Baltimore, MD.

Puppie Love® is making our LARGEST SINGLE DONATION of $50,000 to Gulf Coast Humane Society (GCHS). GCHS is a non-profit, no kill shelter located in Fort Myers, FL that was left devastated after Hurricane Ian. This is all thanks to our amazing customers and their support of our Hurricane Pup T-Shirts!

On September 28^th 2022, Hurricane Ian, a very powerful Category 4 hurricane, made landfall in Southwest Florida. Ian was the largest hurricane to hit this area since Hurricane Charley in 2004. Ian brought 145 mph winds and severe flooding to the area of Southwest Florida. The original trajectory of the storm quickly changed direction, allowing very little time for the residents to evacuate. The towns of Fort Myers, Sanibel/Captiva Islands, Punta Gorda, Pine Island, and Cape Coral were absolutely devastated. While some citizens were able to quickly gather their belongings, animals, and secure their homes, many were not able to evacuate in time. This led to people and their animals trying to reach the highest point in their homes (including the roof) to survive the 7 ft of flood waters and heavy winds. The damage caused to the area of SWFL was catastrophic, leading to over 100 human deaths, and destruction of many buildings and homes. SWFL is home to many domestic animals and wildlife. While many wild animals have evolved to survive hurricanes, many animals did not survive.

While Puppie Love® is not located in Florida, we wanted to do our small part to help SWFL! And what better way than to create an adorable t-shirt and donate 100% of profits to an organization in need?! On October 5^th, 2022 we released our Hurricane Pup Tees. We were hopeful that our customers would enjoy this design and we would be able to make a small donation. BOY WERE WE WRONG! Within 1 hour, we realized this would not be a small t-shirt release, nor a small donation. Hurricane Pup quickly became one of the best selling shirts in our company’s history, allowing us to give the LARGEST SINGLE DONATION of $50,000 to Gulf Coast Humane Society. We are absolutely STUNNED by our community and our customers. From the bottom of our hearts, WE THANK YOU!

Gulf Coast Humane Society is a non-profit 501c-3 organization that has been servicing the area of Southwest Florida for more than 60 years! Their mission is “to provide humane care for surrendered animals by offering refuge, providing medical care, and facilitating an adoptive home” (www.gulfcoasthumanesociety.org). Being located in Fort Myers means that GCHS took a big hit from Hurricane Ian. When the storm formed, it was originally headed to the Tampa area. GCHS took in many more animals from this area in light of the predicted storm. Unfortunately, Ian had other plans, changing trajectory and forcing GCHS to transport as many animals as possible to other no kill shelters. While the animals were transported safely, the actual GCHS buildings were not as fortunate. Your donation will help to rebuild GCHS and offer a safe space for animals again. This will allow them to bring in more animals from surrounding areas that were also affected. The donation will allow for GCHS to build an establishment that will be safe from hurricanes in the future! Gulf Coast Humane Society is not just a shelter, but they also have a veterinary clinic and spay and neuter clinic. They handle a variety of services including dental care, vaccinations, and micro chipping. They have successfully completed over 3,000 medical procedures. GCHS takes in more than 1,000 animals in need of care EVERY YEAR! These include dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, and even a pot belly pig!

THANK YOU TO OUR CUSTOMERS for your overwhelming support! You truly stepped up for the animals and people of SWFL, and we could not be more grateful.

THANK YOU TO GULF COAST HUMANE SOCIETY for your compassionate care for animals in need. Thank you for speaking up for those that cannot defend themselves.

Watch the video below to see us announcing our donation to Gulf Coast Humane Society and how your donation will help! (Apologies in advance from our co-founder for not being able to hold her tears back!) WE JUST CANNOT BELIEVE what our community has done for Gulf Coast Humane Society!