“Watching the videos, seeing the destruction and displaced animals really bothers me,” says Corrie Butler about coverage of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Butler runs the Rhode Island Parrot Rescue that as of May relocated from Warwick to West Warwick.

Last week Butler teamed up with Karen Kalunian, who works closely with dog and cat rescues and writes a weekly column, Animal Talk, appearing in Beacon Media publications as well as other periodicals. Kalunian also produces videos on animals for adoption. Already the effort has resulted in donations of food (parrot pelts and nuts, that’s unsalted nuts and no peanuts), metal crates, work gloves, cleaning supplies, tarps, first aid kits and other supplies that Butler plans to deliver to bird sanctuaries in North Carolina and Florida.

The idea of helping out of state animal rescue groups – not just bird sanctuaries - impacted by the hurricanes took root.

Kalunian reached out to the Rhode Island animal rescue community. Would they be willing to help?

The response has been encouraging. Donations flowed at a dog adoption event held Saturday at Cowesett Inn in West Warwick. Extra food collected in response to a dog hoarding incident in Pawtucket was dropped off at Dogtopia in Warwick over the weekend.  Kalunian said Sports Legend Pub in Warwick and the Cowesett Inn signed on as collection sites.

For the effort to work, more than donations of food, tools and supplies would be needed.  Kalunian put out the appeal on the Animal Talk 19 website to transport the donations, which can be heavy, to collection locations.

“Let’s do this together. It’s about teamwork in Rhode Island and beyond,” Kalunian said.

Then there’s the challenge of delivering it all to the right places.

“We’ll be taking a truck and adding a trailer if necessary,” Butler said Sunday in a call from Portland, Maine where she is looking to open a branch of the Rhode Island operation.

There’s a need, she said, adding that there are more than 400 birds on the Rhode Island adoption list. Butler believes the pandemic is partially responsible for such a long list. During the pandemic the adoption of pets increased. Now that many people have returned to work, the pets are left at home alone which can be stressful for the animals. In the case of parrots this can result in increased squawking, screeching and agitated behavior, Butler said. Even so, the greater number of parrots for adoption are from elderly who realize their pets will outlive them. Some parrots can live to 125.

Through her animal rescue network, Kalunian aims to identify convenient drop off points for Rhode Island donations as far south as Florida.

Kalunian plans to assess the response to the appeal to assist southern animal rescue organizations working to help those hit hard by the hurricanes on Saturday before deciding what is needed to pull everything together.  She has the feeling it’s going to work.

Regardless, Butler plans on making the trip to at least a couple of bird sanctuaries.

“It’s amazing,” Kalunian said, “the people of this little state have such big hearts.”