After Joplin Tornadoes, 900 Pets Need Homes

Humane Society shelter plans massive 'adopt-a-thon'

The tragedy in Joplin, Missouri, keeps unfolding, this time in a sadly predictable way. Just as they did after Hurricane Katrina and plenty of other natural disasters, hundreds of pets have found themselves homeless after their owners scrambled to find housing for themselves amid the ruins of their tornado-struck town. At the moment, about 900 are bunking at the Joplin Humane Society, a shelter that usually houses about one third of that amount, the Associated Press reported. The shelter's staff has tried to find owners, but many have moved away or just given up their pets after they lost their homes. So the shelter's planning an "adopt-a-thon" for the weekend of June 25-26, during which it hopes to find homes for most of its temporary tenants.

But the pets aren't the only ones who have lost their companions. Plenty of people in Joplin have had dogs, cats, and birds run away in the chaos following the May 24 disaster. The AP talked to Linda Head, who had two dogs run off, and who regularly checks in with the shelter to find them--so far unsuccessfully. Hopefully some petless people and homeless pets can hook up with each other soon, even if they didn't cohabitate before the storm.