When you get to know the animals at the Salem Animal Rescue League, their stories, whether beloved owners having passed away, abusive owners they've been removed from, or lost and stray on the dangerous streets, you want to help and protect them until their new, loving owner comes through our door.  As a volunteer, it's a commitment that we're glad to make.

There are few times when the strength of an organization, it's volunteers and community supporters are tested the way SARL has now been, and will continue to be, as this overwhelming disaster unfolded.

As the water began to rise on Mother's Day, it was apparent that the dog kennel area needed to be evacuated right away.  In the true meaning of community spirit and love for animals, "The Barking Dog" a boarding facility in Derry opened up their doors for our wet, confused dogs.  Offering refuge for them, gratis, for the next 10 days.  This was a wonderful relief and a true gift.  The dog kennel at SARL has now sustained major damage.  Under the 4 feet plus of water lies huge bags of food, boxes of new leashes and collars, dog beds, linens, cleaning supplies, office supplies, washing machine, dryer, refrigerator and more.  But our canine buddies are safe and resting comfortably thanks to the generosity of "The Barking Dog" and the heroic efforts of several of our dedicated dog volunteers and Kelly, the Salem animal control officer.

The following day, mid-afternoon, the water continued to rise and the building housing our cats was in peril, so the call was made to evacuate.  A few hardy souls made it through the rapidly rising water to the facility and brandished their true dedication by removing every last cat safely from their cages and in to carriers. Once secured, carriers were passed 2 at a time to league president's husband Jack Bertrand and carefully he waded across the swirling torrents to a waiting vehicle.  By the time all the cats were out, the water had risen yet higher, the buildings power and phones had been cut off and the skirting to the building had floated away. As the vehicle drove away the water was tickling at the doorway.

The building behind kitty city, known as Rocky's Place, houses our vetting suite.  All of our animals are treated, spayed and neutered keeping our vetting staff busy there.  It has taken such hard work to acquire what equipment and supplies we have in there, yet all we could do was watch the water beat against the building and hope that all would not be lost.

There was no question of loss however with our storage shed.  It is under water.  Hundreds of pounds of cat litter, food, cages, kitty beds, linens, cat carriers, paperwork, cleaning supplies, promotional materials, office supplies.  All gone. Another major concern was our newly donated ride on lawn mower and snowblower now currently sitting in the muck and covered in water. Leaving the area was difficult and as we took a last look back, we could only hope that the damage was less than what we feared.

The cats were driven to the league presidents home garage to be ground central for the disbursement to foster homes and without question, many of our volunteers showed up to take as many as they could handle, to foster in this imminent time of need.  Even with their own personal flooding issues,  Our volunteers came through and by the end of the evening , every last cat had temporary safe and dry haven.

So now, what to do?  Without a home to shelter our animals, Sarl coordinators have organized an adoption event.

Once again, in true community spirit, a local business comes through with a terrific opportunity for us.  Petsmart of Salem is hosting a special adoption event at their store on Saturday and Sunday, May 20 & 21 from 11-2 for our feline friends.  Hopefully this will provide many of the cats the chance to find a permanent home and not have to be shuffled around any longer.  If you are willing and able to welcome an adult cat into your home please stop by during the adoption hours and talk with one of our adoption councilors. If you prefer you can fill out an adoption request form on the cat page of this website and a councilor will be in touch.

If you are interested in any one of our dogs, please fill out an adoption request form on the dog page and an adoption councilor will contact you. All dog adoptions and showings will be done from the Barking Dog.

What is happening to our little shelter is also a  tough loss  for  our community. Our services will be resumed the minute we are able to reopen our doors but in the meantime we will work hard to  rebuild our shelter. We hope we will be able to salvage and clean some things like cages, floors, electrical outlets , walls, washers, dryers, refrigerators but only time will tell. The list seems overwhelming to us right now.

If you have ever considered volunteering now would be the perfect time to offer and become involved.  If you have services you'd like to share, equipment, supplies, cleaning items, anything that you think would benefit our difficult situation, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We will be announcing a cleanup day in the near future.

Remember, our phones are not in working order, currently email will be our only mode of communication.

Physical donation location info coming soon. Cash donations can be mailed to 4 Sarl Dr. Salem, NH 03079 or use Paypal below. We will update here as more info comes our way. Thank you.

UPDATES

Thursday,  May 18
We reentered Kitty City and Rocky's Place today and were happy to find the interior in good condition. We are still concerned about the exterior and have scheduled a mobile home specialist to inspect all the buildings to see if any of the structures were compromised by all the water and moisture. The shed did not fair so well and upon inspection most of the supplies stored have been lost. We still are unable to get into the building that houses our mowers and snowblower. We are also not able to get into the kennel because the water has not receded enough to safely enter. We expect a total loss from what we can observe from the outside.

Friday, May 19
Offers to help have been pouring in and we are thrilled albeit a bit overwhelmed with the response. We are working round the clock to determine what are needs are and we are in our very early stages of planning. A huge thank you to everyone who has reached out so far. If you have not received a response we apologize and will be in touch as soon as possible.  Our current need is a general contractor and electrician willing to inspect our kennel and assess our damages and direct us in the right type of cleanup.

Many people & businesses have asked what our greatest need is. Since we lost most of our supplies a collection of the following would be an ideal fundraiser for us. Paper Towels, Bleach, Laundry detergent, liquid hand soap, Toilet Paper, Wet swiffer refills, 30 gal trash bags & dryer sheets. We could also use canned cat food & cat litter. Since we do not have a location to drop items at this time please watch our website for a drop off spot in the near future.

Sunday, May 21
We held an adoption event at Petsmart this weekend and found homes for 12 adult cats. It was a huge success. Lots of people stopped by to say hello and lend some support. WMUR Channel 9 TV came in on Saturday and did a piece that they broadcast both Saturday night and Sunday morning for us. So much support from so many in the community. What a wonderful turn of events.

Monday,  May 22
Today was empty the kennel day!

This was a huge job, much bigger than expected. With the assistance of 17 staff members of our neighboring shelter, the MSPCA in Methuen, we emptied the kennel & shed, bleached out the dog pens, threw away 4 dumpsters full of ruined stuff, cleaned all the dogs houses, beds & food buckets, Power washed the kennel and washed out the floors in the sheds.

Hats off to the MSPCA. They not only brought their staff they brought the cleaning supplies, power washer, brushes, buckets, trash bags and some very strong guys. Statcheys Pizza in Salem donated lunch and a couple of cases of water.

A representative from the HSUS made a trip down from the Vermont office to survey the damage today. She is going to go back and start the process for a disaster grant for us in hopes we qualify for some much needed funding!

It is great to have a community willing to step up to assist in our hour of need. The community has reached out to us in so many ways that we can't begin to thank everyone.

Our long range plan: Paint the kennel, clean the outdoor pens, install a new floor in KC, repair the sagging floor in the shed and determine if the new building delivered last week is salvageable. (A person from the mobile home company is due to come down early this week to inspect all three buildings)

Thursday, May 25
Since the kennel took the brunt of the rising waters of the Spicket River and in need of a new paint job, the rescue league moved quickly when an offer to paint the kennel was brought to our attention. Although the kennel is owned by the town, Sarl uses part of the kennel to house our adoptable dogs and felt it necessary to get the kennel back on its feet as quickly as possible. All the paint was donated by White St. Paint in Salem and Jack Bertrand Painting Co. and his crew came in on Thursday evening and painted out all the half walls, stalls and floors. The kennel was beginning to look ready for dogs again.

Saturday, May 27
A call to our volunteers produced about 15 people on Saturday morning offering a variety of assistance. The ceilings of the kennel were in need of a second coat of paint and our kitty city needed several rooms painted out. We repaired the shed which needed to be jacked up and leveled off and several volunteers arrived with some plants and planted them in front of the shelter. A badly rotted out floorboard in our entry way into our vetting suite was ripped out and repaired, while some electrical work was getting done. As this work continued a person drove up with a kitty in need of a home. Our shelter stepped up by not only taking him but finding him a foster home until the long weekend was over and as we continued setting our sights on reopening.

Tuesday, May 30
Today is vetting day and a call to our foster homes produced many returning cats. The shelter was finally ready for occupants. As cats came in they were given a quick look and returned to a freshly painted and spruced up shelter. Our open hours will resume on Thursday evening for the cats. Our doors are now open and we can begin to accept any donations of food, litter and cleaning products. We are still in need and are trying to restock our supplies.