Stetson Law students help animal rescue group
Students enrolled in the part-time program from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport held a donation drive to help dogs and cats made homeless by Hurricane Laura. Laura was a category 4 hurricane that devastated parts of Louisiana, especially Lake Charles.
The students collected towels, beds, cleaning supplies, toys, food, potty pads and other essentials and donated the items to Compassion Kind, a non-profit Animal Rescue.
Compassion Kind is a 501c(3) organization based in St. Petersburg. Volunteers of Compassion Kind traveled to the Lake Charles area to rescue the animals from the rubble and devastation wrought by the hurricane earlier in October.
“We were able to rescue, return to owners, and care for hundreds of animals these past two months—not only from Hurricane Laura, but also Storm Sally. We transported close to 100 animals from Louisiana to St. Petersburg,” said Aja Nikiya Estro, founder of Compassion Kind. “These donated items will be a tremendous help to the animals and foster families in the area who took these dogs and cats into their homes to give them a chance to recover and be adopted.”
The law students and e-board members of the Part-time Students Society who organized the donation drive were Kara Hartman, Michelle Walker, Jamie Bellet, Grace Moseley and Jay Lazarovich. The donation drive is one of many animal-welfare initiatives at Stetson Law.
In conjunction with the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund student organization, part-time law students have spent nearly two years working on another pro bono project aimed at protecting animals who are forced to live outside. The project is called “Oreo’s Law” in honor of a St. Petersburg dog who is forced to live outside in a box all year round. Students are developing proposed changes to the language in the definition of “adequate shelter” laws to better address such circumstances. According to Pinellas County Animal Services, there are more than 100 other dogs in the county living in similar conditions.
Most non-profit animal welfare organizations are always looking for foster families and supply donations, and Compassion Kind is no different. Those interested may complete an application on the Compassion Kind Web Site: http://www.compassionkind.org or contact [email protected] for more information.
Post date: Oct. 22, 2020
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
[email protected] | 727-430-1580