Ben Madilynn
Many communities have come together to help in the relief efforts after multiple hurricanes crossed the south.
While many have looked to assist people in need, one person is looking to help a demographic that’s often forgotten about during disaster relief — animals.
One man who’s passionate about our four-legged friends is traveling down south to help wherever he can.
“It’s something that we feel we have been called to do and it’s just something I have to do,” said Joe Barbaro, owner of Please Drop Me Off Doggie Daycare.
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Barbaro is a small business owner and retired car salesman with the resiliency to make a difference.
He and his wife woke up one morning and agreed they had to do something to help in the relief efforts after seeing both hurricanes hit communities.
The couple plans to load a box truck with supplies to travel south and assist those in need.
Their main goal is to visit and help dog shelters which after being in contact and viewing from social media, he says are experiencing crisis-type conditions.
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“They had dogs in crates everywhere, people running around, dogs running around and it was chaotic. Obviously, a lot of people don’t necessarily put dogs as a priority or something that they extend to helping dogs. Naturally, people come first,” said Barbaro.
Being a dog daycare owner, he said their ability to help people may be limited but their ability to help dogs is immense.
Barbaro said they didn’t know what they’d be walking into, but they felt compelled to help those in need.
“You will have a lot of obstacles, people that won’t cooperate with you. They’re not…really welcoming to people from the north even though we’re there to help. We may come back with zero dogs, we may come back with 20 dogs,” said Barbaro.
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Barbaro worked at Champion Ford for over 30 years. The car dealership is stepping up by donating a box truck to help in the efforts.
“It feels good to be a part of something that’s bigger than just the Erie community, and obviously having a representative like Joe Barbaro do it, I can’t think of a better guy who’s raising his hand to do it and really go into the unknown and do such a nice deed,” said Mark Winkler Jr., sales manager at Champion Ford.
Supplies they are looking for include water, crates and dog food.
They will be collecting those items at their location at 12040 Edinboro Road until they depart following the Edinboro Homecoming parade on Saturday, Oct. 12.
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