BROOKINGS — The recent death of a pet owner in Brookings has led to an influx of nearly 60 cats, kittens and dogs into the Brookings Regional Humane Society — and the society could use every bit of community support as it navigates these rough waters.

The animals started coming in last Thursday with the assistance of community service officers with the Brookings Police Department, and continued to filter in Monday. Maia Moore, the society’s executive director, emphasized that it’s not a neglect situation regarding the animals’ late owner.

“Everybody’s doing fairly well — definitely a lot of different ages and some sniffles and fleas and things like that but, overall, everybody is doing pretty well and settling in well,” she told the Brookings Register in an interview Monday afternoon.

She said they’re still getting some cats in as well — including at least one that’s pregnant — with the youngest of the kittens being just a few days old. “Luckily, we’ve got good mama cats.”

Residents in and around Brookings are already stepping up to the plate, responding to the society’s online plea for assistance.

“We’ve gotten a bit of a response (and) it’s been great,” Moore said. “People are giving us a call and asking how they can donate, or what our biggest needs are — obviously, cat litter is huge. Financially, this will be a big strain on the shelter, just taking in this many animals all at once.”

She continued, “It means a lot of extra care and cleaning and vaccinations and all that kind of stuff to try to get them healthy and ready to be adopted.”

So, how can you help? Here’s information from the society’s news release:

• Donations: Monetary contributions are urgently needed to cover medical expenses, vaccinations and the day-to-day care of the rescued animals.
• Supplies: Essential items such as cat litter, bleach and other cleaning supplies are critical to maintaining a safe and sanitary environment for the animals. The society is also seeking “all stages” wet/canned cat food because of the high number of nursing mother cats and their kittens to ensure their dietary needs are met.
• Foster homes: The society is also seeking compassionate individuals or families willing to foster mother cats and their kittens until they are ready for adoption, as much of the intake involved those kinds of pets.

“Foster homes play a crucial role in providing nurturing environments where these animals can thrive,” the society wrote in its release.

Call the society at 605-697-7387 if you can assist with donations, supplies for fostering opportunities, or visit brookingshumane.org. Donations can also be dropped off at the society’s office, 120 W. Second St. S., during lobby hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Since there are so many new animals to take care of, the society has also had to shut down its intake services for the time being. There’s no timeline on when the services will be restored.

“Some of these babies will be with us for months just because of their age. A lot of it will also depend because — we were already full before this happened, and so all those animals that we previously had are still going to need to go through spay/neuter and adoption,” Moore told the Register. “We’d already had a fairly busy kitten season, and so all of our animals that were already waiting for surgery are still waiting for surgery. We’re getting through those as fast as we can. This will probably, honestly, set us back months.”

In closing, Moore was thankful for the support the society has been receiving, and will continue to receive in the days, weeks and months ahead.

“This is definitely a large intake for us, but we’re always in need of our community support, and we’re so very appreciative of our community and how they always seem to rally together when times are tough for us,” she said.

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.