Daytona Beach rescuers face eviction of nearly 100 animals
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida. “A former nursing and animal rescue center in Daytona Beach is facing eviction. The owners said they urgently needed to find a home for nearly 100 animals.
“We have to go out on Tuesday because we will be blocked on Wednesday,” Shoshanna Tempest said.
The 28-bed facility, once known as Compassion in Health Care on Beville Road, has housed the elderly and their pets for decades, but now nearly 100 animals are the only residents left. Some of them are still pets of former residents, while Tempest adopted others.
“We also rescued him,” she said.
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Tempest said they have been hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown; they could no longer receive residents, and the remaining residents were resettled.
“We couldn’t relicense. We wanted to renovate the building, but we just got out of the pandemic and it really ruined our business,” she said.
Then losses from Hurricanes Yang and Nicole forced them into bankruptcy in the fall.
Then in June the building and two adjacent lots were sold for foreclosure. The company that bought him wants to ship them out by Wednesday, along with their nearly 75 cats, 15 birds, four dogs, a 250-pound turtle and a chinchilla.
“Cats are a big concern right now. I have moms with kids that I don’t want to separate,” Tempest said.
Almost all of the Volusia County shelters she contacted are overcrowded.
Ideally, Tempest would like to find another animal building to restart another rescue or team up with a rescuer.
“I believe that I can do something. Some place. Just some kind of ventilated building at the moment that I can use. Maybe a modest rent or something and I’ll keep my cats there,” she said.
The 72-year-old woman said that she and her partner Mike would even work for free.
“We are ready to work 24/7. We’ve been doing this for 30 years and we still have vigor and energy even at our age,” she said.
If you know of any rescue organizations that could help, someone willing to take on a few animals, or have space to rent, Tempest suggested contacting her directly at 386-295-1798 or emailing her. email [email protected].
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