Video: Birds Saved in Hurricane Dorian Bid Rescuers Sweet Farewell

Update: October 15, 2019

Pelicans who were rescued by PETA during Hurricane Dorian have been rehabilitated and released back into nature! The five birds—along with 12 other pelicans saved by compassionate individuals as the storm battered the Virginia coast—spent the past month receiving treatment and recovering at Tidewater Rehabilitation & Environmental Education. The birds’ rehabber, Lisa Barlow, invited all the kind people who had rescued them to be a part of their release near the Lesner Bridge in Virginia Beach, where each of the injured animals had been found and scooped up before they could be hit by cars. A camera captured the beautiful moment when the animals, after briefly hesitating and sticking close to their rescuers, took to the sky in a moving final farewell.

It’s likely that none of these birds would be alive now if not for the people who stopped and came to their aid, even in a hurricane. When you see an animal in need, please help. You may be their only chance for survival.

The following was originally published on September 6, 2019:

Hurricane Dorian is churning up the East Coast of the U.S., endangering the lives of humans and animals in its path—which means that PETA’s emergency team is on the ground ready to rescue animals in need.

Our fieldworkers sprang into action after receiving a report of a pelican who was stranded—and unable to fly—on a busy bridge in Virginia Beach, Virginia, near PETA’s headquarters in Norfolk. Our first responders found the bird huddled on the sidewalk and scooped the animal up. During the rescue, they discovered four more pelicans who were wind-battered and disoriented, struggling to take flight in the middle of the road as cars whizzed past.

The PETA team took the exhausted birds to a local rehabber, who treated one for exposed tendons on her wing and the rest for cuts and scrapes. Once they recover (and Hurricane Dorian passes), they’ll be released back to their homes in nature.

What You Can Do

You can support all our vital work for animals in dire straits—whether because of hurricanes or human negligence—by giving to PETA’s Animal Emergency Fund through the button below. The fund makes it possible for us to respond quickly when disaster strikes or when humans fail the animals who depend on them.