Woman finds homes for 100 animals after pet-friendly assisted living center in Florida closes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A Daytona Beach woman successfully found a safe place for roughly 100 animals in just a few days.

Shoshannah Tempest ran Compassion In Healthcare, a pet-friendly assisted living facility on Beville Road. Due to pandemic-related financial hardship, she was unable to keep the facility open. 

Eventually, the building went into foreclosure. From that point, Tempest was responsible for a tortoise, a chinchilla, several birds, horses, dogs, and cats. She was notified by the new property owners she had to vacate the property by Wednesday afternoon. 

"It's had its ups and downs, but more ups than downs," Tempest said. "People have come by and encouraged us." 

After a few days of hard work, all the animals were either adopted or rescued by another team. Halifax Humane Society had staff on site helping clear the building out. 

FOX 35 News crews looked on as police supervised her departure. Tempest said she wouldn’t have been able to get the animals where they belong without the help of community partners. 

An organization called Poodle and Pooch Rescue stepped in to rescue some of the cats, even though that is not their typical protocol. Rebecca Lynch, a board member of the rescue organization, said there were several pets that were in need of medical attention, and she couldn’t resist helping. Tempest spent months looking for solutions but found little response. 

"She has spent her life taking care of other people and taking care of animals. And when she needed help most, everybody turned their back on her," Lynch said.

Lynch believes this was indicative of a problem seen everywhere. 

"This is just one case in Daytona Beach. But the reality is it's all over the state of Florida and beyond," Lynch added. "She encourages people to volunteer for their local animal shelter or rescue organization to help prevent people from being overwhelmed with animals like this moving forward. 

Tempest is unsure of her next steps, but she said she intends to help animals and people moving forward.

"These animals bring a lot of healing to people," Tempest said, "and we need to heal them too."