I was all set to share what the “helpers” were doing after Hurricane Harvey when Irma set her sights on Florida. Then it got personal because she was heading straight toward MY PARENTS!

So I stepped away from writing and watched Irma’s path until I knew my folks were safe. They are fine and super lucky and never lost power. And now I have even more to share.

It seems so long ago that Harvey hit but I’m still moved by how people and organizations mobilized (and continue to mobilize) to help both people and animals. I get regular communication from a number of organizations and here’s how I see them helping:

Network for Animals sent out a plea for funding because they were sending funds to Houston. I was moved to help them
because they were acting quickly. Here’s a photo that they shared:

Next, Second Chance Rescue, a rescue organization based in NYC, blasted out an email because one of their Houston partners (remember my blog about animals in the south that get transported to rescue groups in northern states where there are more adopters for them?) was forced to evacuate WITHOUT their dogs! This is an excerpt:

“We won’t leave the dogs so need help getting them out by boat. We need temporary places for them to stay as well. We will need about 20 more large crates…

…THE BOATS HAVE TURNED AROUND AND WE NEED MORE BOATS. Three of our own dogs are there and 27 other cats and dogs are still left on the compound! Not to mention 100 dogs that are out in the fields and need rescuing. Our partners have lost everything. Boats arrived and then turned around once they heard they were saving cats and dogs!!!!!”

Here’s a photo of their flooded compound.

Then, the woman in charge of the Houston facility… “Kat has been forcibly removed from the property, and the emergency crew would not take the rest of the dogs. These dogs will not survive unless we get the word out now. Mcbeth, our dog, is one of those 30 dogs and Harlin is out in the field in the crate. Emergency personnel is threatening to turn every dog loose. This is it.”

Well, this was all posted on their FB page and within minutes there were hundreds of offers to help. More about them later…

Larger organizations that I support, like the Humane Society of the US and Best Friends Animal Society, mobilized and have been sending regular updates. This is one of the many videos showcasing the amazing work they have been doing.

So all of this sounds good and I do believe that (most) everyone is doing the best they know how with the resources they have in a crisis situation. But there are a few issues at hand. Here’s some background: Some of the shelters were transporting dogs that were already in their care out of state ahead of the storm. Houston has a huge dog overpopulation problem and there are many rescue groups out of state that partner with the shelters, (especially during a crisis) and take in dogs leaving more room for the dogs newly homeless from the storm. They continued exporting dogs as the crisis continued.

One of my Chicago based colleagues is fostering a dog from Houston. Foster families are needed now more than ever. If you are in the Chicago area and able to foster, contact The Anti-Cruelty Society. Rescue groups around the country also need fosters.

Best Friends was interviewed and while trying not to criticize some of the rescue efforts they were involved with, they did share the following:  Some people who evacuated the rising waters with their pets were told that the dogs would be sheltered but they couldn’t stay with them. So people were sleeping under cars, or in fields etc. while their dogs were being cared for. My understanding is that some of these dogs were then transported and rehomed out of state. (Could this be?) Hopefully not the ones whose pet parents were keeping an eye on them. Yikes! How are these dogs going to be reunited with their original owner? Certainly not easily.

Another criticism that the spokesperson from Best Friends had was that while Hurricane Katrina taught us many lessons about animal rescue in a crisis, many of the lessons hadn’t carried over to Hurricane Harvey. There seemed to be a serious lack of communication.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 and some great news and reunion photos!