As about 100 homeless dogs rescued from a high-kill shelter were being transferred from Tall Tails Rescue in Texas to new forever homes in Washington state, the truck and trailer in which they were riding slid on ice and crashed Thursday morning on a Colorado interstate.
Amazingly, no one was hurt — but the truck was severely damaged, leaving 100 dogs temporarily stranded in Eagle, Colo., while it was being repaired.
Eagle County Animal Shelter Manager Daniel Ettinger arranged for the dogs to be taken to the county fairgrounds.
“We took all the animals in, set up the kennels and started providing care,” Ettinger told 9News. “Our staff has been amazing through this, but this is something a little too big for us to handle on our own.”
Using social media, the shelter reached out to local residents for help.
Volunteers immediately responded. Among them were Kristie Bratschie, who helped clean up the kennels inside the truck “that, after a scary accident, needed a lot of cleaning,” 9News reports.
“They are getting back on the transport today so we want to make sure they are going home in clean kennels too,” Bratschie told 9News yesterday.
More than 100 volunteers (one for every dog!) showed up to help by walking the dogs and donating supplies. There was even a line of people waiting to walk the dogs, Eagle County Public Information Officer Kris Friel told the Post Independent.
Michael Wlodarek, who runs Tall Tails Rescue with his mom, told the Post Independent, “These dogs must think they’re in heaven, they’re getting so much attention and love. Every dog has been walked a couple dozen times and held for hours.”
Karen Jarchow of Eagle volunteered after seeing a post about the dogs on Facebook.
“A giant truck full of puppies in Eagle? I thought it was too good to be true,” she told the Post Independent. “Then someone else told me about it, so I went over on Friday morning and there were all kinds of dogs from adults to puppies. So I grabbed a leash and helped walk a dog.”
Among the items donated by local residents were dozens of blankets, cases of cleaning supplies, dog beds, toys, leashes and almost 2 tons of dog food, the Post Independent reports.
Ettinger told 9News it was “one of the most rewarding and exciting days I have ever had in my career.” He said his cell phone never stopped ringing.
Most of the dogs being transported already have new families waiting for them in Washington. The 10 dogs who haven’t yet been adopted will remain at the Eagle County shelter — and several of them already have new forever homes.
Last night, the 90 or so other dogs were back in the truck and on their (hopefully incident-free) way to new homes in Washington.
Photo via Facebook