Tag: Texas floods

How to Help Animal Shelters and Rescues Affected by Hurricane Harvey

 

For updated information about how to help animal shelters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico after the recent catastrophic hurricanes, click here.

Hurricane Harvey has been wreaking havoc on the Houston area for days. This morning, for the first time in its history, a dam overflowed, which will cause even more devastating flooding.

Animal shelters and rescues throughout Texas and neighboring states are taking in as many displaced dogs and other pets as they can. They need donations of cash and supplies — and, especially, volunteers to provide foster homes for all those homeless pets. Here’s what you can do to help some of these shelters and rescues.

If you know of other shelters or rescues that need help due to Harvey, please leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

SPCA of Texas

The SPCA of Texas, located in Dallas, is “putting every available resource behind assisting pets and people who have evacuated the Gulf Coast to the North Texas area,” according to its website. “We are deploying staff, volunteers and supplies to support evacuees housed at the mega shelter opening in Dallas, working with city and county disaster officials to care for the pets of evacuees.”

You can help by:

Tall Tails Animal Rescue

When a dam was opened without warning Aug. 28 near Hankamer, Texas, where Tall Tails Animal Rescue is located, the nonprofit’s kennels were flooded with over a foot of rising water, putting the lives of over 100 dogs in danger.

After Tall Tails founders Kat K Tschirgi and Kevin Miller put out cries for help on social media, volunteers in boats arrived to save some of the dogs. This video of the rescue effort, posted by Miller on Facebook, has been viewed more than 166,000 times.

The nonprofit Dallas DogRRR is collecting cash and supply donations on behalf of Tall Tails Animal Rescue.

You can help by:

Austin Pets Alive!

The Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) shelter, which itself was flooded during a 2015 storm, has been taking in hundreds of homeless pets from Houston.

“As we continue to care for the animals we have already saved, we have to prepare for even more animals who will need us in the coming days,” APA!, a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping Austin no kill, notes on its website.

“We’ve been receiving reports from shelter partners in areas hit hardest by the hurricane and areas expecting the most flooding that … they are anticipating another significant influx of animals that they may not be able to help. We have also heard reports of extensive lines of people surrendering their pets, so Austin Pets Alive! needs to be ready to help and brace ourselves for additional animal intake.”

You can help by:

  • Donating needed items: Check the APA! website for its updated top current needs. Thanks to donations, it currently has enough crates, canned and dry dog food, and Clorox Wipes.
  • Making a cash donation.
  • Permanently adopting a large dog, as long as you have no other dogs. Short-term fosters are not currently needed.

Houston SPCA

Located at ground zero, the Houston SPCA needs cash donations, which fortunately have been pouring in from near and far — including over $160 from some awesome Hamburg, N.Y., school kids who raised the money by selling lemonade.

“The animals are cared for and safe,” Houston SPCA wrote on its Facebook page Aug. 28. “We have been overwhelmed with gratitude by the outpouring of support from the community.”

Photo via Kevin Miller/Facebook

TV Reporter Reunited with Tethered Dog He Rescued in 2016 Texas Flood

March 2021 update: Before Phil Archer retired as a KPRC reporter, he was once again reunited with the dog he rescued in 2016.

Just over a year ago, as KPRC reporter Phil Archer, Sheriff Troy E. Nehls and three others rode an airboat down a flooded street in Rosenberg, Texas, Nehls was shocked by what he spotted.

Someone had tied their dog to their front porch and left her there. She was now struggling to keep her head above the rapidly rising water.

Archer and Nehls were accompanied in the airboat by photographer Jeovany Luna and volunteers Richard Allen and Jeff Shimek.

With Luna’s camera rolling, Archer and Shimek jumped out and rescued the poor dog just minutes before she would have drowned.

“This is infuriating,” wrote Sheriff Troy E. Nehls, who was also on the airboat, on his Facebook page. “These residents will get a visit from me when they return.”

The heroes took the dog to the Houston Humane Society, which named her “Archer” in the reporter’s honor. Then the heroes returned to their airboat and rescued even more stranded dogs.

Archer’s owner, Mario Gallardo, told KPRC he didn’t realize how high the water would rise when he tied his dog to the porch and left her there — and he didn’t bother to tell authorities that he’d left his dog behind. Tragically, hundreds of pets and other animals died in the devastating flooding last year caused by the historic rising of the Brazos River.

Sheriff Nehls officially adopted Archer not long after the rescue. “I am happy to say the only water this girl will be in now is the swimming pool in my backyard!” he wrote on his Facebook page at the time.

Yesterday, for the first time since June 2016, Archer was reunited with her namesake rescuer.

“One year after the devastating Brazos River floods, Archer the dog continues to be a ray of light to all she meets,” Archer (the reporter, that is) wrote in a KPRC article about their reunion.

“Her survival was a small ray of good news in a bad time, and after almost dying, she is now thriving as a cherished member of Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls’ family.”

Grab a tissue or three and enjoy their happy reunion.

Protect Your Pet During Floods

Monica Schmidt, with the Houston Humane Society, told KPRC it’s as important to prepare your pets for big storms as it is to prepare yourself. She offered these helpful tips:

  • Make sure your pet is microchipped and your contact information on it is up to date.
  • Have a pet first aid kit.
  • Have a “go bag” with extra pet food and toys in it.
  • Have a crate and make sure your pet is trained to go in it “so that they’re not going to freak out,” Schmidt said.

Photo via YouTube

Watch a Tethered Dog Rescued During Texas Floods

AUGUST 2017 UPDATE: Here’s how to help animal shelters and rescues affected by Hurricane Harvey.

JUNE 8, 2016 UPDATE: Sheriff Troy E. Nehls, who helped in the rescue, has officially adopted Archer. The dog’s owner, Mario Gallardo, told KPRC he didn’t realize how high the water would rise when he tied Archer to the porch and left him there — and he didn’t bother to tell authorities then that he’d left his dog behind.

“I am happy to say the only water this girl will be in now is the swimming pool in my backyard!” Nehls wrote on his Facebook page June 5. “We picked her up today from the Houston Humane Society. Welcome to the family!”

“They chained him to the front of the [expletive] house?” said someone in an airboat Tuesday as it made its way down a street in Rosenberg, Texas, which had been flooded by the historic rising of the Brazos River.

He was referring to a dog who’d been tied to the front porch of a house. The dog was struggling to keep her head above the rising floodwater.

In the airboat were KPRC reporter Phil Archer, photographer Jeovany Luna, Sheriff Troy E. Nehls, and volunteers Richard Allen and Jeff Shimek.

With a camera rolling, Archer and Shimek jumped out of the boat and rescued the dog, minutes before she would have drowned.

“This is infuriating,” wrote Nehls on his Facebook page. “These residents will get a visit from me when they return.”

Later that day, the Houston Humane Society wrote on its Facebook page that it would get the dog “cleaned up, fed (although I hear the sheriff shared a ham sandwich with her earlier), vaccinated and settled in for the night.” Anyone interested in adopting her (she’s appropriately been named “Archer” by shelter staff) is asked to email adoptions@houstonhumane.org.

Phil Archer has been reporting for KPRC for 40 years, according to his Facebook page. After taking the dog to the Houston Humane Society, he and the other heroes went back and rescued more dogs.



How to Help Pets Affected by the Texas Floods

May was the rainiest month in Texas history, and the storms keep on coming. More than half of Texas is under flood watches or warnings, overwhelming animal shelters and rescues. Here are links to the donation pages for some shelters in the Houston area:

Photo via YouTube

Dog Thanks Firefighter for Rescue from Texas Floodwaters [Video]

A man and his German Shepherd from McKinney, Texas, have a lot to be thankful for this weekend.

When they became trapped in chest-deep floodwaters under a bridge around 4 a.m. Friday, the man called 911 on his cell phone, hoisted his big dog up onto his shoulders and waited for help to arrive.

The McKinney Fire Department managed to pinpoint the man’s location by ‘pinging’ his cell phone off nearby towers.

Professional photographer Michael O’Keefe, founder of First Response Photography, was also on the scene.

“I poked over the guard rail and saw a dog. That’s literally all I saw at first, was the dog standing on water,” he told NBC DFW. “Turns out he was standing on the shoulders of the gentleman that was his owner.”

Using what spokeswoman Stacie Durham told the McKinney Courier-Gazette was a long-angle rescue, firefighters maneuvered the ladder over the water from the fire engine parked on the bridge. Swift-water rescuers were lowered to the man and his dog, who were lifted to safety.

“It was a pretty lengthy rescue process,” Durham said.

The rescue was caught on video by O’Keefe. “I don’t think [the man] was going to leave the dog,” he told NBC DFW. “I think they were going as a pair.”

Soon after the man and dog were on dry land, the German Shepherd showed his appreciation to his lifesaver, as you can see in the photo above.

“His feet hit the ground and he almost instantly went towards the firefighter that had saved him, jumped all over him, licked all over him,” O’Keefe told NBCD FW. “It was real touching to watch.”

On the First Response Photography Facebook page yesterday, O’Keefe wrote, “We have received numerous messages and calls from all over the globe, people wanting to share their appreciation to the McKinney First Responders that rescued a man and his dog from the flood waters early Friday morning.

“These folks train hard and work hard, and we think they deserve the recognition.”

Photo via Facebook

Missing Texas Pit Bull Found in California Returns Home

Only Thor knows exactly how he got to Northern California after running away from his home in San Marcos, Texas, during the severe floods in late May.

The friendly, 16-month-old Pit Bull was seen jumping off the back of a truck Sept. 26 in Crescent City. A police officer took him to the Del Norte County Animal Shelter, where it was fortunately discovered he had a microchip with information about his dog dad, Eddie Hurtado.

“In this case, it was one of the rare situations where an animal was chipped and the information was correct,” the shelter’s director, Justin Riggs, told KIEM. “So we were able to get a hold of the owner pretty quickly.”

Over Memorial Day weekend, Thor had bolted as his family evacuated their house, which was flooded by the rising Blanco River, Hurtado told the Associated Press. Their two other dogs returned home, but Thor did not. Hurtado had spent weeks looking for his missing dog.

As for how Thor made the 2,000-mile journey to California, it was probably nothing like “Homeward Bound — The Incredible Journey.” *

“It certainly wouldn’t be something he did on his own, wandering that far,” Riggs told KIEM. “We have had dogs wander 10 or 20 miles in the county, or even a little farther, but certainly there were people involved in this.”

Thor had some fur loss and fleas, and was slightly underweight, but was otherwise fine.

Before Thor could be returned home, more severe weather swept through San Marcos. Once again, the Hurtado family had to evacuate their home due to flooding.

Thor stayed at the shelter while his family recovered.

“Certainly after everything they’ve been through, the least we can do is keep him safe here,” Riggs told KIEM.

Hurtado couldn’t afford the $1,500 cost to have Thor transported back home to Texas, but Jess Williams and another good Samaritan donated the money after seeing Thor’s story on the KEYE TV Facebook page.

Bruce Heinichen, a truck driver hauling a boat to Texas, offered to bring Thor along with him.

“I didn’t know he had ridden a wave out of Texas and ended up in California,” Heinichen told KEYE TV. “Once I picked him up, I heard that story.”

On Saturday, the two took off from Crescent City. Along the way, Heinichen sent the Hurtados photos of Thor relaxing and chewing a bone.

Finally, after over five months apart, Thor and the Hurtado family were reunited last night. As you can see, it was a very happy reunion.

Photos via Twitter; Twitter

* This is an affiliate link. If you buy this item from Amazon, i Still Love Dogs will get a small portion of the purchase price.

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