Tag: Texas

How to Help Texas Animal Rescues and Shelters Affected by Freezing Weather

“We are facing Pupageddon,” the rescue group Dallas DogRRR – Rescue.Rehab.Reform wrote on its Facebook page Feb. 18. Record-breaking freezing temperatures have left millions without heat or electricity in Texas, including animals and the people who rescue and shelter them.

Here’s what you can do to help some of these shelters and rescues. If you know of others that need help due to the freezing weather, please leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

Austin Pets Alive!

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is serving as a “mega-center” during this disaster, according to a Feb. 19 post on its Facebook page.

“Despite facing countless challenges, including a days-long power outage, impassable roads, water loss, and facility damage, APA! has continued life-saving efforts,” wrote the nonprofit, which is dedicated to keeping Austin no-kill.

In the coming weeks, APA! estimates that over 5,000 animals in Austin and the surrounding areas will need help. “Our team is already fielding requests to pull animals from hard-hit areas across the state and we continue to receive requests for help with food, bedding, water and supplies as so many are displaced from their homes,” APA! wrote on its website.

You can help by:

Dallas DogRRR

“It’s bad here in the Rio Grande Valley—really really bad. Moms frozen with their babies, people trying to put together makeshift shelters and tents for some strays, the dogs are dropping like flies!” wrote an animal rescuer in the Rio Grande Valley who is partnered with Dallas DogRRR, a group of volunteers that rescue animals mainly in the southeast Dallas area.

“The shelters are bursting,” the volunteer wrote. “Owner surrenders right and left. Shelter having issues with frozen bursting pipes. Trying to hold the cold back and find rescue to get the dogs out.”

You can help by:

Yaqui Animal Rescue

Located in Sullivan City in the Rio Grande Valley, Yaqui Animal Rescue is a no-kill, non-profit shelter on an 80-acre ranch. According to its website, the Rio Grande Valley and neighboring cities have the largest stray animal population in the United States.

This week Yaqui Animal Rescue lost power and all of its pipes broke, leaving the shelter without water.

You can help by:

Houston SPCA

As temperatures plunged to single digits, the Houston SPCA received about 150 phone calls each day about animals left outside in the freezing cold, CNN reports.

The nonprofit’s team of 10 cruelty investigators has been putting in long hours saving the lives of these animals.

“Now that we are warming up … now is when our work is really going to start,” Julie Kuenstle, Houston SPCA vice president of communications, told CNN. “That’s what usually happens with a disaster.”

You can help by:

Dogs Saved After Falling into Frozen Texas Swimming Pools

During the freezing weather in Texas last week, two dogs were rescued after they fell into swimming pools. Here are their stories.

Neighbor’s Dog Alerts Family to Yellow Lab Who Fell in Pool

If not for the barking of Leo, a neighbor’s dog, this story of a yellow Lab named Zoya would very likely have had a tragic ending.

Zoya and her family were staying with those neighbors after a pipe burst in their Southlake, Texas, house during the freezing weather there. As Zoya was sniffing out the unfamiliar backyard last Wednesday, she wandered onto the surface of the frozen swimming pool — and plunged through the ice into the freezing water.

As Zoya struggled to get out, Leo immediately started barking. Zoya’s dog dad, Rajat Sharma, heard the commotion and rushed out to his dog, falling through the hole himself. Fortunately, Zoya wasn’t far from the pool’s edge and Sharma was able to lift her out to safety.

“What I knew was that I got to go in and get her, right?” Sharma told CBS DFW. “I was trying to tread lightly, but in the back of my mind I knew that if it couldn’t take her weight, it definitely won’t take mine.”

Sharma was also helped out of the pool by a family member. The scary incident was captured on a security camera.

Based on what happened, Sharma has an important warning for all pet parents: Keep a close eye on your dog outdoors, especially in freezing weather.

“That ice is still out there and it’s probably starting to melt, and you know it’s dangerous,” he told CBS DFW. “Your pups are just like your kids. Just make sure there’s somebody around to get to them if trouble comes knocking.”

8-Year-Old Girl Rescues 90-Pound Dog Who Fell in Pool

Amelia Cipriano was playing in the snow in her Austin backyard Feb. 15 when her dog, Cooper, suddenly lost his footing and fell into the swimming pool.

The 8-year-old girl immediately ran to the pool’s edge and, thanks to adrenaline, managed to pull her 90-pound dog to safety.

“Amelia was pumped that she saved Cooper’s life, and Cooper was pumped that he got to go for a ‘swim,’” Amelia’s dad, Ron Cipriano, told WSVN. “He obviously loves the water.”

Both Amelia and Cooper are doing fine. Cooper hasn’t left his hero’s side since the incident, Cipriano said.

Cooper’s rescue was captured on the family’s home surveillance camera. Brava, Amelia!

Here’s how you can help Texas animal rescue groups and shelters impacted by the freezing weather.

Photo: CBSDFW/YouTube

Rescued Dog Rescues New Family from House Fire

Laura Smith was sound asleep in the early morning hours of March 4 when she was awakened by Chrome, a dog she’d recently adopted from Bastrop County Animal Control in Texas.

Thinking he needed to go out, Smith opened her bedroom door — and saw the other side of her house in flames.

“Chrome woke me up so I could get my two boys, who were closer to the fire, and myself out of the house,” Smith wrote in a thank you message to the Bastrop shelter.

Smith has another senior dog who did not wake up and alert her to the fire. So it’s thanks to Chrome, who appears to be a Pit Bull mix, that Smith and her two-legged and four-legged family members are alive today. “He is without a doubt my hero,” she wrote. “We are so blessed.”

She added Chrome to her family after seeing him during an adoption event at the grand opening of a store. “We were meant to be,” she wrote in the message. “I rescued Chrome, but he saved us.”

Unfortunately, Smith’s house was severely damaged in the fire and the family lost most of its belongings. The Bastrop shelter has launched an online fundraising campaign to help the Smiths start over.

Chrome isn’t the only rescued dog who has “pawed it forward” by saving his new family in return. Meet three other dogs who also saved their adopters’ lives.

Photo: Bastrop County Animal Control and Shelter Facebook page

How to Help Shelters and Rescues Affected by Recent Hurricanes

One right after another, three recent catastrophic hurricanes — Harvey, Irma and Maria — wreaked havoc on Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Hundreds of thousands of people are now without homes, and animal shelters have been taking in their pets. Hundreds of shelter dogs and cats were flown to facilities in other states to make room for all the incoming pets.

One of the most helpful things you can do, even if it’s just for a week, is provide a temporary home for a displaced dog. Visit the Foster a Hurricane Pet website to find a perfect match. Or, better yet, adopt a shelter dog who was evacuated to make room for four-legged hurricane refugees.

Here are some of the other ways you can help shelters and rescues in the affected areas. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list. If you know of other shelters and rescues that need post-hurricane help, please leave a comment.

TEXAS

Austin Pets Alive!

The Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) shelter, which itself was flooded during a 2015 storm, rescued over 2,000 pets after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston. It acted as a supply hub for other shelters in need, and opened temporary shelters in Houston as well as Austin.

“We cannot express our gratitude for the continued support from the Austin Pets Alive! community – both new and old,” the nonprofit, which is dedicated to keeping Austin no kill, wrote on its website.

You can help by:

BARC

BARC is the City of Houston’s animal shelter and adoption facility, and the only city shelter in Houston required by law to accept every animal that comes through its doors regardless of breed, temperament, health conditions or circumstance.

You can help by:

Houston SPCA

Located at ground zero, the Houston SPCA is still making water rescues, spokeswoman Julie Kuenstle told KHOU Sept. 21.

  • You can help by fostering a pet, especially if you live in Texas or Louisiana.

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. It “has provided and continues to provide all needed pet supplies as these families pick up their pets so that the pets have all they need until their owners are able to purchase further supplies.”

Tall Tails Animal Rescue

When a dam was opened without warning Aug. 28 near Hankamer, Texas, where Tall Tails Animal Rescue is located, its 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. A video of the rescue effort has been viewed more than 244,000 times.

While all the animals were fortunately saved, the kennels and house were destroyed. The couple plans to rebuild in another location so they can continue rescuing and rehabilitating sick, injured and pregnant dogs.

  • You can help by making a cash donation.

FLORIDA

Florida Keys SPCA

“As we look forward, it becomes clear this will be a long haul for our community to restore our way of life to pre-Irma days,” the Florida Keys SPCA (FKSPCA) wrote on its Facebook page Sept. 19.

“The FKSPCA will make every effort to help keep animals in their homes as opposed to being surrendered due to displacement of their pet owners by assisting with foster care options, sheltering options through our FAITH program, and routine and wellness care options.”

You can help by:

Gulf Coast Humane Society

Income for the Gulf Coast Humane Society (GCHS), the oldest non-profit animal welfare organization in southwest Florida, was frozen for nearly two weeks as the Fort Myers shelter prepared for and then cleaned up after Irma.

Humane Society Naples

After Hurricane Irma battered Naples with 135 mph winds, the Florida town was left without power and residents were advised to boil water. Because of these dire conditions, the 79 dogs (and 64 cats) at Humane Society Naples (HSN) were flown across the country to the San Diego Humane Society.

HSN is currently taking in pets that have been left homeless due to Irma. “Naples residents are already overwhelmed and most aren’t ready to add another family member during this difficult time,” it wrote on its website. “We have no doubt that there are countless families in another state who want to give loving homes to a ‘Hurricane Irma’ pet.”

You can help by:

Humane Society of Broward County

The Humane Society of Broward County (HSBC) in Fort Lauderdale “not only weathered the massive storm but also sprang into action to help other areas of the state that were devastated by the hurricane — all thanks to long hours of smart planning and preparation by HSBC’s dedicated team,” according to its website.

You can help by:

Humane Society of Greater Miami

Two weeks after Irma struck, the Humane Society of Greater Miami was “happy to report that we have been able to move some of our pets back into their original rooms after the hurricane,” according to its Facebook page. “Although we still have a long road ahead of us to fully recover from Irma’s impact, we are surely on our way!”

PUERTO RICO

Island Dog

The mission of Island Dog, a nonprofit based on Puerto Rico’s east coast, is to raise awareness of the suffering and cruelty animals endure in the U.S. Caribbean Islands. To help reduce the number of strays, it provides low-cost spay and neuter clinics around the island.

Just before Maria struck, Island Dog co-founder Sali Gear chartered a plane and flew 300 animals to safety at her farm in Virginia. From there, the animals were taken in by rescue groups and will hopefully find forever homes around the country.

Second Chance Animal Rescue of Puerto Rico

Located in the mountains of Villalba, Second Chance Animal Rescue of Puerto Rico is usually home to over 150 animals. Because of the lack of electricity and cell phone service throughout the island, it’s not yet known whether the shelter withstood the hurricane.

“The most we can do is to raise money to help them recover the shelter and evacuate rescues to our stateside support teams as soon as roads are passable and flights are available,” the nonprofit wrote on its website.

The Sato Project

The Sato Project is dedicated to rescuing abused and abandoned dogs from Puerto Rico. Over the past six years the nonprofit has saved more than 1,600 dogs, mainly from “Dead Dog Beach” where pets are dumped and often, as the name sadly implies, do not survive.

Dead Dog Beach is located on the southeastern coast in Yabucoa, which was directly hit by Maria on Sept. 20, with 155 mph winds, torrential rain and flooding. According to an update on The Sato Project’s Facebook page three days later, the dogs in its shelter survived, but the structure suffered catastrophic damage.

  • You can help by making a cash donation to The Sato Project’s Hurricane Relief Fund. According to the website, doing so will “help mobilize critically needed supplies and support to our team on the ground in Puerto Rico, and to transport as many dogs as we can to safety in the coming days and weeks.”

Photo credit: Texas National Guard

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

Exit mobile version