Whether it's a flood, tornado or hurricane, severe weather can separate beloved pets from their families. And when that happens, even a shelter 100 miles away can play a key role in reuniting four-legged animals with their humans.
"The very first thing that we do in a disaster is we show up and we say, 'we'll take all the ones out of your shelter that you have now, so you've got space to take in all the animals that are lost during the flood,'" said Dr. Ellen Jefferson, the President and CEO of Austin Pets Alive!
In the weeks since the July 4 flood, Austin Pets Alive brought in over 1,100 dogs and cats from flood impacted communities — protecting the animals from euthanasia and creating space for smaller shelters to focus on reuniting lost pets with their families.
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A majority of the transferred animals went up for adoption back in Austin, and the community responded with open arms to help foster and adopt.
"We had so many people standing in the lobby and so many dogs coming off transport, we pretty much would be like, you're good. You seem sweet, you're loose, you're wiggly, you're happy to be out of the car. Great. Here's some nice people who are gonna take you home," said Cameron Shoppach, the dog behavior team manager at APA.
They're also providing temporary foster care for families who want to keep their pets, but in the immediate aftermath of the flood don't have a living situation that allows for that.
"They don't want to lose their pets, but they don't know how they're going to keep them in their care because they need to do everything else to get their life back to normal," Jefferson said. "And in those situations, we've set up a separate foster program where we're helping those animals just live for a few months while those people get back up on their feet."
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The Austin Pets Alive team also set up temporary clinics to provide vet care on site, helped with search and rescue and checked found animals for microchips. For four-legged victims of the flood, they're providing cremation services to help bring closure to the pet's family.
As the central Texas community continues to recover, meanwhile, they know more help will be needed.
"Because flood water is so contaminated with disease, we expect that there's going to be waves of this that we have to kind of show back up and help with because a lot of people are under resourced and don't have the ability to go and spend $1,000 at the vet," Jefferson explained. "And we want to be able to make sure that those animals have the care that they need."
