An emergency rescue flight relieved critical pressure on Texas shelters after severe flooding, carrying 88 cats and dogs to Utah on July 17 and opening space for pets pulled from dangerous conditions across Central and South Texas.
What happened?
According to NTD, Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in Salt Lake City received the animals out of San Marcos. The group included 46 dogs and 42 cats, and all of them rode in the cabin with the crew.
Thirty-two of the animals were from the San Antonio-based Footbridge Foundation — 23 cats and nine dogs.
Kelsey Gardner, director of operations at the Footbridge Foundation, said those pets were not rescued directly from floodwaters, but transferring them still freed up much-needed room during the emergency response.
The need for that extra shelter space grew quickly as heavy rain hit the region. The National Weather Service reported as much as 6 inches fell July 16-17, flooding neighborhoods, damaging roads, and forcing evacuations of residents and their pets. Rescue crews also had to retrieve stranded animals from homes and yards, and local shelters filled rapidly.
At the height of the storm, 125 people were in emergency disaster shelters in the Uvalde area as the crisis strained local resources for both people and animals.
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Why does it matter?
When shelters become overcrowded during disasters, the consequences can create danger. Displaced families may have nowhere safe to keep their pets, while shelters taking in lost and rescued animals can run out of space.
Relocation efforts preserve or create capacity so rescued animals have somewhere to go, and they reduce the risk that healthy animals are endangered simply because space runs out.
Austin Pets Alive also stepped in by offering temporary housing for pets belonging to displaced flood victims, giving families one less urgent concern as they navigated the disaster.
"When disaster hits like this, government shelters are overwhelmed with lost pets coming through the door, often causing animals already past their stray hold to be euthanized just to make room," Ellen Jefferson, president and CEO of Austin Pets Alive, said, per NTD.
What's being done?
Several nonprofits teamed up. Wings of Rescue, a national nonprofit, provided the aircraft along with pilots and crew members trained in animal handling.
After the transport, Best Friends Pet Adoption Center took in the cats and dogs flown from Texas. The room created allowed the Footbridge Foundation to accept pets displaced by the floods, while Austin Pets Alive sheltered animals for evacuees.
People who want to support recovery efforts can donate to reputable groups, foster pets through local shelters, or adopt animals.
"It ensured that local shelters and animal control partners had somewhere to send animals in urgent need," Gardner told NTD.
Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, added, "We are heartbroken by the devastation and loss people and pets experienced due to [the] tragic floods in Central Texas."
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