All waiting to be sent to Houston. All for a special group of hungry creatures. The many pets made homeless and hungry by Hurricane Harvey.
Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc when it hit the east coast of Texas and parts of Louisiana. There was widespread devastation, but the brunt of the impact of Harvey was felt by Houston, Texas.
Many of the people in Houston were about to communicate they were waiting for help, but the animals were not as fortunate.
Here in Athens, the humane society is doing its part to aid the animals affected by Hurricane Harvey.
They sent out a request on Facebook to bring dog and cat food to the Athens Humane Society where it would then be driven to Texas.
Jed Kaylor, Director of the Athens Humane Society, delivered the food to Atlanta and was met with multiple other volunteers bringing food donations from their local shelters.
One particular animal shelter was hit hard. The shelter is in a city just east of Houston — La Porte, Texas.
The day before Hurricane Harvey hit, the Houston Humane Society took in 58 animals from La Porte Animal Shelter, which is located just east of Houston, because it was projected that that area would be hit harder by the storm.
Though the taking in of these 58 animals was necessary, the shelter also had many animals from before Harvey which put them at over capacity.
This is when an unlikely hero stepped in to help.
To most people, Miranda Lambert is known as a country music star. However, the singer is also an advocate for stray animals, which led her to co-found MuttNation Foundation.
MuttNation Foundation is nonprofit organization that is committed to promoting the adoption of shelter pets. When Lambert, a Texas native, learned of Harvey’s devastation, she immediately boarded a plane to Houston and mobilized MuttNation Foundation.
Lambert and MuttNation Foundation arrived at the Houston Humane Society on Wednesday, August 30th, and transported 62 dogs out of Houston. The next day they transported the remainder of the shelter’s animals that were there before the hurricane hit to make space for survivors of Harvey.
The animals were transported from Houston to Tulsa and Bixby, Oklahoma, where MuttNation Foundation is based out of. From there they were sent to shelters with available space around the country.
