Ronni Sigoloff was already on high alert in the days leading up to July 4. Fireworks can cause pets to run away from home, stressing already crowded shelters, said Sigoloff, founder of the dog rescue Texas Round Up Animal Alliance. She began calling around Kerr County, Texas, where she lives, offering to host dogs from area shelters, freeing up space for new rescues.
Little did she know just how much need there would be.
“They had all been trying to clear the shelters out because of the fireworks,” Sigoloff told Straight Arrow News. “Then, this hit, and it made things 10 times worse.”
Before sunrise on July 4, buckets of rain descended on Central Texas, resulting in sweeping floods. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet within 45 minutes. Homes, cars and possessions were washed away, along with lives. The death toll continues to climb past 100, with more than 160 people still missing.
“It spiraled quickly,” said Andrew Davis, executive director of the private, nonprofit Hill Country SPCA. His mind immediately went to Kerr County, a neighboring community responsible for the most intake of his shelter’s pets.
“Kerr County has a lot of strays,” Andrew Davis said. “They needed help before this happened. Now it’s just compounded.”
So far, Hill County SPCA has taken in about two dozen displaced animals.
Rescue organizations, big and small, have banded together this week. Austin Pets Alive! united with Kerrville Pets Alive!, Hill Country Humane Society, Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, Hill Country SPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, Wings of Rescue and others to save animals across Central Texas.
The effort is far from over — and each organization continues to contribute in whatever way possible.
Sigoloff, with a smaller rescue just outside the small Kerr County town of Center Point, took in 14 dogs from Kendall, Kerr County and Bandera County animal controls, opening much-needed spots in shelters. Her shelter is now at maximum capacity.
Austin Pets Alive! cleared area shelters of 400 dogs and cats to provide space for pets displaced by the floods.
Wings of Rescue, a nonprofit based in California that flies pets from disaster areas to shelters, took a plane of 125 pets to the Humane Society of North Texas in Fort Worth and another of 150 pets to the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah.
The stakes remain high: When disaster strikes an area where shelters are already full, the risk of euthanasia increases, Wings of Rescue spokesman Gene Gable told SAN.
“They have hundreds of dogs and cats coming in, and they don’t have a place to put them,” Gable said. “The reason we do this is so those pets can have a safe place to be. When they land, the door opens, and they get a new life.”

Boots on the ground
Dr. Ellen Jefferson, president and CEO of Austin Pets Alive!, is well prepared for triage in the midst of tragedy.
“Sadly, this is our fourth natural disaster,” she told SAN.
On July 4, Jefferson assembled a skeleton crew of staff available to work on a holiday weekend.
“We decided we needed to go all in,” she recalled. “Within the hour, we were mobilizing.”
They began by clearing the shelters. Jefferson called other rescue organizations.
“You are going to have an influx of pets,” she told them. “Who can we take?”
From there, the rescue organizations worked together to search and rescue dogs and cats, which could move into the now-available shelter space.
“That’s when you get boots on the ground,” Jefferson said.
Enter, Laura Davis, owner of the Austin-based dog-goods company Major Darling, who started volunteering with Austin Pets Alive! during Hurricane Harvey eight years ago. She drove to Kerrville on Saturday morning, one day after the river had crested, and began searching.
“The animals were terrified,” Laura Davis said.
She focused on safely capturing the animals and worked alongside a veterinarian to treat them. They tackled calls about dogs in houses with no owners in sight and owners looking for their lost pets.
“A lot of pets didn’t make it through,” Laura Davis told SAN. “Being able to find out who they belonged to and provide closure was the best that we could do.”
As she logged miles, others put their thumbs to work. Stevie Sheriff, animal care manager at Hill Country SPCA, started her rescue work in a group chat.
“How can I help?” the Kerrville resident asked fellow animal rescue professionals. “Where can you put me?”
Working alongside Kerrville Pets Alive! and Freeman-Fritts Vet Shelter and Clinic, Sheriff responded to social media calls, including sightings of dogs and notices from owners who had to evacuate their homes and leave pets behind.
She handed out flyers around town and posted news on Hill Country SPCA’s Facebook. Now she’s back at her day job, where the shelter continues to make space for pets in need.
“This is going to be an ongoing thing,” she said.

Keeping the donations coming
The community has rallied.
“It’s really the best of the Hill Country that comes out of these situations,” said Andrew Davis of Hill Country SPCA.
After placing a wishlist on social media, donations poured in. “We had an Amazon truck full of packages for us,” he told SAN. “Then, our UPS guy came in with a big dolly. We thanked him, and he was like, ‘I’ve got three more.’”
With the amount of help Hill Country SPCA has received, Andrew Davis hopes to share the donations and become a resource for other shelters. “We’re trying to open our doors and help in whatever way we can,” he said.
Many organizations are still in need of supplies. As needs change, most organizations will post up-to-date supply wishlists on their websites and Facebook.
Though the river has receded, the true scale of need isn’t yet fully known. Jefferson, from Austin Pets Alive!, said shelters are taking in more pets each day. She expects animals that had been hiding or injured to appear now that efforts are underway to bulldoze detritus and cut trees.
In her experience, it usually takes an animal shelter two years to fully recover from a natural disaster.
“We’re going to need the support for a while,” said April Peiffer, community engagement coordinator at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter in nearby Georgetown, Texas.
“Financial donations allow us to purchase what we need in the moment,” she said. “It gives us the flexibility to do what we need to do.”
Houston resident Sam Luna teamed up with his colleagues at BKU Energy to make a donation to Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.
“As we watched this tragedy unfold, my wife and I were like, ‘How can we make an impact?’” Luna told SAN.
He thought about the animals affected. “They all needed our help,” he said.
Peiffer explained corporate giving can make a substantial difference. “Larger donors can wipe out an entire need in one fell swoop,” she said.

A long road to recovery
More than 3,500 community members volunteered to help Austin Pets Alive!, focusing on search and rescue, transporting supplies and fostering affected pets.
“We always need fosters, especially people interested in helping dogs that need a more understanding home,” Jefferson said.
She added that temporary foster homes are also needed for owners who want to reclaim their pets, but are not yet able, due to the circumstance.
Andrew Davis, of Hill Country SPCA, said that fostering helps shelters open more space. “That leaves us open to intake more,” he said. “We want to be ready as the need arises. And we’re expecting it will increase, as the story continues to unfold.”
He forecasts continued stress on area shelters.
“This is going to go on for a long time,” he said. “It’s great to have the people who are helping out now, but we’re hoping they’ll still be here in a month. The water recedes, but there’s still a lot of recovery long after.”
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Author: Devin Pavlou
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