Bob Collins
I have a number friends who volunteer with Pilots N Paws, flying abused and abandoned dogs to waiting groups and individuals who’ll nurse them back to health and give them a good home.
Those flights are always one-way: from the South to the North.
There’s something about the South that treats dogs like … dogs.
So it’s not terribly surprising to see all of the stories about abandoned dogs in the South, left to fend for themselves in Hurricane Florence by people who had weeks to prepare.
Fortunately, there are decent people among them.
U.S. Coast Guard is rescuing dogs stuck in high waters in Columbus County, North Carolina. Many were swimming and barely above water. The remnants of Florence is still leaving many trapped. A couple was stuck in this trailer and the Guard got them out, too. Here’s our story on this heartwarming rescue: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/09/16/hurricane-florence-coast-guard-plucks-10-dogs-safety/1328094002/
Posted by Christal Hayes on Sunday, September 16, 2018
In Kinston, N.C., over the weekend, one family and some volunteers on Jet Skis rescued 18 dogs from one neighborhood, the Raleigh News and Observer said.
“I love dogs. I love animals, period,” April Casey, who organized the rescue, said. “They can’t save themselves. There was some locked in the house, and the one that was hurt was locked up underneath the steps. Some of them were in kennels, some of them weren’t. There was just a lot of them back there.”
“We have a female dog that was back there,” Casey said. “She had just had puppies, but the puppies didn’t make it. So the female is really depressed and sad, and she’s not herself. She’s all to pieces.”
The paper says owners left them behind because they thought they’d be safe and were on high ground, a poor excuse that makes little sense since the owners, themselves, left, fearing for their safety.
Expect to see more of the dogs flying to the North soon.
(h/t: Paul Tosto)
