Shelter Animals Find Foster Homes After Being Displaced By Austin Floods

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After a severe storm on Monday night flooded the Austin Pets Alive shelter in Austin, Texas, dozens of residents stepped up to provide homes for the displaced animals.

Kim Griffin, 37, an Internet sales tech, and dog owner, was one of those people who knew she needed to do what she could for the homeless pets.

“I saw the pictures of the kennels with standing water, and I knew I had to help,” Griffin, who loaded her car with towels and linens to help dry off wet pets, told People Magazine.

She was later set up with a brown-and-white Jack Russell mix named Vader, whose temporary home has now becomes his forever one.

“In the short time I’ve had him, he’s stolen my heart,” said Griffin. “So now I’m adopting him. There’s no way I want to take him back.”

Griffin was one of dozens of Austin residents who lined up in the pouring rain, eager to house the 211 dogs and cats who had been displaced after a creek next to the shelter overflowed its banks and flooded the kennels.

“People acted very quickly – the response we got was incredible. We even had people take towels home and wash them for us,” said Laura Shirey, 35, a volunteer with Austin Pets Alive. “Some of these people had trees knocked down in their yards and their houses were partly flooded, and yet they showed up.”

Alexa Partridge, 29, fostered a pit bull terrier-mix named Bone for two nights. “I’d love to have kept him longer, but my place isn’t big enough, and I have two cats who would be intimidated,” she said. “But now a friend of mine is thinking of adopting him. He’s a terrific dog and deserves a nice home.”

Volunteers who weren’t able to foster animals showed their love for the animals in other ways, including cleaning clogged drains and mopping up the floors so the shelter — which is the largest public-run, no-kill animal shelter in the country — was able to open its doors and take in 67 more dogs from another shelter that euthanizes animals when there isn’t room in overflow facilities.

“The foster families helped save the lives of these dogs,” Shirey said. “Most people took in a dog for a night or two, while others are fostering them a week or more or adopting. It’s been heartwarming to see. Some of these pets hadn’t been in homes since they came here, so to sleep in a real bed for a night or two was a real treat.”

In horrific times like these, it’s heartwarming to know there are selfless people out there who are willing to help and love these helpless animals.

If you want to help the shelter recover from the flood, you can donate here.

Via People Magazine

Photo: Austin Pets Alive