
Thousands of Texans may finally be able to return to their flood-ravaged properties in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

But for the more than 1,500 four-legged evacuees crammed into the state's largest animal rescue center there are simply no homes for them to go back to.

Austin Pets Alive! has become the last refuge for hundreds of stray or abandoned cats and dogs that were plucked from danger from flooded neighborhoods and animal shelters across southeast Texas.

Their staff have toiled day and night with thousands of volunteers to coordinate rescue efforts and bring the homeless critters back to their Austin headquarters.

Austin Pets Alive! has become the last refuge for hundreds of stray or abandoned cats and dogs that were plucked from danger across southeast Texas

More than 1,500 animals have needed to be housed at the shelter as others across the state have had to close or adjust with overwhelmed

But with more shell-shocked animals arriving every day, they face an immense task in finding all of their adorable guests a new family.

So far the big-hearted Texas public are more than doing their part, with hundreds of Good Samaritans coming forward to enlist as foster parents or begin the adoption process.

They include Sandra Pitts, 35, an IT specialist waiting in line to take home a new canine playmate for her two dogs, Rocky and Rogue.

The staff at Austin Pets Alive! operate a strict 'no kill' policy, refusing to euthanize healthy animals however challenging it is to rehouse them

With so many new arrivals - 2,000 are expected by early next week - the non-profit had to expand its operations into an 18,000 sq ft former furniture showroom now housing around 400 animals

'I shed more tears over the dogs than I did the humans,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I think it's because they are so vulnerable and helpless.

'I went online to find a way to help and this was the most prominent place. Animals mean everything to me. My dogs are my children.'

Angelina Wedding, 41, is already smitten with her new adopted companion Vishnu, a four-month-old Border Collie mix.

The lovable pup was rescued from a shelter in Victoria, close to where Hurricane Harvey made landfall, battering the town with 80mph winds and dumping 40 inches of rain in less than 48 hours.

Angelina Wedding, 41, is already smitten with her new adopted companion Vishnu, a four-month-old Border Collie mix

The lovable pup was rescued from a shelter in Victoria, close to where Hurricane Harvey made landfall, battering the town with 80mph winds and dumping 40 inches of rain in less than 48 hours

Founded by leading vet, Dr. Ellen Jefferson, Austin Pets Alive! has been in operation since 2008 and has about 100 staff members bolstered by around 2,800 unpaid volunteers

'I don't buy from breeders because these animals need us more', said Wedding. 'He's so sweet, he loves people. I'm going to train him as a therapy dog.'

Unlike typical shelters, the staff at Austin Pets Alive! operate a strict 'no kill' policy, refusing to euthanize healthy animals however challenging it is to rehouse them.

'Some of these dogs were up to their necks in water when they were rescued from flooded shelters,' said Development Director Maggie Lynch. 'In a disaster people are helped first naturally, but we stepped in because these animals have no-one else'

But they knew that smaller facilities sitting directly in the path of Hurricane Harvey would have little choice but to put their residents to sleep rather than let them drown in the flooding.

By the time the storm began to sweep inland their rescue teams were already en route to answer SOS pleas from across the region, loading up thousands of animals from overwhelmed shelters, some in the nick of time.

'Some of these dogs were up to their necks in water when they were rescued from flooded shelters,' said Development Director Maggie Lynch.

'In a disaster people are helped first naturally, but we stepped in because these animals have no-one else.'

With so many new arrivals - 2,000 are expected by early next week - the non-profit had to expand its operations into an 18,000 sq ft former furniture showroom now housing around 400 animals.

They also put out pleas for donations on social media and listed essential items they needed on an Amazon wish list.

Soon they had supplies arriving by the car-load as well as Amazon trucks pulling up to their gates piled high with cat litter, bedding, kennels, collars and leashes.

'People are sending so much stuff we don't know what to do with it,' added Lynch. 'We've rented three storage spaces. One is 4000 square feet but it's almost full an hour after we rented it.

'I can't even begin to tell you how much it's worth to us.'

Vistors and staff members give some much-needed love to the pets housed at the make-shift shelter

The shelter put out pleas for donations on social media and listed essential items they needed on an Amazon wish list

All the animals encountered by Austin Pets Alive! are first checked to see if they have microchips to make sure they are not being taken away from loving owners.

But those confirmed as abandoned or coming from shelters are brought in and looked over by vets before being fed and provided with warm, dry beds and fans to keep cool.

In the event an animal doesn't have a name he or she is quickly given one by staff, who try not to give any two residents the same name.

A glance around the cattery section of the shelter provides ample examples of the staff's imagination: Ziplock and Twitter are purring contently in their cages while their neighbor Amazon tucks into his dinner.

A woman walks her dog along a dog's crossing as her baby sleeps on her back

The shelter does have a 'saturation point' but with so many people coming forward every day, staff hope they never have to turn away a single animal

There's also a Flea-once and a Swiffer McPuddles.

'These animals have been in shelters, on boats, in cars just to get here,' Marketing Manager Lindsey Picard told DailyMail.com.

'Some of them have been in shelters that were flooded or the roofs collapsed.

'We have some dogs in particular who are very scared but we are trying our best to make them comfortable and safe.

'There also been a lot of cat on cat cuddling in our shelter. After what they've been through I can imagine it's very important to feel someone next to you.'

'These animals have been in shelters, on boats, in cars just to get here,' Marketing Manager Lindsey Picard told DailyMail.com. 'Some of them have been in shelters that were flooded or the roofs collapsed'

Already around 1,200 animals have been lined up with foster homes where dogs will stay for around two to four weeks, and cats around four to six weeks, while they wait to be formally adopted

Each foster parent is screened for suitability by 'matchmakers' and must live within 25 miles because the shelter is legally responsible for the animals' medical care

Already around 1,200 animals have been lined up with foster homes where dogs will stay for around two to four weeks, and cats around four to six weeks, while they wait to be formally adopted.

Each foster parent is screened for suitability by 'matchmakers' and must live within 25 miles because the shelter is legally responsible for the animals' medical care.

Donations of food and other supplies stacked outside the shelter. 'People are sending so much stuff we don't know what to do with it,' added Lynch

'Ever since the storm started we've had a line out of the door. Some people have waited for three hours,' added Picard.

'The support has been unreal. It's left me speechless. Quite a few people fall in love with their animals and adopt them.'

Across town the newly set up shelter building is a hive of activity, with volunteers carrying in crates of food and taking turns to take the dogs out for walkies or dips in a paddling pool.

The huge space was an empty warehouse until Christina Houtz, 26, read about the group's incredible mission on Facebook.

She called her stepfather Scott Looney who had a vacant furniture store in Austin and was only happy to lend it to them.

'Within hours they were already setting up,' said Christina, a wedding coordinator who flew in from Orange County, California, with her nine-month-old son, Holden.

'My husband and I have a Great Dane and an Italian greyhound. I was sitting at home crying eyes out at what was happening so I just booked a ticket and came.'

Founded by leading vet, Dr. Ellen Jefferson, Austin Pets Alive! has been in operation since 2008 and has about 100 staff members bolstered by around 2,800 unpaid volunteers.

The shelter does have a 'saturation point' but with so many people coming forward every day, staff hope they never have to turn away a single animal.

'We know that Hurricane Harvey has put around 200,000 animals at risk and it’s heartbreaking to think that a lot of animals have died,' added Lynch.

'But we're doing a great job of getting the message out on social media and people are really stepping up to help us.

'People treat their animals like family, and for those that don't have family, we will never abandon them either.'

The shelter does have a 'saturation point' but with so many people coming forward every day, staff hope they never have to turn away a single animal