“Am I dreaming?” Chloe said through a grin that made the Cheshire Cat look grumpy. Elliot giggled and negotiated with Chloe over who’s turn it was to hold him and how long each turn should last. Two bright glossy eyes looked up at me with a mixture of curiosity, hope, trust, and overwhelm. “It’ll be okay buddy. You’re home now.”
I wasn’t there to know exactly what this little creature had been through. What we do know is that he was at a rescue shelter in Houston, TX when the Category 4 Major Hurricane named Harvey hit in late August 2017. He was there sharing a crate with 2 brothers and 2 sisters when the storm hit. The workers needed to evacuate with no way to transport all of the dogs to safety. It must have been incredibly traumatic for a brand- new puppy as the winds shook the building and the waters rose. There weren’t enough humans around to reassure them, or exercise and feed them. The building must have been full of howling and barking as hunger, thirst, loneliness, fear, and the needs of nature’s call set in. Some of the shelters held over 1700 dogs. Luckily, Tanya Willis and her team at Agape Animal Rescue answered the call and headed to Texas.
As they started helping the dogs, they learned that the need was even greater than they thought. When they learned of another flooded shelter that was in urgent need, they headed several more hours away to help them.
When they arrived, they found the cutest litter of puppies. Mister Muddy was one of the lucky pups saved here. Their bowls were empty and their bedding saturated. Muddy had worms, kennel cough, diarrhea, and was underweight. But, the new humans at their crate brought hope.
The Agape Animal Rescue team shared resources, took in every dog they could manage and transported them to foster homes in Nashville, TN. They were able to help several shelters while they were there with volunteers and resources, and managed to bring back 20 dogs that needed a forever home.
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Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, we were mourning the loss of our best friend Mister Molson who lost his battle with cancer on August 14, 2017. We saw the hurricane’s devastation on the news but were completely unaware of the work Agape Animal Rescue was doing in Texas and how our paths would soon cross. The thread connecting us now existed, but it was yet to be fully woven.
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