Reuniting pets affected by Hurricane Harvey with their families Best Friends Animal Society's priority. On September 11, in partnership with Harris County Public Health and Houston Pet Set, we opened the Pet Reunion Pavilion at NRG Arena in Houston, where we're caring for nearly 500 displaced cats and dogs. The Pet Reunion Pavilion will be open until November and we expect at least 1,500 animals to pass through our care and we will keep arranging for transport of hundreds more.
In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, thousands of people and animals were displaced and needed help. These animals included homeless pets who were in a shelter before the storm; strays who had not yet made it into a shelter; pets who, in the confusion and chaos of the storm, escaped their homes; and pets whose people were staying in a human shelter that didn't allow pets. These animals needed our help: transport, shelter, and reunification.
Best Friends Animal Society deployed a disaster response team and other experts in animal sheltering, handling, and transport to east Texas. These teams rescued stranded animals, delivered supplies to hard hit shelters, transported displaced shelter pets and support emergency sheltering efforts. Once the initial search and rescue efforts ended, we opened the Pet Reunion Pavilion to provide a safe place for over 500 animals while their people recovered and readied themselves to have pets again.
Best Friends will be on the ground saving shelter animals and displaced pets in Texas through 2017, at least. In this time, we expect roughly 1,500 animals to pass through our care and we will end up helping thousands more animals who were homeless before the storm through transport to Best Friends Network Partners around the country.
