Southwest Airlines has proven that they are working on being known not just for their airplane wings, but for having angel wings as well, by recently rescuing an entire plane full of animals that had been displaced by the hurricane in Texas. Airline volunteers, alongside representatives from various animal rescue groups, took the dozens of animals in crates and packed them into the cabin for the 1400 mile journey from Texas to San Diego, California.
Needless to say, this was one furry rescue flight, with plenty of love to go around! pic.twitter.com/mtBuDBGDw1
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) September 6, 2017
Every single animal on the flight had been in a shelter previously to the storm hitting, and because of this, the shelters were too full to help the families of displaced evacuees who needed somewhere to keep their pets. Not only that, but there were even fewer shelters available after the storm than before the storm, due to so many of them being completely devastated by high winds, flooding, and complete and total loss of supplies.
This could have been terrible news for the shelter pets, who, with no families to claim them, could very well have faced being euthanized to clear up much-needed shelter space. For the humans who love these homeless animals, however, that was not acceptable, and they went to work finding a new home for the dogs and cats until they could find a real forever home.
Loading up the #HarveyPets and buckling them in! @SouthwestAir #HarveyPetsFlight pic.twitter.com/kMEX8wqxFt
— Helen Woodward (@HWAC) September 5, 2017
That is where Southwest Airlines and California’s Helen Woodward Animal Center, located in Rancho Santa Fe came in. Working directly with CEO of Texas based rescue group Operation Pets Alive!, Mike Arms, the California center prepared to take the dozens of animals so that they would have a chance at life. Southwest and the California center had been working on projects such as this as far back as 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit, and are doing their part to bring to light the plight of shelter pets after devastating storms such as this. That includes sharing some extremely adorable photos from the flight full of dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens.
The people of @hwac stepped up to take in these pets that were relocated to different shelters, but they needed a ride to San Diego. pic.twitter.com/qpBjWanIN6
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) September 6, 2017
Luckily for these pets, efforts such as this one are becoming more common place, and there are shelters all over the country who have now taken in pets affected by Hurricane Harvey and will do so now for pets affected by Hurricane Irma. Shelters are also encouraging anyone interested in helping these pets to contact their local shelters for information on fostering or adopting pets affected by the storms, or even just local pets in need, which will free up more shelter resources for efforts such as the amazing ones in this story.
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Source: Huffington Post
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