Dogs, cats, horses, a goat, a pig and a lot of chickens and guineas were saved from flood waters as rescuers and veterinarians worked around the clock for more than a week. But even with water levels receding Monday, calls for help were still coming in.
The Animal Care Center “was very busy during the flood,” said Gary Gause, director of the center. “And we’re still taking calls every day.”
As of Monday, the center had transported 176 animals to shelters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee and Arkansas to make room for flood rescues. Thirty animals have been reunited with their owners so far, Gause said.
“We did have staff that stayed at the shelter throughout the whole storm to ensure that the animals would be safe,” said Kelly Bonome, manager at the Animal Care Center.
The rank of rescuers, bolstered by volunteers from the Humane Society of the United States and a veterinarian from the Charleston Animal Society, camped out on cots and in tents at the center. But a lack of showers at the shelter became an issue when rising flood waters limited their access to the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
The J. Reuben Long Detention Center offered showers when roadblocks stood in the way, Bonome said. But a lack of showers is something they will need to address in the future, she added.
The Humane Society brought a 53-foot trailer, complete with a veterinary suite and 55-60 cages to transport animals, Bonome said. It also brought a rescue team.
Rescuers were bracing for a recovery mission when they learned of animals bobbing in debris-filled water.
“They were really excited when they were able to grab live animals out,” Bonome said. And more joy came with a cat rescued from a piling on a bridge over flood waters.
It was “just a little piece of concrete real estate with lots and lots of water around it,” she said. “As the rescuers pulled up with the boat, the cat leaped onto them with such gratitude.”
A woman had been looking for her missing cat for about two weeks.
“It had been all over Facebook. It had been all over Lost Pets and Craigslist and sure enough this was her missing Nibbles, so we were really glad that we could send him back home,” Bonome said. “(What we do) really does matter and it really does help to enrich people’s lives in our communities.”
The rescuers were also able to assist people in evacuations by helping them with their pets.
“A lot of times what we found out is that people will not leave if they can’t take their pet,” she said.
And when rescuers needed a helpful hand, others came in to assist.
“The National Guard helped out with some of the rescues,” Bonome said. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources “has been by our office about three times now delivering donated food, blankets, towels, supplies and we are waiting on a truckload delivery of food from the Petco Foundation.”
Hurricane winds downed trees that “knocked out all of our large animal fencing, but we were able to repair that quickly and efficiently in the nick of time,” Bonome said.
“We worked extremely hard,” Gause told members of the Horry County Public Safety Committee at a Monday meeting inside the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
For hundreds of residents who still need help, the county will be offering community assistance, including registration for FEMA and disaster relief aid, from 12-7 p.m. Thursday at Socastee Baptist Church, 3690 Socastee Blvd., Myrtle Beach.
Emily Weaver: 843-444-1722, @TSNEmily
———
©2016 The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Visit The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) at www.thesunnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
