When Wings of Rescue reached out to the Humane Society of North Texas to help shelter animals in Georgia impacted by Hurricane Helene, staff had 24 hours to organize, make room in their facilities and conduct the transport.
The storm hit Florida's Gulf Coast in late September, leaving a wave of devastation across six states.
The group received 39 of the 64 total animals transported from the Humane Society of Valdosta in Georgia, director of pet placement Nelda Corbell said. Second Chance Farm in Granbury and the SPCA of Texas also helped take in shelter pets.
By transporting the animals to the Texas shelters, the Humane Society of Valdosta was able to make room for pets displaced by the hurricane.
Now, HSNT will host an adoption event for the transported animals Oct. 18 at the Five Star Subaru in Grapevine from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The adoptions during that event will be free, Corbell said.
"We've helped during disasters in the past just because it's such a serious need to get those animals out as quickly as possible to somewhere that has more resources, and we had the resources available to help them and the fosters waiting," Corbell said. "So it just made sense for us to assist where we could."
Wings of Rescue — which flies at-risk pets from overcrowded shelters and disaster areas to shelters with more space — has worked with HSNT in the past, usually to help transfer dogs from its Texas shelters to other states, Corbell said.
"Texas has such a huge overpopulation problem," Corbell said. "A lot of times we'll fly [pets] to shelters up north that have more space available. They have more adopters waiting just so that we can help our community and make room for incoming pets."
Part of the reason for that overpopulation is due to the lack of strict spay and neuter laws in the state, she said.
"There's no enforcement," Corbell said. "Some cities do have specific laws, but as a state, it's not enforced."
While there is no mandatory, across-the-board spay and neuter law on the books, Texas does require dogs and cats from shelters to be sterilized prior to release.
Some cities have adopted mandatory sterilization laws for pets, like in Dallas and Fort Worth. Austin requires anyone selling a dog or cat to sterilize the animal prior to the sale or register the animal to the city.
Last year, the state legislature passed House Bill 2127 which prohibits cities from restricting or regulating the retail sale of animals, which includes from breeders or puppy stores.
Animal welfare advocates say puppy stores only add to the overpopulation crisis in Texas.
Sterilizing dogs and cats can range in the hundreds depending on the animal and its size, and pet owners are often priced out of spaying and neutering their animals, according to Ric Browde, Wings of Rescue CEO.
Wings of Rescue provides low-cost spay and neuter services like Operation Pit Stop, which provides free sterilization for pit bulls and other bully breed dogs and mixes.
"The normal working class, middle class people are being priced out of pet ownership and pets are suffering," Browde said. "I'm hoping that this doesn't become something that only the rich can afford, because that's going to be tragic."
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