NRG Park wasn’t just an evacuation shelter for people after Hurricane Harvey. It was also used as a shelter for animals picked up as strays.
That shelter is preparing to close this week, but it still has a few hundred dogs and a handful of cats.
Melissa Miller, with the Best Friends Animal Society said is now working to send those pets to new homes around the country.
“Best Friends Animal Society made a commitment to these animals and to the community, that we were going to hold these dogs and cats for 30 days to allow their families time to reunite with them,” said Miller. “And now that the 30-day hold has passed, we are now on to the portion of our lifetime commitment to these animals.”
Miller said they’ve already sent animals to Colorado and other states.
“We have some amazing support through our network partners around the country who have the capacity to take in pets,” explains Miller. “Their communities have the capacity to adopt pets. All these pets will be going to communities that are already no-kill.”
Miller adds that many of the smaller dogs have already been transported out. But right now they have a lot of medium and larger-sized dogs that need new homes.
Best Friends Animal Society is not accepting adoption applications for pets displaced during Harvey. “All of the remaining pets in our care are spoken for by our rescue partners across the country,” she wrote via email.
If you want to rescue a pet, you still have time. There are plenty of pets in the Houston area that were displaced by Harvey and still need loving. “People looking to adopt might want to check out BARC, Harris County Animal Shelter, Houston Pets Alive and Houston PetSet,” Miller said.
