Dogs from North Carolina shelter fled to Columbia to escape Florence, now they’re going to Tennessee

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO): A shelter in North Carolina scrambled to get their pets to safety once Florence tore through, causing part of their ceiling to collapse. Luckily all the dogs were okay, but they needed a place to house them. Nearly 60 dogs are now on their way to Tennessee after their shelter in North Carolina was damaged, but they made a quick stop here before taking off.

Volunteers knew they had to get the animals out of the Anson County Shelter in NC after Florence caused flooding and part of the ceiling to collapse. Many shelters simply didn’t have extra space for all of the dogs, but Columbia’s Animal Shelter said they could take them in until their ride to bigger shelters were able to get here.  

“This is the largest transport I’ve ever done,” Alexia Johannes said, a volunteer 

The 35 from North Carolina and 20 dogs who were up for adoption here will be making the five hour trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. The volunteers driving the transport busses are from as far as Oklahoma. The pups aren’t the only ones feeling grateful for the volunteers.

“I feel incredibly grateful that the communities around me, that our shelter director has made it as seamless and effortless as possible, so that when these organizations call and say can you take dogs and how many can you take? We can say yes! And that’s a really good feeling,” Johannes said. 

“It brings tears to your eyes almost… to walk in and to see so many people banning together, working all these extra hours who are here out of the goodness of their heart and for the love of the animals. It makes an impact and it’s that sparkling little light in the sea of hard times,” Evan Fadem said, the director for Heart of Oklahoma animal shelter. 

Fadem is from the Humane Society of Tulsa and said it warms her heart that the Columbia shelter was able to take these dogs in because she knows the Columbia shelter is always at full capacity.

“So for them to step up and take in those extra animals when there’s such a great need, that’s why we’re so thankful for our partners to step in relieve a little bit of that stress for them,” Fadem said. 

Now, 55 families will get man’s best friend. 

“Of course, there’s no such thing as a bad dog!” Johannes laughed when asked if they were taking only the good dogs. 

From surviving hurricane Florence, to making the 330-mile trip to find home, these dogs have a unique story to tell. 

“The most rewarding part of my job is sending these animals home and seeing the look on the animal’s face and the persons face when they go home,” Fadem said.

All of the volunteers these dogs will find their forever home very soon, but they say some of those dogs won’t be staying in Tennessee for too long, they actually might be traveling to other states to find their forever home.