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A Patchogue animal rescue group will be headed to Texas this week to provide pet supplies and aid to shelters still struggling after the devastating snowstorm.
Not only that, there’s a good chance they’ll be driving back to Long Island with a truck filled with abandoned dogs.
On Thursday, four volunteers from Almost Home Animal Rescue and Adoption in North Patchogue will be driving 24 hours straight — almost 2,000 miles — to Texas.
They will stay and help until March 2.
Rebecca Herlihy, the rescue’s outreach coordinator, said the plan to help in Texas actually came out of an already organized dog rescue mission.
“[The dog] ended up moving to Hawaii with its owner. The owner then put the dog on Craigslist and at some point the dog ended up at a kill shelter,” Herlihy said.
“So last week, we were supposed to go to Texas to get this dog and we were going to turn it into a relief mission.”
The dog was able to be flown out to New Jersey instead. It’s now in the organization’s hands — safe and sound.
But Herlihy said they still felt compelled to help pups in Texas during the aftermath of this month’s deadly snowstorm.
Almost Home will be linking up with two Texas shelters, the Houston-based Coalition for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty and the Apollo Support and Rescue located in the Fort Worth area.
Herlihy said the Texas shelters are extremely low on dog food right now.
“We’re loading up a truck-load of dog food, medical supplies, bedding, water, anything they need,” Herlihy said. “We’re also going to bring back as many dogs as we can, because [the shelters] are overcrowded at this point.”
The Almost Home team plans on driving through low-income areas hit hardest by the storm and take in any abandoned dogs they find.
The Patchogue nonprofit rescues, rehabilitates, advocates, and re-homes pups. The organization is funded entirely by donations.
The Taxas trip organizers have been fundraising for the journey, and are still collecting monetary donations, gas and Visa gift cards, and other contributions to help cover the costs.
Anyone is welcome to donate supplies and gift cards for the Texas shelters.
“We don’t really know what we’re walking into, but we’re hoping we can help them out, at least with the medical and food for their family dogs,” she said. “We are overwhelmed with the donations to help us get there because it’s costly, gas alone will cost up over $600, so we’re so happy with the community stepping up to get us there.”
For information on how you can donate, visit Almost Home Animal Rescue and Adoption’s website or its Facebook page.
Top: Ziggy, one of Almost Home’s rescue dogs, in snow in New York.
