Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc on several Houston-area animal shelters, causing significant damage, flooding, and power outages. The extreme heat also jeopardized the safety and well-being of the animals in these shelters. But none of these challenges were enough to stop the animal welfare community and Best Friends who, powered by perseverance and resilience, stepped in to help. 

In the wake of the hurricane, Best Friends in Houston was operating its lifesaving center with no power and only headlamps. They swiftly mobilized to aid these distressed shelters by coordinating lifesaving lifts to nearly 100 adoptable cats and dogs to shelter partners in other states, including Minnesota and Oregon. The recovery work continued for several weeks with Best Friends also providing the beleaguered shelters with surgical support and much-needed supplies. 

[Friends in multiple states help Houston area SPCA after Beryl]

Though power has been restored to most Houstonians, there continues to be an urgent need for short-term fosters to help alleviate the overcrowding of displaced animals that are still flowing into our local shelters. Shelters are having to get creative with pop-up crates (which aren’t sustainable long-term) and in some cases having to make tough decisions to make room for incoming animals. Best Friends has been recruiting storm relief fosters and matching those who could temporarily open their home for a couple of weeks for an at-risk cat or dog. Supplies were provided, and all medical needs were covered.   

[Pet Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Guide]

In one creative foster campaign with the Mont Belvieu Animal Shelter, fosters were rewarded with movie tickets and pizza gift cards. The result included 9 pets moving out of the shelter and into either foster or adoptive homes during a one-week period. For a shelter the size of Mont Belvieu, which takes in roughly 430 pets in a year and has very limited space to house animals, getting 9 pets into a home in a short period of time meant they were able to spare the lives of several at-risk animals. One of these pets was a dog named Gabby. Gabby was fostered for 2 weeks by a Mont Belvieu’s teen volunteer. The teen talked his allergic mom into fostering the pup and she’s since been adopted by another family.  

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.