Illinois shelter pets find safety after tornado

On the night of June 10, storms were already sweeping across central Illinois when Animal Protective League (APL) director Deana Corbin’s son — a storm chaser — rushed downstairs with a warning no one wants to hear: “We need to go right now. There’s a debris ball over the shelter.”

By the time they reached the APL campus in Springfield, Illinois, the scene was unrecognizable: pitch black, driving rain, trees snapped, roofs gone. Both the shelter and its spay/neuter clinic next door had extensive damage. “It didn’t feel real,” Deana says. And yet, amid the wreckage, one astonishing fact emerged: All 155 pets housed in the buildings that night had survived.

“We were counting our blessings because it was truly a miracle that nobody, nobody got lost, nobody got hurt, nobody,” Deana says.

People started showing up immediately: staff, volunteers, and dozens of community members. They worked through the night, arriving in the dark with flashlights and gloves.

“Luckily our shed still had a roof,” Deana says. “We set up every crate we had in there and formed an assembly line.”

They carried the animals to safety, checking for injuries (there were none) and keeping the cats and dogs calm and dry as they searched for places to temporarily house them.

Some pets were taken for temporary shelter at Sangamon County Animal Control, others to vet clinics, boarding facilities, and even a local cat cafe. Still others went directly into foster homes. By morning they had a safe spot for every animal.

APL is a Best Friends Network Partner and a mentor in Best Friends’ Prince and Paws Shelter Collaborative Program, helping other shelters reach their no-kill goals. “They’re a model of what no-kill success looks like,” says Tiffany Deaton, Best Friends director of national operations.

When the tornado hit, Tiffany and Best Friends Senior Manager of Emergency Operations Tim Perciful happened to be in Northwest Arkansas at the Best Friends Pet Resource Center. As soon as they confirmed the news, they reached out to Deana to offer assistance, which was immediately and enthusiastically welcomed. After loading a van with supplies and as many kennels as they could fit, veteran volunteer Toni Dorsey joined them for the six‑and‑a‑half‑hour drive to Springfield.

“We just knew we had to get there,” Tiffany says.

They arrived on-site early the next morning to a scene Tiffany describes as organized chaos. “People didn’t wait to be asked. They just came,” she says. It’s a sentiment that Deana repeated.

With volunteers everywhere and needs coming from all directions, the Best Friends team helped bring structure to the response, working closely with Deana and her staff to create a plan for the days ahead.

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“I honestly don’t know how we would have made it through those first days without the help,” Deana says. “We were exhausted and overwhelmed, and suddenly we had a hundred people asking what to do. (The team from Best Friends) gave us structure when we desperately needed it.”

APL also leaned heavily on their fellow Best Friends Network Partners, who quickly took in animals from the county shelter so that they had more room for some of the pets displaced by the storm.

“That support made a huge difference,” Deana reaffirms.

What’s been even more remarkable is what’s happened since those first 24 hours. In the days and weeks following the tornado, the support has only grown. Those 155 pets are almost all in foster homes now, and many of the people caring for them have said they plan to adopt.

“It’s just a matter of getting the clinic back up and being able to get them spayed and neutered,” Deana explains. That should happen soon, with a mobile clinic in the works and a nearby vet office loaning use of their facility in the meantime.

Moving companies have shown up with trucks and crews. Restaurants continue to drop meals off for staff and volunteers. Local businesses are donating supplies, sending more volunteers, and hosting fundraisers.

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When one favorite lunch spot offered to donate 25% of their proceeds to the animals, they served 3,000 sandwiches in just a few hours, with a line of cars stretching as far as the eye could see.

“The community hasn’t moved on; they’re still showing up every day,” Deana says. “Fundraisers, meals, offers of space, volunteers sleeping here overnight to keep things safe. It’s overwhelming in the best way.”

Even in the hardest moments, there are silver linings. Two days after the tornado, a Vietnam veteran pulled up to the shelter and said, “I want to help. I want to foster a dog.” As he spoke to the staff about his service and lifelong love of animals, something shifted.

“Show me your oldest dog,” he said. “I’ll adopt.”

They immediately thought of Anastasia, a 12‑year‑old sweetheart of a pup with floppy ears, a broad smile, and kind eyes whose graying fur and slowing gait had not attracted much attention from adopters.

“It was love at first sight,” Deana says. “He was so gentle with her, and she just melted into him. It was one of those moments that reminds you why we do this.”

One unexpected but invaluable tool used during the response has been an AI‑powered hotline that Best Friends staff created and deployed. The system allows anyone to call a central number and receive automated text guidance from APL about how to help, donate, or foster while flagging inquiries that require a staff member’s attention.

“It has saved an incredible amount of time,” Tiffany explains. “During a crisis, staff are pulled in a million directions. This lets them focus on animals and urgent needs while still giving the community a way to plug in.”

The next major step is securing a temporary facility where APL can operate for the foreseeable future. During his time on-site, Tim accompanied Deana on visits to an empty vet clinic, a former big‑box store, and several other spaces — some offered to the shelter at no cost.

“Finding a temporary space feels like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Deana says. “But Best Friends has been helping us understand what to look for. We’ll get there.”

The sooner they are back to operations as usual, the sooner they can shift their focus again to include mentoring other shelters on their no-kill journeys.

Once a space is selected, Best Friends will return with volunteers to help set it up. APL had already been planning a fundraising campaign for a new facility, so the hope is that this temporary space can serve as a bridge until that long-term vision becomes reality.

On her first morning inside the damaged building, Tiffany noticed something on the wall: APL’s no-kill achievement plaques, still hanging where they had always been. They were damp and a little dirty but intact.

With the way they’ve risen to meet this disaster, there’s no question they’ll rebuild stronger than ever.

“My staff has been incredible. They’ve pulled together through something none of us had ever experienced,” Deana says.

They are also still in that mentorship mindset, thinking of other shelters that might someday go through what they have. “We’ve been talking about creating a fact sheet, so the next shelter isn’t starting at ground zero like we were,” Deana says.

Deana puts it simply: “We’re grateful, we’re moving forward, and we’re going to keep saving animals.”

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. 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.