Hurricane Harvey Dogs Arrive In Romeoville

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The heartbreak of Hurricane Harvey brought out the goodness in people from across the country, all eager to help those in need. Here in Romeoville, the local humane society found plenty of people willing to help the four-legged victims of the devastating storm. On Tuesday, eight dogs from Texas were welcomed by the Romeoville Humane Society, and foster families were more than willing to give the displaced pups a place to stay.

"The fosters that stepped up for these dogs are phenomenal," Romeoville Humane Society secretary Megan Ziller said. Days before the dogs' arrival, RHS took to Facebook asking for foster families.

Romeoville Patch shared the group's call to action — and Ziller said people from far and wide offered their help. While RHS could only accommodate local foster families, she said she got inquiries from pet lovers in Ohio, Michigan and Louisiana.

"That's how far it reached," she said. "We got such an overwhelming response." The dogs arrived on Tuesday and were greeted by RHS volunteers and fosters.

"It was a long, frightening journey up north after being in a scary pound," RHS said on Facebook. "The organization of this entire rescue from the the volunteers who drove down south to pick up the dogs in a truck to the ones who fostered sight unseen was incredible! All of these regular people coming together to do good in a flash just shows that there is still a lot of good in the world."

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Two of the dogs that arrived are heartworm positive and several had respiratory infections — which is not uncommon for pooches being transported long distances, Ziller said. Each animal is receiving veterinary treatment as well as vaccinations and spaying/neutering, all covered by RHS donations. Fosters pay for the dogs' in-home care, she said.

While the humane society has already gotten numerous requests to adopt the hurricane-displaced dogs, Ziller said it will be at least two weeks before the pets are ready for their forever homes.

"We need to make sure that we're doing right by these animals," and that includes behavioral evaluations as well as making sure the pooches are healthy enough to go home. The dogs are being kept separate from family pets at their foster homes to make sure they don't spread any illness. The "quarantine" means no sharing spaces or food bowls, and pet owners are instructed to wash their hands after handling the Harvey dogs, Ziller said.

While RHS has plenty of foster families for the hurricane dogs, the rescue is always in need of new collars and leashes, as well as canned food for pets. Monetary donations are also welcome, particularly since some of the hurricane Harvey dogs need expensive heartworm treatment. Donations can be made directly to the group's Texas Hurricane Pet Efforts via PayPal.

Ziller said volunteer dog trainers are also always welcome. To donate items or volunteer services, contact the humane society at romeovillehumanesociety@yahoo.com.

With another history-making hurricane known as Irma bearing down on Florida, Ziller said RHS could consider taking in more hurricane dogs. "We're a very small rescue," she said. "We're open to it," Ziller added, but said the RHS board would need to meet to discuss the possibility of taking in Hurricane Irma pets.

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Images via Romeoville Humane Society