Some pet rescues are more dramatic than others.
As Hurricane Irma barreled along the Florida peninsula toward Columbus, heavy rain flooded a Clay County animal shelter outside Jacksonville, Fla., where the dogs had to swim to waiting boats to evacuate.
The boats took them to vans that in about four hours hauled them 300 miles to Columbus, to the PAWS Humane pet adoption center.
Not to the PAWS shelter at 4900 Milgen Road, next to Columbus Animal Care & Control, but to a temporary satellite location set up in an old warehouse at 7607 Veterans Parkway, next to the Stars and Strikes Family Entertainment Center.
In all, PAWS in four weeks got about 80 animals seeking shelter from the storm, the first 17 arriving at 4:15 a.m. Sept. 9 from the Jacksonville Humane Society — seven dogs and 10 cats in wire cages. Those went to the Milgen Road shelter, as PAWS had not yet found a second site.
Those arrived before Irma struck Sept. 11, because Florida shelters were clearing room in anticipation of an influx of strays caught in the storm. PAWS put the cages in its spacious “community room” that hosts meetings and receptions.
That worked OK, for the first transport: The animals soon were adopted as word got out and supporters rushed to find homes. But more were coming, and keeping dogs in cages wasn’t going to work: They were too big to be stored away like files or furniture. They needed room to move around.
To the rescue of the animal rescuers came Flournoy & Calhoun Realtors, which has the old warehouse on Veterans Parkway. The company let PAWS use it for the Irma dogs, most of which now have been adopted.
The rest will need homes soon, because PAWS needs to be out of the building by the end of the month.
The building
The building has been a blessing, but while the space is free, the utilities are not.
“It’s been so hot,” said Casey Smith, PAWS’ marketing director. So the power bill’s high: “This warehouse was given to us for free, but we do have to pay the lights and the air conditioning, and that can be a few thousand dollars a month.”
Named “PAWS North,” it’s open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily for adoptions, for a fee of $25 each.
Portable chain-link fencing bound with bungee cords on the concrete floor allows each dog a space of about 6 by 12 feet.
Though clean and functional, the place still is alien to a couple of the 10 dogs left. As a crew collected unused fencing last week, one flinched and cowered as sections of fence slammed onto a flatbed truck.
Other animals feel right at home, Smith said: “Some of them are like ‘Woo hoo! I’m here! Looks great!’ And then some of them are like, ‘This is scary.’”
One dog’s run has a portable kennel to which he can retreat. The male rarely eats and won’t accept treats, a volunteer said: “He stays nervous.”
Others are outgoing, and most know basic commands. They range in age from one to 7 years.
A 3-year-old named Oliver has been through a Florida Department of Corrections program called TAILS, for “Teaching Animals and Inmates Life Skills,” in which three prison inmates team-train a dog. Among the commands Oliver knows are sit, stay, down, high five and speak.
But even if friendly and obedient, large-breed dogs just don’t get adopted as quickly as smaller pets, particularly low-maintenance animals such as cats, Smith said.
“You know, the cats are no problem,” she said. “There’s plenty of room for them at PAWS, and we did set them up in our community room in cages, and that was easy, because they move quicker than these large-breed dogs do. … I’m pretty sure almost all of the cats have been adopted.”
Why do dogs take longer?
“A large-breed dog usually comes with some energy, and it’s like a child. We have to make a big commitment to it, so all large-breed dogs tend to have a longer stay than the cats do.”
Besides prospective pet owners looking to adopt, PAWS needs donations to pay the bills for the satellite facility. Donors can contribute online at www.pawshumane.org/make-donation and click “yes” in a drop-down box that asks, “Is this for Irma Disaster Relief?”
In the Irma rescue, PAWS coordinated with organizations such as Florida Urgent Rescue, which handled some of the transports, the Best Friends Animal Society network and the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which called PAWS to ask about taking in the storm refugees.
It was a challenge, but a valuable experience likely to aid in disasters yet to come, Smith said:
“It has been the biggest learning curve for us, but it’s been really cool to see what we can do when we put a little extra effort into something. Were an emergency to happen to us, we would really hope that our neighbors would help us, too, so that’s why we’re doing this. It has been very hard, but it’s very rewarding to say, ‘These animals were evacuated by boat, and now we’re saving their lives.’ … It makes you feel good for what you’re doing.”
PAWS is online at www.pawshumane.org. The telephone number is 706-565-0035.
Tim Chitwood: 706-571-8508, @timchitwoodle
This story was originally published October 14, 2017 8:00 PM.