The recent flooding in Louisiana has killed at least a dozen people and damaged thousands of homes. It's also separated at least 1,000 pets from their owners, leaving shelters in that state inundated with new arrivals.
Members of the Nashville Humane Association traveled to Louisiana this week to pick up 23 dogs that were already up for adoption at a shelter in New Orleans.
"The animals go through a process just like people -- shock, disbelief, confusion. We saw that in Nashville. I saw it again in Louisiana," said Executive Director Joy Beach.
The dogs arrived in Nashville late Thursday night after a 10 hour bus ride. But the Nashville Humane Association doesn't have enough room for all of them, so other shelters traveled to Nashville to pick them up Friday morning.
Most of the dogs are now at the Richmond SPCA in Virginia. Other dogs were taken to Happy Tails in Franklin, A Place to Bark in Gallatin and McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga.
Beach said it's their duty as man's best friend to answer the call for help.
"We were in Katrina, we were in Galveston for Hurricane Ike, we were here in Nashville when we had our flood, we were in Macon County for the tornadoes. So yes, anytime there's a natural disaster, we're going to respond," said Beach.
Beach said connecting a lost dog with its owner is easy when the dog has a microchip. She said investing in that technology will pay off in times of unexpected disasters.
