Texas dogs heading to Pittsburgh

50 pets will come to 6 area shelters

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Fifty dogs from hurricane-ravaged Texas are coming to six shelters in the Pittsburgh area, thanks to volunteers with the Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team.

The dogs are expected to arrive Monday, with 27 going to the Animal Friends shelter in Ohio Township. The others will go to Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburgh, the Beaver County Humane Society, the All But Forgotten rescue in Irwin, and two Washington County rescue organizations – Pet Search and Angel Ridge Animal Rescue.

Animal Friends staff and volunteers helped PAART fill their “land planes” – actually the Disaster Relief and Rescue Trailer – with supplies donated by Wagsburgh Pet Store and the Biggies Bullies rescue and with food from Sewickley-based Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, makers of Rachael Ray Nutrish pet foods.

PAART volunteers left Pittsburgh on Friday night, with plans to steer clear of Houston, driving instead to San Antonio to drop off supplies and pick up 50 dogs.

The dogs were homeless animals in a shelter before Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston and surrounding counties. They are being moved out to make way for animals that have been displaced by flooding.

A second Texas-bound PAART team will leave Pittsburgh on Sunday and a third trip is in the planning stages.

Animal Friends staff and volunteers are urging the public to adopt dogs from the Ohio Township shelter to free up space for the Texas dogs.

For further information and updates: Animal Friends at thinkingoutsidethecage.org or call the shelter at 412-847-7000. See the Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team Facebook page or the website, https://nodogleftbehind.