Wings of Rescue transported 117 animals to Fort Worth on Thursday.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Outside a small terminal at Fort Worth’s Meacham Airport Thursday morning, a plane arrived carrying survivors from the Hill Country’s catastrophic floods.
While countless help has poured in for the people affected, fewer resources are available for their best friends.
“If we hadn’t flown today, they would’ve killed most of the pets on the flight,” said Ric Browde, CEO and co-president for Wings of Rescue.
It never got that far because Browde and his team got there first. Wings of Rescue is a non-profit that helps evacuate pets from disaster zones.
“I’m 71 years old and this is what keeps me going. I live for this.”
These cats and dogs were in Central Texas shelters waiting to be adopted when the floodwaters reached their doorstep, but the bigger threat was space. Many of those shelters were already at capacity.
“They had to make room for the incoming pets displaced by people who lost their homes,” Browde said.
To make room, the shelter pets either needed to be put down or lifted up. Thursday, 117 animals boarded a flight for Fort Worth.
“You try and do as much as you can, but no one person can save the world by themselves,” Browde said.
But an army can.
After landing, dozens of volunteers helped transport these pets to local shelters.
“We are in a position to be able to respond,” said Sarah Sheek, senior director of lifesaving operations at SPCA Texas
Sheek says the hope is to find them a loving family as soon as this weekend.
“Adopting is such a wonderful way to expand your heart and your home,” Sheek said.
“Just to know that these pets are now safe and they’ll be in homes very soon it makes my heart incredibly happy,” said Nelda Corbell, Wings of Rescue co-president.
And it’s why these angels have certainly earned their wings.