Texas Floods Leave Shelter Begging for Help as Dogs Submerged in Kennels

As severe thunderstorms created havoc across Texas, an animal shelter in Cherokee County faced flooding that left their dogs standing in water in their kennels as they tried to evacuate them.

This week, National Weather Service (NWS) issued warnings of critical weather conditions, including heavy rain and flooding, affecting various regions, including Cherokee County.

In a heartwrenching video shared on Facebook on April 9, the staff at County Roads Rescue pleaded for immediate help. Dogs were left standing in floodwater as the shelter manager appealed to the community: "We've gotten our little babies out, but... I don't even know how many dogs we have in here. We need help. We do not have any other options right now."

Founder and Executive Director of County Roads Rescue Dava Cooley-Cook told Newsweek: "Unfortunately, the shelter floods at least once a year; usually, not this bad, though. We normally have to move dogs over every time it rains or really during any weather event because our facility is just not meant for how many animals we have."

While the shelter has experienced flooding before, the founder described this as the worst they have ever experienced. "It has only flooded like this one other time about three years ago. Usually, it does not come into the main building, and we only flood on the outside kennels. This was about 5 to 6 inches of water inside," said Cooley-Cook.

It isn't just Texas that has seen severe weather this week, with Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida also on flood watch. Cities have seen record rainfall and flooding, thanks to spring storms.

For County Roads Rescue, water appeared quickly as it collected from a soccer field adjacent to the shelter, overwhelming nearby drainage systems and causing the floods.

Usually, the team members wait for water to hit the edges of outdoor kennels before they start prepping for evacuation, but this time was different. "The water came in so quickly this time that we didn't have time to prep. We were completely under water in less than 30 minutes. Dani [Cooley-Cook's sister, who filmed the Facebook video] knew pretty quickly that we had to move them. The biggest issue is it's very hard to find places for them to go," said Cooley-Cook.

The local community stepped in to help temporarily take dogs in need, and thankfully, things are now looking better and the shelter is seeing water levels come down. All of the dogs are fine and now back in the kennels, but sadly some of them do not handle evacuation well.

"We have several dogs who have been with us for years, and they handle evacuation very well from experience," Cooley-Cook said. "It can be very stressful for others, too, especially newer dogs. We had just rescued five very malnourished dogs from a hoarding situation so we are worried about if they could have contracted something from the water and skin infections. We are watching them very closely right now."

While Texas weather is never easy to predict, the shelter staff have emailed the public works for the city to help with drainage—something they have done before.

Above all, though, the shelter founder hopes to be able soon to build a new, better-equipped facility.

"If I could ask for anything, it would be the ability to build a new facility," Cooley-Cook said. "We are in a county with no animal control and a severe stray problem and the fact that we have to deal with these extreme weather conditions constantly drastically reduces how many animals we can hold and care for."