After weeks of searching, P.A. woman reunites with dogs
Published 5:57 pm Wednesday, September 20, 2017
- Cutline: Anna Abraham is reunited at the Houston SPCA (Submitted photo)
By Sarah Culton
sarah.culton@leaderpub.com
When Tropical Storm Harvey rolled into Port Arthur, Anna Abraham, 52, knew she had to evacuate, but could not take her two dogs, Sweetie and Bentley, with her. So, she made the decision to leave her animals on her porch with food and water, and hoped the water would not reach them.
When Abraham returned to her home two days after the flood, the dogs were gone.
Abraham fretted that she would never see her dogs again, but eventually, one of Abraham’s friends noticed a post online that would eventually lead to Abraham’s reunion with her furry friends.
“It was such a blessing,” Abraham said of the reunion, which took place after weeks of searching. “It was really sad to leave them.”
Abraham is one of many Port Arthur residents who was separated from their animals during Hurricane Harvey. In the aftermath of the natural disasters, local and state shelters have been working hard to reunite rescued animals with their owners.
One of these organizations is the Houston SPCA, which helped reunite Abraham with her dogs.
The Houston SPCA alone has taken in more than 1,000 Harvey dogs and, so far, they have facilitated nearly 200 reunions, according to Director of Communications Julie Kuenstle.
Like other organizations, the Houston SPCA has a page on its website with photos and ID numbers of all rescued Harvey animals to make it easy for owners to track down their pets.
“We want to make sure every dog goes home,” Kuenstle said.
Though shelters have been working overtime in the aftermath of Harvey, the reunions make it worth it, Kuenstle said.
Kuenstle was present for Abraham’s reunion with her dogs and called the scene heartwarming.
“Those dogs were so happy to see her,” Kuenstle said. “They jumped up onto her and were so excited.”
Abraham said leaving her dogs was one of the hardest things she has ever done, and that the time she spent separated from her dogs was filled with confusion, sadness and stress.
“I knew I had to save myself, but then once I did that, I knew I had to save my dogs. I was worried they were dead,” she said. “I had no idea where they could be. Everywhere I went, I was met with a road block.”
Because of the difficult time she went through to get back to her dogs, Abraham said she is extremely grateful to the Houston SPCA for taking care of her animals and bringing them back together.
“I’m just so grateful to have my babies back,” she said. “They were happy to see me and I was so happy to see them. It was like seeing a sibling you haven’t seen in years. You just want to hold them and never let them go. That’s how I felt.”
Now, after having being reunited, Abraham has brought the dogs back to her water-damaged home and is working on getting herself and the dogs back to normal life.
“They are just prancing around the yard like they never left,” Abraham said. “I never want to be separated from them again.”