Dogs rescued in wake of Hurricane Harvey arrive in Pittsburgh

Nearly 70 dogs indirectly displaced by the devastating floods in Texas have arrived in the Pittsburgh area looking for loving families.

The Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team on Friday sent a truck loaded with more than 1,000 pounds of donated pet supplies to the San Antonio, Texas, Humane Society.

They came back Monday evening — in the trailer and an airplane — with 67 dogs in need of permanent homes.

With over 40,000 homes affected by Hurricane Harvey's flood waters, there are thousands of displaced and separated pets in Texas.

Even before Harvey hit, animal shelters in southeastern Texas were filled to capacity, according to Jonathan Plesset, PAART co-founder. The dogs brought to the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin on Monday were among those dogs.

Plesset said it made sense to try to give those dogs a home elsewhere and put dogs displaced by Harvey in those Texas animal shelters so they have a chance to be reunited with their owners.

“These are all dogs that were already in a shelter,” he said. “In this case, that's a good thing, because we don't want to take pets away from families.”

At least nine animal shelters in the region have volunteered to take in animals displaced from Harvey.

Jackie Armour, president of Springdale-based Paws Across Pittsburgh, said that her network of dog boarders will take four of the dogs.

“We heard they needed help so we had to lend a hand,” Armour said.

All of the dogs will receive a medical and behavioral evaluation before being placed in a shelter or with a boarder, with the hope that they will eventually be adopted.

This shouldn't be a problem, according to Shannon Tremblay, Animal Friends director of communications.

“When it comes to animals and disaster,” Tremblay said, “people really respond.”

For more information, visit https://nodogleftbehind.org/

Matthew Medsger is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4675, mmedsger@tribweb.com or via Twitter @matthew_medsger.