Can you say, storm day doggopalooza? Wow! This guy is amazing. He brought 300 dogs inside his house to keep them safe during a hurricane!
As Hurricane Delta roared toward the gulf, animal rescuer, Ricardo Pimentel, was facing a problem of epic proportions. With hundreds of animals in his care, the founder of Tierra de Animales, an animal sanctuary, was busy trying to figure out how to keep them all safe.
Hurricane Delta was on target to hit Cancun, Mexico as a Category 4 hurricane. A cat 4 can produce sustained winds up 130 – 156 miles per hour. Also known as Tropical Cyclones, they are the second highest hurricane category. Along with deadly winds, they also produce ground pounding rains and flash flooding.
Knowing that his shelter building would not be able to withstand the hurricane’s winds, Pimentel’s options were very limited. At the time he had 300 dogs, as well as other animals in his care. With no other choices, he turned to the safest shelter he knew – his home.
“We decided to put almost all the dogs inside the house, simply because we don’t fully trust in the shelters that we currently have because they aren’t hurricane-proof.” Pimentel told The Dodo.
With the help of volunteers, thus began the arduous task of moving the animals and supplies to his house before the hurricane made landfall. Not all the dogs were easy to move, because they didn’t know how to walk on a leash, but they got the job done before the storm hit.
Despite all the chaos of 300 dogs being packed wall-to-wall into his home, the transition went smooth and everyone sensed that they had to get along. It was a good thing too, because even though Hurricane Delta roared into Cancun as a Cat 2 storm, the shelter he spent 9 years building was severely damaged during the storm.
“We had to bring them in on leash two by two,” Pimentel said. “Some of them are afraid or don’t know how to walk on a leash, so we had to carry them to the house, but in the end, it was worth it because they are all safe.”
Although the building was damaged beyond repair, due to the kindness Pimentel showed the animals, his story started going viral. It touched the hearts of people and donations started rolling in.
Because of the kindness of strangers, all the work that Pimentel has dedicated to the animals the past 9 years will be able to continue. He now has plans to build a hurricane proof building so that next time a strong storm is in the forecast, the animals will be safe and sound.
What an awesome thing to do! Please share this story with your family and friends.
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