Dozens of dogs rescued from Puerto Rico - WPEC

Dozens of dogs rescued from Puerto Rico - WPEC

Dozens of dogs rescued from Puerto Rico. (WPEC)

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS 12) — 

Thursday, dozens of dogs and a few cats were saved from Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria devastated the area, making it hard for not only people to live but animals as well.

“When we all pull together great things happen,” said Lauree Simmons, President and Founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue was one of five rescues in the area who made this possible.

“So many of the shelters and the rescues over in Puerto Rico, the roofs have been blown off. They have no water, no power. The animals are in a really bad state,” said Simmons.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue is taking 50 of the dogs. The rest are being split up between Pet Haven Rescue and Second Chance Puppies and Kittens.

“These organizations have banded together because this effort is bigger than all of us,” said Traci Goldberg, Executive Director of Second Chance Puppies and Kittens.

Dream Ride came all the way from Connecticut to help these animals.

“They've been working for three weeks to fill a semi full of pet supplies to make a contribution and made a 22 hour trip to hand off supplies so we can keep the planes going and keep pulling dogs,” said Stacy Walgreen, Dream Ride and Rescue Life.

It wasn’t just organizations lending a helping hand.

“We cannot sit by and let these things happen when we can make a difference within our own states and everywhere around us because we are all together in this and it could have so easily happened here,” said Daria Wagoner, community members.

As soon as the plane came into the hanger at the airport in Fort Pierce, all the animals were unloaded and examined by a team of volunteer veterinarians.

Yvonne Vanovost, from Holy family veterinarian hospital, said they check them for wounds and treat them for anything they can. However, after they leave here they still have to be quarantined.

“They’re going to be quarantined when they go into their homes because they have diseases that could show up two weeks later, we're going to have to watch that. Stress alone can bring that out,” said Vanovost. She continued, “we don't know a history of these animals. We don't know if they've been vaccinated what they've been exposed to.”

She said Puerto Rico has a lot of distemper issues, tick issues and many other problems. These animals are in a much better place.

Now, volunteers say the best thing you can do is donate. They have tons of donations of food and supplies for the animals that are still in Puerto Rico, but they need to get them there.

They do have another flight scheduled to leave on Monday, but each flight only holds 4,000 pounds.