Hurricane Harvey’s disaster is still being assessed. Over 100,000 homes were either destroyed or damaged. Getting back to normal will take years for people in the hardest hit spots.

Rescue efforts are still underway as many people are feeling the effect of hurricane Harvey. And it’s just not the people who are suffering, most of the refugees that need serious rescue and attention are pets and other animals.

Pets have faced extraordinary hardship from Harvey. More than a thousand of pet are thought to be displaced or missing. Because of Harvey animals have been showing up in cities like Chicago and states such as Connecticut to seek medical attention and foster homes.

According to, The Washington Post’s Karin Brulliard, “One 2006 poll found forty-four percent of people who choose not to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina did so because they did not want to abandon their pets.”

Because of Hurricane Katrina, The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act was born. The PETSA requires “account for the needs of individual with household pets and service animals before, during, and following a major disaster or emergency.”

Having pets move around quickly and efficiently is critical to their survival. They are then later return to their owners or placed with new loving families.

Animal advocacy groups are taking donations. Any amount of money can help save an animals life!

“Today’s pet saving network is so much bigger and stronger than it was in the past” Dave Liedman director of Dogs Rescue and City Kitties of D.C. advocacy group said. “There are efforts now spread across the country thanks to the help of social media.”