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Local animal rescue group heads to North Carolina to help save pets from Hurricane Florence

Posted at 11:01 PM, Sep 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-17 06:37:03-04

A group of animal rescue workers is headed to the area affected by Hurricane Florence to save those left behind.

Operation Bring Animals Home has loaded up an SUV with dog food and other supplies as they get ready to drive through the night to North Carolina to rescue animals from the flood waters. 

Founder of OBAH's Caryn Buege and her team gather up their supplies, including a donated boat, to head to Fayetteville, North Carolina. 

"We literally go into the disaster area, where the flooding is, where the majority of the hurricane has hit. The tornados, the tailwinds have hit and we're rescuing the animals that have been left behind or displaced," said Buege. 

Buege and her team of volunteers from OBAH are not new to rescuing animals from disaster areas. Last year, during Hurricane Harvey and Irma, the group was able to reunite animals with their owners. The team has already been in contact with rescue groups in North Carolina who help find animals, and the news is not good.

"It sounds like it's just getting worse. They didn't realize the storm would sit so long and the waters are just rising," said volunteer Gina Karas-Schilling.

That means a lot of animals are in danger.

"There were a lot of situations where people left and put the dogs on the roof, some dogs are still chained up. Horses are running loose. So really once we get down there we are going to hit the ground rescue as many as we can right away," said Karas-Schilling.

The group plans to work until Saturday to reunite as many animals as possible but those that can't are going to be brought back up here and then given out to foster families. If you want to help OBAH or foster an animal, you can get more information on the group's Facebook page.