Source: Amy Bridgers Hodge/The Maggie Society/Facebook
At first glance, hearing of a woman breaking into peoples’ houses and taking their pets sounds like a terrible story, but thankfully, that isn’t the case here.
While Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on the south Atlantic seaboard of the United States, Alex Layton decided she would not stand idly by. A volunteer with
The Maggie Society, a nonprofit organization that rescues and finds homes for lost dogs, Layton braved flood waters and other dangers caused by the hurricane to seek and save forgotten pets in Pinetops, North Carolina.
With the help of other volunteers and firefighters, Layton and her crew traveled by boat and climbed into whatever crevices they could find in flooded houses to save pets that were either forgotten, or left behind by residents unaware of how destructive Matthew was actually going to be.
In a statement posted on their
Facebook page, The Maggie Society said:
“We know that a lot of Maggie Society supporters are going through own recoveries right now. This storm has caught everyone by surprise. However, there are SO many dogs/cats that have been left stranded or have gone missing in neighboring counties and animal rescuers have sprung into action. Our own Alex Layton along with Kim Edmondson and others went to Pinetops on a rescue mission and are still there rescuing dogs/cats with the help of the South Edgecombe Volunteer Fire Department!”
Source: The Maggie Society/Facebook
Layton herself echoed the shock at the disaster.
“We were not expecting any of this,” Layton told
Pulptastic. “We were expecting to be hit lightly and maybe three or four inches (of water).”
But that did not stop her and her team from setting out to rescue as many pets as they could. Armed with the house keys and directions of concerned owners, she would travel from house to house, having to break into some herself when she did not have the key.
Source: Amy Bridgers Hodge/The Maggie Society/Facebook
Amazingly, Layton and her team
rescued over two dozen dogs, and a number of cats and horses. They even carried a chinchilla to safety! And every time they returned to shore, there would be more people with more descriptions of pets that needed finding.
The animals Layton rescued were given temporary sanctuary with The Humane Society, as the community continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. With more heroes like Alex Layton and her team, though, the future looks bright, especially for the pets.
