The Big Dog Ranch Rescue, which saved animals during Hurricane Helene and Milton, is now recovering after their building was hit by a tornado.
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00:00Big Dog Ranch Rescue has saved more than 60,000 dogs. It's a Florida-based organization,
00:06and they've been there and ready to help again when Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit.
00:11But they got hit by something else in addition to the hurricane.
00:14It was a tornado. Co-founder and CEO Lori Simmons joins us now.
00:21Hi. Thank you for having us on. We really dodged a bullet. We just had a tornado
00:29come down on the northwest corner of our property, blew off panels off our
00:37air conditioning units and our generator. Fortunately, it lifted up before it touched
00:46down again and spared all of our buildings. So definitely somebody upstairs was watching out for
00:53us. And can you tell us, we're glad everybody's okay and that the damage wasn't as bad as it
00:58could have been. Now, how many pets from Helene and Milton are with your team right now? Are dogs
01:05being rescued and adopted as well? Yes, we've rescued over 100 dogs from
01:12North Carolina and the west part of Florida from the hurricanes and continue every other day to
01:22send up relief missions up to North Carolina with needed supplies, animal supplies,
01:30dog igloos for outside dogs for people that have kept their pets, and also propane heaters,
01:38propane cooking stoves, all kinds of supplies. Each time we go up with a busload of supplies
01:46and we're given a busload of surrendered animals who've lost their homes and have no way to care
01:52for their dogs. Well, we want to know how you guys are doing too. How is your team handling
01:58after these two major hurricane events back to back? And can you tell us if pet owners are still
02:04being reunited? Yes, we're not bringing back any dogs where we don't know whether or not they have
02:13an owner that wants to find their dog that was lost in the storm. We're only bringing back dogs
02:21that were in the affected area shelters previously or dogs that have been surrendered by their
02:29owners in many cases because they've lost their home, have nowhere to live, and just have asked
02:37us please take our dog into your care, find it a home. We don't know when our life will be in a
02:44situation where we can have a pet again. And of course you help so many families. How can people
02:49help Big Dog Ranch Rescue and what are your team's needs? So you can help us by either adopting a dog.
02:59We have over 1,600 in rescue with our Alabama and our Palm Beach County, Florida facility.
03:07Foster a dog gives us space to save another one in need or come out and volunteer.
03:15Always we need funds. We survive 100% on donations. It costs a lot to medically care for these dogs,
03:23transport them, and just our staff every day to care for them. So you can donate on our website
03:32at BDRR.org. BDRR.org. Big Dog Ranch Rescue founder and CEO Lori Simmons,
03:42thank you for all you do this time of year and throughout the entire year. We hope that
03:46some folks can help send some dogs to some new homes. Again,
03:49we really appreciate you being with us this morning.