In the midst of all the devastation and havoc that Hurricane Harvey is causing, at least there’s one (furry) speck of light we can all hang onto. Over a dozen dogs that were once on the ‘kill-list’ at various shelters are now saving people’s lives in Houston, as Mashable reports.
Partnered with K9 units deployed to the area, these dogs were given a second-chance at life and are now on the front lines searching for missing persons left behind in the floods. Our heroes!
In Rocket’s case, as Mashable notes, his “unwanted obsessive behavior” led his shelter to schedule him for euthanasia. But luckily, the border collie mix was found and adopted by the Search Dog Foundation, a group that rescues dogs from kill shelters in hopes of training them and eventually placing them with local K9 units. As is the case with many of these dogs, their ‘negative’ behaviors actually constitute a great advantage and resource for search and rescue mission operators to utilize.
(Full disclosure: My dad, Brian Biggerstaff, is a K9 officer for the state of North Carolina and he himself remarked on his experiences working with dogs just like Rocket. He said: “If given a chance, some of these dogs can accomplish great tasks. A lot of the time, the search and rescue k9s don’t get the credit they deserve.” And they do deserve that credit.)
And, luckily for Rocket and his handler Mike Stornetta, this photogenic and heroic pup is getting nothing but good publicity.