Hurricane Harvey rescuers mobilize to help displaced pets

In this Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017 photo, Puddin the dog, one of the animals transported to Austin Humane Society from Beaumont Animal Services, is greeted by volunteer Bernie Fette, left, and shelter manager Sarah Hammel in Austin. Austin Humane Society is one of several shelters in Central Texas taking in evacuated shelter animals from the Texas coast affected by Hurricane Harvey. (Tina Phan/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Melodie Griffith holds one of the cats at the Calhoun County Humane Society in Port Lavaca, Texas, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017. Griffith and other volunteers have been trying find foster homes for the remaining animals until Hurricane Harvey passes. (Ana Ramirez/The Victoria Advocate via AP)
A man reaches to take a small dog from a rescue truck at the east Sam Houston Tollway as evacuations continue from flooding in Houston, Texas, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, following Tropical Storm Harvey. Floodwaters reached the rooflines of single-story homes Monday and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as Harvey poured rain on the Houston area for a fourth consecutive day after a chaotic weekend of rising water and rescues. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
In this Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017 photo, Amanda Sejnowski, foster care coordinator at Austin Humane Society, works on processing kittens from Beaumont Animal Services in Austin. Austin Humane Society is one of several shelters in Central Texas taking in evacuated shelter animals from the Texas coast affected by Hurricane Harvey. (Tina Phan /Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Flood victims move crates with pets at a shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Rescue teams in boats, trucks and helicopters scrambled Monday to reach hundreds of Texans marooned on flooded streets in and around the city of Houston before monster storm Harvey returns. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Pets belonging to evacuees sit in a crate at the Delco Center in east Austin, Sunday, August 27, 2017. The Red Cross says, if needed, they are prepared to handle 350 people in the Delco Center. As of Sunday afternoon, a total of 24 dogs, 20 cats, and 5 birds have been registered and volunteers from the Austin Animal Center say they can handle approximately 20 more animals depending on size. Tropical Storm Harvey lashed central Texas with torrential rains on Sunday, unleashing "catastrophic" floods after the megastorm -- the most powerful to hit the United States since 2005 -- left a deadly trail of devastation along the Gulf Coast. SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images
Pets belonging to evacuees sit in a crate at the Delco Center in east Austin, Sunday, August 27, 2017. The Red Cross says, if needed, they are prepared to handle 350 people in the Delco Center. As of Sunday afternoon, a total of 24 dogs, 20 cats, and 5 birds have been registered and volunteers from the Austin Animal Center say they can handle approximately 20 more animals depending on size. Tropical Storm Harvey lashed central Texas with torrential rains on Sunday, unleashing "catastrophic" floods after the megastorm -- the most powerful to hit the United States since 2005 -- left a deadly trail of devastation along the Gulf Coast.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images
Pets belonging to evacuees sit in a crate at the Delco Center in east Austin, Sunday, August 27, 2017. The Red Cross says, if needed, they are prepared to handle 350 people in the Delco Center. As of Sunday afternoon, a total of 24 dogs, 20 cats, and 5 birds have been registered and volunteers from the Austin Animal Center say they can handle approximately 20 more animals depending on size. Tropical Storm Harvey lashed central Texas with torrential rains on Sunday, unleashing "catastrophic" floods after the megastorm -- the most powerful to hit the United States since 2005 -- left a deadly trail of devastation along the Gulf Coast. / SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images

By Joan Morris | jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: August 29, 2017 at 7:15 a.m. | UPDATED: August 29, 2017 at 12:34 p.m.

Rescue groups in California and throughout the country are mobilizing to help pets displaced by Hurricane Harvey and subsequent flooding in Texas and Louisiana.

RedRover, a national nonprofit animal welfare organization based in Sacramento, is headed to Texas later this week to help the SPCA of Texas provide daily care and comfort for animals rescued and relocated to Dallas, Texas.

Wings of Rescue, based in Livermore, has several cargo planes filled with crates and supplies standing by in El Paso, and the group already has begun evacuation flights.

The volunteer pilots of Wings of Rescue fly pets to areas where they stand better chances of being adopted. In this case, they are flying pets to safer parts of the country, where they will be cared for until they can be reunited with their owners.

The group is working with the Humane Society of the United States, Greater Good, Freekibble and Rescue Bank.

Planes left Lafayette, Louisiana, on Monday carrying 88 dogs and 20 cats bound for temporary care in San Diego. On Tuesday, 100 dogs will be transported from San Antonio to shelters in Oregon and Washington, and on Wednesday, another 100 dogs are scheduled to fly out of San Antonio to Morristown, New Jersey.

RedRover officials and volunteers expect to be in Texas by Thursday.

“RedRover Responders appreciate the opportunity to help comfort and care for these animals and bring some relief to the aid teams during this crisis,” RedRover Director of Field Services Beth Gammie said. “We haven’t seen this type of unprecedented flooding in more than a decade. Our hearts are with the people and animals of Texas during this difficult time.”

RedRover Responders volunteers, who wear bright red shirts, are trained to care for and shelter large numbers of animals after they have been rescued from natural disasters. Volunteers provide the workforce that enables local communities to address their animal needs following a natural disaster.

The organization has more than 3,800 trained volunteers in the United States and Canada, and is able to deploy volunteers quickly when communities become overburdened by a crisis.

In its 30-year history, RedRover has responded to more than 180 natural disasters and other crises, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005; Hurricane Isaac and Superstorm Sandy in 2012; the Oklahoma tornadoes in 2013; flooding in Gonzales, Louisiana in 2016; and the dam crisis in Oroville in 2017.

To help the pets displaced by Hurricane Harvey, you can donate to any of these groups.