BEVERLY, Mass. (WHDH) — A woman from Beverly is doing her part to help save animals trapped in flood waters in Texas with the help of an app on her phone.
Caitlin Smith, who is active in the animal rescue community, said she wanted to get involved after reading stories from people who had to abandon pets when they evacuated.
“A lot of these people were popping up on my Facebook saying they they were required to leave their dogs behind and they needed help, they needed somebody to go and rescue these animals,” said Smith.
Smith uses an app called Zello that works like a walkie-talkie and connects her and hundreds of other volunteers nationwide with animal rescuers on the ground in Texas. Smith and the other volunteers use the app and a map of the flooded areas on Google Maps to pass along critical information about the location of animals to rescuers.
“It’s really astonishing to see all of these people, some are in California, some are in New York, they’re really all over the country, coming together to try to save these animals,” said Smith.
Smith said she is working to reconnect Harvey victims with their pets because animals can be a major source of comfort during a trying time. She and the other volunteeres set up a staging area in Beaumont but need veterinarians and supplies since many of the animals are in rough shape.
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