Fix A Friend Spay Neuter Clinic under water on Monday
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Road closures continue across the Cape Fear after heavy rainfall flooded and damaged roads on Monday. But people weren’t the only ones in need. Animals needed help to escape the flooding waters yesterday, as well.
One local business saw the water starting to rush in and jumped into action to prioritize evacuating the animals.
Monday’s heavy rains are taking tolls on area roads and some businesses.
One of those businesses, the Fix A Friend Spay Neuter Clinic in Brunswick County.
Assistant manager Rebecca Leonard says things turned bad quickly.
“Yesterday, we started with just a little bit of parking lot flooding. Within probably a couple of minutes, it was starting to come into the building from the back, kind of where the swamp is. It went from our parking lot being flooded to a couple of inches inside the building. Then it was almost like a dam broke and to was pouring in. It was rushing in from around the wall, through the wall, around the doors. Anywhere it could come in, it was coming in, and it came in fast,” Leonard said.
100 animals had to be evacuated. Leonard says they waved down the Brunswick County high water vehicles for help.
They also got a boat to help rescue the dogs and safely move them to a shelter.
For dogs without owners…what happens now?
“The animals that are here are going to get dispersed through the staff members. A lot of us are emotionally attached to a few of them so some of us were calling dibs on them last night at the shelter deciding who was going to go to whose house. Some of them are actually up for adoption through adopted angels,” Leonard said.
As for the fate of the clinic, Leonard says that remains unclear.
“We are looking into options as far as finding a temporary location to resume surgeries, we understand that we are a much-needed necessity in the community and we are going to do our best to try to find alternative ways to still provide services to the community…We are not going to let this break us; this is not the end of Fix A Friend. We will open the doors again. We will again welcome the community and the surrounding communities,” Leonard said.
After receiving some backlash about not communicating, Leonard wants the public to know it was not intentional, they lost power and needed to act fast.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Animal Protective Services said all of their spay, neuter and wellness checks are handled by the team at Fix A Friend Spay Neuter Clinic.
Adopt-An-ANGEL is the 501(c)(3) that created this county asset.
They are accepting online donations at www.adoptanangel.net to help them purchase the equipment they will need and potentially use a temporary facility.
