Best Friends Animal Society and its partners are responding to flooding in the Navajo Nation, New Mexico, and Utah to assist residents and their pets. The efforts follow heavy rain in late October that caused the San Juan River to reach record high levels and forced evacuations across the region.
In southeast Utah, flooding near Bluff and Blanding displaced residents. Because the Red Cross evacuation shelter in Blanding could not accommodate pets, Best Friends provided pet-friendly lodging for displaced families and sent a van of pet supplies from Salt Lake City to the shelter for pick-up.
In Grants, New Mexico, Madisen Martinez, director of Grants Animal Care Center, reported that the shelter was full and short-staffed when the floods occurred. To create space for displaced animals, Best Friends helped coordinate the transfer of over 30 adoptable animals from the Grants shelter. This included 14 dogs taken in by the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society, supported by a $500 emergency stipend per dog from Best Friends. Another 19 animals were transferred to the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in Salt Lake City and subsequently sent to Utah network partners, including Because Animals Matter, Animal Care of Davis County, South Salt Lake Animal Services, and Mountain Mama Pyrs and Pups.
The emergency response included using an off-road utility vehicle to deliver food and essentials to families cut off by damaged roads. In Nenahnezad, New Mexico, a family discovered three kittens near the water line, who were later settled into Cat World at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Tiffany Deaton, who coordinates emergency response for Best Friends, noted that Navajo Nation residents helping neighbors is central to the response efforts.
