Colorado non-profit finds foster homes for 40 dogs after Oklahoma shelter floods

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Last Thursday, the animal shelter in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, flooded, putting the well-being of dozens of animals into question.

A city spokesperson says it was a member of the animal control who was monitoring the security cameras because of the heavy rain in the forecast when he heard the dogs whimpering and sprang into action.

But once the dogs and kittens were rescued from the brown flood waters, what happened next?

Some of those animals went to a shelter in California, a few stayed in the Oklahoma area, and 40 dogs made the +11 hour drive up to El Paso County, Colorado.

"We were rushing around trying to get as many animals out of there as possible," Julie Cousino, operations director for El Paso County Canine Rescue, said.

Because El Paso County Canine Rescue is a foster-only organization, they needed to set up good homes for the impacted dogs before they could come up to Southern Colorado.

"Our team was making phone calls. We were texting fosters. We were posting on the main page. We have a foster group page that we are posting on. We are tagging everybody. It was a lot of legwork on our part to get fosters," Cousino said.

Even with all 40 of the rescued Oklahoma dogs finding foster homes, Cousino said, foster families are still a big need for the non-profit.

"Summertime is the hardest time for fosters because people think of summer, they're thinking vacation trips, things like that. So we have a constant need for fosters, especially in the summertime," She said.

To learn more about becoming a foster family or about upcoming adoption events, visit the El Paso County Canine Rescue website.