Saving Pets Left Behind After Texas Explosion

    Photo courtesy of Waco Police Sgt. Patrick Swanton and CNN

Bombings and deadly explosions. Dogs helping humans. And then humans helping to rescue dogs, cats and countless other animals. These news headlines have become commonplace lately, but this story that hails from West, Texas, where a little over a week ago, an explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant and killed 14 people and injured over 200 others, is particularly poignant.

A 17-person emergency veterinary team from Texas A&M University staffed two mobile veterinary clinics, treating "animals of all kinds, including a bearded dragon lizard, chickens and pigs." And pets rescued from abandoned shells that were once homes, were brought to the clinics at all hours of the day and night. "It spoke volumes to the commitment of the officers," said a spokeswoman for the veterinary clinics.

Don't forget to read the hilariously written anecdote at the end of this article describing one couple's "thank-you" to the officer that saved their beloved boxer. This same officer, Patrick Swanton, snapped the photo below of a white dove nestled among the wreckage, which he described as a symbol of peace and hope.

Share