Ask Ask Roxie Roxie we move on. First thing, they want to pet the dog. And my first
Words of Advice from an ‘09toPet question them is: 'Do you have a pet?' and they'll bring out
their phone. We just have a conversation!” Bella and Bonnie are a volunteer team with Pups n' Planes, where “comfort” dogs and their owners offer distressed travelers a little sugar. “People are waiting, their flight has been canceled, or they may have a four-hour wait, and they are upset.” “One time, two little girls stopped to pet the dog, and I looked up, and the mother was crying. Her husband was being deployed. I spent probably a half-hour with them, and the dad thanked me so many times because it got them thinking about other things,” Bonnie says. Airport staffers implemented the idea after learning how well it worked at the Los Angeles International Airport. Pups n' Planes has been reducing blood pressure and turning frowns upside down for six years. “In the car, she knows that we are almost at the airport. She gets so excited! Her job is to make people smile. She does that job.” And if you saw Bella, you would smile, too. The girl team also spends time at the airport USO, softening the loneliness and longing of our troops, so familiar to military life. While Bella offers kisses, Canine Explosive Detection Supervisor Sgt. Andres Lopez, and his police dog Keyno, provide safety and security. “We are there to make sure that the traveling public is safe, the dog makes that any threats associated with aviation there aren’t real threats,” says the airport K9 police officer. Lopez and Keyno “nose around," sniffing out threats that could come from a parked car, a suitcase, or a person. “Dogs are about as mobile as you can get,” says Lopez. He means the nose is mobile.
ANIMALS ARE AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CATASTROPHES TOO! Fortunately, animal groups come to the rescue Bella is a volunteer with Pups n' Planes, the airport greeting committee. She wears her little pink coat, cheering up tired travelers at the
BY BERIT MASONSan Antonio International Airport.
Workin' for a Living!
Hurricane Ida landed in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Sunday, August 29th, bringing high winds, storm surges, and tremendous amounts of flooding and power outages. Most of us watched in awe at the video of Hurricane Ida hitting coastal Louisiana. Victims were left with flooded cars, and wrecked houses, before it moved on to drench New York, Dogs with Jobs claiming lives there. BYHurricane BERIT MASON season doesn’t end until November 30, so who knows what else is on the way. What you might not see in the news coverage are all of the San Antonio International lostThe animals, separated from theirAirport ownersis HUGE! It recently broke a record, flying some 15,000 people A DAY, during the storm. forTeam a totalmembers of 10.36 with million in 2019. thepassengers San Antonio Passengers most certainly frequent the airport, but pups do too. Humane Society (SAHS) have been working Meet Bella. to help those Gulf coast animals. BellaSan is a Antonio petite dog with light, wavy hair, offering everyone “The Humane Society she meets the sweetest smile. Several hours a week, Bella and has been busy, helping fellow shelters owner Bonnie Gioiello roam the airport, searching out the tired, in Louisiana deal with the aftermath of the weary, and the bored. Hurricane Ida,” says Mikela Persson, with “If they look up and smile, they are a dog lover. If they don't, the SAHS. “The SAHS team drove and met the 34 APRIL 2020 |2021 78209magazine.com 38 OCTOBER | 78209magazine.com
Houston SPCA team halfway to transport the dogs back to our shelter.” Like a game of tag, the Louisiana shelter animals were given to the Houston animal shelters, who then gave them to the San Antonio shelter. “SAHS staff and volunteers helped set up the areas that house the pets, as well as assisting with the unloading, bathing, and other tasks needed to make them feel comfortable and safe,” she says. Hurricane Ida was one of the most powerful storms to hit the country, so shelters in the strike zone lost water and electricity, leaving animals in those shelters severely traumatized. Naturally, pets and owners were also separated in the chaos. “By relocating shelter pets from areas at high risk for damage, we are both bringing those animals to safety and freeing up Airport therapy dogs help soothe people who may be upset because of a much-needed space and resources for long wait, delayed or cancelled flight. displaced pets after the storm,” explains SAHS President/CEO Nancy F. May.