Ask Roxie

from 78209 Magazine - October 2021

In the Loop

Words of Advice from an ‘09 Pet

we move on. First thing, they want to pet the dog. And my first question to 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 BY BERIT MASON coat, c San heering Antonio up tired trave International lers Airp at or the t.

Workin' Hurricane Ida landed in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Sunday, August 29th, bringing high winds, storm surges, and for a Living! 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 Dogs with Jobs wrecked houses, before it moved on to drench New York, claiming lives there. BY BERIT MASON Hurricane 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 The San Antonio International Airport is lost animals, separated from their owners HUGE! It recently brokeduring the storm. a record, flying some 15,000 people A DAY, for a total of 10.36 million passengers in 2Team members with the San Antonio 019. Passengers most certainly frequent the airport,Humane Society (SAHS) have been working but pups do too. Meet Bella. to help those Gulf coast animals. Bella is a petite dog with light, wavy hair, offering everyone she meets the sweetest smile. Several hours a week, Bella and owner Bonnie Gioiello roam the airport, searching out the tired, the weary, and the bored. “If they look up and smile, they are a dog lover. If they don't, “The San Antonio Humane Society has been busy, helping fellow shelters in Louisiana deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida,” says Mikela Persson, with the SAHS.

“The SAHS team drove and met the 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 much-needed space and resources for displaced pets after the storm,” explains SAHS President/CEO Nancy F. May.

Airport therapy dogs help soothe people who may be upset because of a long wait, delayed or cancelled flight.

Animal rescue groups from around the country rushed in to assist locals, helping with animal search and rescue and emergency sheltering.

Some animal shelters in upper Florida flew their dogs to California shelters to make room for pets from Louisiana.

It was a relay race, all over the country.

In animal rescue, a big job after a climate catastrophe is to reunite pets and owners, so that is why microchipping a pet is so important.

Those Louisiana pets collected by the SAHS have remained here to be adopted.

“Every year, the SAHS shelters medically treat and rehabilitate thousands of animals. Many are injured, abused, surrendered by their owners, or found as strays. All pets remain in our care until adopted. Our mission is to protect and improve the lives of dogs and cats by providing shelter, care, adoption, rescue, spay and neuter programs, and community education,” says May.

The organization is in need of donations of dog/cat beds, paper towels, pet toys, treats, rubbing alcohol, and bottled water. It’s best to call them first to ensure those items are still needed.

The San Antonio Humane Society (SAHS) is a local nonprofit, no-kill organization that has served Bexar County and its surrounding areas since 1952 but is not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States.