NEW YORK — Animal shelters across the nation are overcrowded and desperate, and the need increases when a natural disaster hits, like the flooding in Kentucky.
Saturday, some big-hearted New Yorkers went out of their way to help, welcoming a live cargo special delivery in Hell’s Kitchen.
Fifty dogs arrived from Kentucky, where flooding is ravaging the eastern section of the state.
Stella the puppy was handed off to foster owners Stephanie Cajucom and Adam Lernihan.
“It feels so good,” Cajucom said.
“We’re excited to get our dog a friend for a couple of weeks,” Lernihan told CBS2’s Dave Carlin.
The Hell’s Kitchen animal rescue Muddy Paws partners with shelter groups in Kentucky, North Carolina and Texas, helping ease severe overcrowding and making sure the focus is on dogs of all ages, including older dogs at risk of being put down.
Aneta Pazderova, from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is fostering a young and tiny twosome — brother and sister puppies named Lima and Lentil. She was given care instructions for the short time they’ll be together.
“It’s a little heart attack every time you let them go, but you know, that’s the goal. That’s why I sign up for it,” she said.
Another delivery is coming next week.
“Foster, adopt, donate, please do so with any organization. Everyboyd really, really needs the help right now,” Muddy Paws Rescue program director Amanda Tsai said.
Cajucom, Lernihan and Pazderova reported their fosters were settling in nicely and loving their new, temporary homes, all with a second chance at life.
Muddy Paws has helped more than 6,000 puppies and dogs find homes since it was founded in 2016. For more information, visit muddypawsrescue.org.
