CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Kelly Waugh cannot imagine leaving her four dogs behind during a hurricane.
“I would sleep in my car, figure something out,” she says.
Now, she wants to make sure no one else has to. The local business owner is blocking off a section of her company Lucky Dog’s dog kennels, just for Hurricane Irma evacuees.
“Even if a shelter or a hotel won’t take them, we’ll take them,” she says.
Thirty spots have been blocked off at each of the company’s two locations, just for those escaping the worst of the storm.
“Come on, we’ll figure out a way, we’ll make it work,” she says to those thinking of coming up.
Waugh says she has heard the stories of people either not evacuating because of their pets, or leaving them behind.
“It just breaks your heart.”
The kennel already has one evacuee pup in the specially blocked-off area at its Thrift Road location in Charlotte.
“They’ve been driving a long distance,” Waugh says. “We want to make sure that they’re safe.”
At the front desk, several others have called in, reserving spots in the block for the weekend.
“We want to make sure that people [evacuating] don’t think that they have to leave them,” Waugh says.
There is a fee to keep the dogs in the kennel, but it is discounted for evacuees. It will be $20 for the first dog, and $10 each after that.
The Lucky Dog is also still collecting pet supplies to take down to Hurricane Harvey victims in Houston. It will host a special fundraiser for this on September 22.
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