Animal Lover Purchases School Bus During Hurricane, And Saves 64 Dogs And Cats Before Fleeing

Sep 20, 2018 by apost team

Animals can be tricky to handle and coordinate during an emergency situation. Individual evacuations can be complicated by figuring out where Fido is allowed to go with his owner. That complication is multiplied when a shelter is in the path of a storm, as was the case with many shelters as Florence approached the mainland of the US.

One solution for shelters is to offer special reduced rates for adoption to move the animals quickly, reducing the number that the shelter is responsible for evacuating. Some shelters will coordinate with others who are close by but in safer areas, shuttling animals to another temporary home.

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This solution is helpful, but getting the animals to safe, willing shelters is another layer of difficulty that shelter personnel must find ways to overcome.

Tony Alsup has stepped up to the task in a big way. A trucker, Alsup has been helping to transport shelter animals since his first volunteer job during hurricane Harvey.

That first volunteer job came with a surprise: while Tony had meant to transport the animals who could fit in his cab with him, the shelter thought that he had offered to transport a much larger number of animals in the back of the tractor-trailer. Alsup realized his mistake in poor social media communication.

However, Alsup is a man of his word, even when it’s unintentional. He vowed to find a way to move the animals the shelter thought he would transport for them, and he found a creative way to do it: he bought a bus.

Alsup invested $3,000 in a retired school bus, transported the animals for hurricane Harvey, and has been helping to move animals in peril ever since. Shelters in Texas, Florida, and as far away as Puerto Rico have benefitted from Alsup’s volunteer service.

As Florence lumbered towards the Carolinas, Alsup mobilized his pet evacuation bus yet again. The bus stopped in North Myrtle Beach, Dylan, Georgetown, and Orangeburg before arriving with sixty-four animals at its final destination: a safe shelter in Alabama

Often, Alsup’s traveling companions are a rougher sort. He realizes that the cute and cuddly pups and kitties are easy to adopt, and shelters can often find them safe homes before storms arrive. The rough and tumble crowd, often bigger and not as cute as the little fellas, often find themselves on Alsup’s bus.

The atmosphere on the bus leaves a lot to be desired. The bus is hot, smelly, and full of critters eager to get to safety. Alsup insists that it’s not noisy, though. Many imagine that the dogs would bark like crazy, but instead, they seem to take comfort in the assertive Alsup and his assistance.

Time and use take their toll on a bus, and one of the shelters that Alsup has helped created a GoFundMe page to update his bus.

How have you helped others in peril? Did you donate to help upgrade Alsup’s bus? Let us know!