MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — When a tornado outbreak destroyed Furry Friends’ ranch in Martin County, it felt like the worst had already happened.
However, according to Tibor Fiegel, the rescue’s chief training officer, that’s when the work was just beginning.
WATCH BELOW: 'We did not freeze operations,' Tibor Fiegel tells WPTV
“Once we were devastated, right, we had to jump into action,” he told WPTV reporter Victor Jorges. “We had to, right away, figure out how we were going to be able to move all of our population.”
He told Jorges, the Rooney Family, owners of the Palm Beach Kennel Club, offered up some space at the facility close to their airport. Suddenly, the 30 kennels that were once used to house dogs before races, became sanctuaries for dogs that had nowhere to be in the middle of a storm.
“We did not freeze operations,” said Feigel. “We kept moving with the dogs and pulling dogs from different location that were in need.”
WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Furry Friends Ranch in need of donations after storm damage
They transformed the space into an intake center, where animals are checked for behavioral and medical issues before being cleared and taken to Furry Friends’ Jupiter location for adoption. About a dozen employees run this facility, which Fiegel compared to an intensive-care unit, a one-stop shop to make sure their animal population is healthy.
“For us to use this ground, to pull more animals, to save more animals… it’s just incredible,” he said.
He said fostering and volunteering is one of the most productive ways to help a dog or cat in need.
“Shelters, rescues, they won’t fix a dog," he said. "We bring them to the best we can, but a home, a foster, an adoption, is going to fix whatever was.”
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