Woman in Bahamas Brings 97 Dogs into Her Home To Protect Them from Hurricane Dorian
For years, Bahamas resident Chella Phillips has followed her heart’s calling and sheltered dogs until they could get a better home than the streets of Nassau, the nation’s capital.
This week, with Hurricane Dorian pounding the islands with a ferocity almost unmatched in hurricane records, she took her mission one step further and has been sheltering 97 dogs in her home since the high winds hit.
Phillips operates “The Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, Bahamas” and through it, matches dogs she finds with animal rescue organizations in the U.S., which then find the animals a home.
On Monday, she literally took her work home with her and shared the results on Facebook.
“97 dogs are inside my house and 79 of them are inside my master bedroom. It has been insane since last night, poop and piss non stop but at least they are respecting my bed and nobody has dared to jump in,” she wrote in a post.
“We have barricaded the refuge and nobody is outside, the music is playing in all directions of the house and the AC is blowing for them,” she said, referring to her efforts to ease the animals’ fears of the howling winds and pouring rain.
“I managed to bring some less fortunate ones and I really appreciate some of you donating for crates. I really needed it for the scared ones and the sick ones. so Thank you!”
As she posted on Sunday, it was uncertain how much of the Bahamas would be devastated.
“We may not get hit as hard as other islands and the saddest part is that after the hurricane leave the Bahamas, some islands will take a long time to recover.. Each island has abundance of homeless dogs, my heart is so broken for the ones without a place to hide a CAT 5 monster and only God can protect them now. Thank you for thinking of us and praying for us,” she wrote, noting that Sept. 1 was the fourth anniversary of the founding of her animal refuge.
That woman who has 97+ dogs in her home is Chella Phillips. She’s a regular customer at All Creatires Animal Clinic. BAARK! Has been helping her with treating the dogs at our clinic. She’s been sheltering dogs for years now. I must commend her for her huge heart and dedication.
— Kanique Rose? (@kaniquee) September 3, 2019
Chella Phillips. Shows why Bahamas are #BAHAMASTRONG! She rescued 97 dogs and sheltered them in her house during #HurricaneDorain. pic.twitter.com/o99CwZL3xH
— Daniel Schneider (@BiologistDan) September 3, 2019
Phillips posted again on Sept. 2 with an update.
“We are alright after a stressful night were we f(l)ooded bad inside the refuge, not even 3 pumps could contain the rain from washing us inside and after an hour all 3 pumps reheated and burned down and we have been outside with buckets fighting a losing battle,” she wrote.
“All services are down, all TVs are fried from the lightnings so no more cartoons for the sick dogs until we can purchase new ones.
“I pray for the other islands who have unimaginable damages and I don’t see how any dogs or any living being could have survived outside. My heart goes out to them,” she posted.
Phillips also noted the power of social media to connect well-meaning people when disaster strikes and the helpless need every bit of assistance they can get.
“Thank you for the outpouring support and heartfelt prayers from so many people that don’t even know us, my post from yesterday went viral and total strangers are reaching out to us giving us the exposure that we need so bad,” she wrote.
Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas Sunday with winds of up to 185 mph. As of Tuesday morning, the storm was still over the northwestern part of the nation of islands but had been downgraded to a Category 3 storm, packing winds of up to 120 mph. At least five people have been killed in the Bahamas due to the hurricane, CNN reported.
The storm was inching along to the northwest, with parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolina all expected to feel high winds and high tides.
The Western Journal has reached out to Chella Phillips for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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