Now almost two weeks later, staff members at Animal Hospital on Milam Road are still housing and caring for dogs that were separated from their families or injured in the tornadoes that hit Valley View and Sanger during Memorial Day weekend.
While some pets have been reunited with their owners, the pet hospital, at 2490 E. Milam Road between Sanger and Denton, is asking for donations to help support medication and surgery funds.
When practice manager Jamie Scoma took the hospital truck into the wreckage after the EF3 tornado and severe storms swept through the area, she had never done it before, but she said she knew it was the right thing to do.
Scoma said she found about 10 dogs in Valley View, and Sanger locals brought about five more pets into the veterinary clinic.
“I couldn’t stand the thought that there’s all these animals out there, because we were hearing from people [saying], ‘I’m missing my dog,’” Scoma said.
Scoma said the clinic is seeking to raise $8,000 through GoFundMe, which will mostly going toward medication and surgery costs.
One dog, Willow, had surgeries to fix her femur and ilium. Scoma said they found another broken bone during the second surgery.
“We have taken in a few that are injured,” Scoma said. “However, [Willow’s] injuries are so severe that they’ll have now become $8,000, and we’re doing everything we can [at cost].”
Scoma said they are housing three dogs belonging to a Valley View resident, who is currently living in a hotel after her home was destroyed by the tornado.
People who have been reunited with their dogs have thanked the veterinary hospital for caring for them, Scoma said.
There are still a few pets at the clinic, and the staff has posted photos online trying to reunite them with their owners.
“We do not know where their owners are — they have no microchip,” Scoma said. “We’ve been posting pictures everywhere.”
Scoma said they are having to slowly say no to injured stray pets because they don’t have proper funding to support that type of long-term care. The hospital is not government-funded; the private practice is owned by Texas House Rep. Lynn Stucky, a longtime veterinarian in the area.
Locals who want to help can also head to the hospital to keep the pets company or ask to foster a dog.