Palatine rescue has Hurricane Helene dogs ready for adoption

By looking at the spunky pups frolicking in the yard behind the Palatine dog day care Baxter & Beasley, you might not suspect the ordeal they’ve been through over the past several days.

While they share a common saga, they now also share a common hope.

All were transferred from a large shelter in Florida, where they were sent after being displaced by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. Now they await adoption.

It is part of the mission of Many Paws Global Rescue, which is run by Jen Riordan out of Baxter & Beasley, her family’s business at 313 W. Colfax St.

Riordan has provided a refuge for dogs displaced by disasters for the past five years.

That includes Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, the Texas wildfires and the California floods.

“I have a whole network of people all across the country that kind of reach out to me and email me,” Riordan said. “Within the last two days, I’ve gotten a request for over 46 dogs that need placement.”

Many shelter operators or pet owners in hurricane-ravaged parts of the country had to make heartbreaking choices about the fate of these pets following the storms.

“A lot of these people just couldn’t sustain rebuilding their lives after a devastation like that,” she said.

First she needs to find homes for the Hurricane Helene dogs. Then she can find temporary shelter for Hurricane Milton dogs.

The rescue typically has 10-15 dogs at their facility, but due to the recent disasters, they currently have around 22 dogs in their care.

The rescue is holding an adoption and fundraiser event Sunday at the Lamplighter Inn Tavern & Grille, 60 N. Bothwell St., Palatine. The $20 entry fee includes a raffle ticket. For more information, go to Manypawsglobalrescue.org.

Riordan said there is a need for supplies like food and “pee pads” for the dogs, which range in age from two months to seven years, and include various breeds. Three of them are triplets, mastiff mixes.

“We’re going through food, left and right, just trying to sustain them,” she said. “A lot of them came obviously super-skinny. It’s hard to keep the weight on them here, just because they’re running in a day care environment for 12 hours a day. It would be like me putting you on a treadmill for 12 hours a day. You’d lose a lot of weight.”

In the meantime, the dogs are finding recreation in the backyard, snatching bandannas from each other and exploring the playground equipment, which includes a house and a slide.

“It means everything to me,” she said of her rescue mission. “It just makes my heart happy. My husband (Brian) jokes that he’s a dog widow, and that’s probably true.”