MOORE, Okla., — She’s kind of like the Dog Whisperer — or the guardian angel of canines. Dogs just come to her, and she can’t help but love them all.
While reporting from Moore, Okla., after an EF-5 tornado obliterated an area of town, FOX 4’s Kathy Quinn discovered two displaced dogs. Shaken, confused and lost, the dogs were searching for their owner, but in the aftermath of the tornado, finding him was nearly impossible. Their house was gone. Their owner was no where to be found.
“They were just so sweet,” Quinn said. “They looked like two little buddies. You could tell they belonged to somebody. You could tell they were somebody’s pets.”
Quinn, sporting a pristine French manicure, knelt in the mud and inspected the dogs, looking for any injuries or wounds.
“The dogs — they had no collars, they were muddy, one was infested with ticks,” Quinn said. “They were starving, but in remarkably good condition for having been blown around in a tornado.”
Quinn said someone had given her and FOX 4 photographer Jerry Paauwe a bag of McDonald’s food, which they shared with the dogs. Despite having to juggle morning live shots for FOX 4 News, Quinn — ever the dog lover — was determined to provide more than food for the two lost and hungry animals.
“We were on Telephone Road. It was a busy, busy road with big trucks going by,” she said. “I was afraid they were going to get hit. They were walking around looking for food.”
Having lost a dog herself, Quinn knew the dogs’ owner — if he or she had survived the EF-5 twister — would be looking for them.
“When your dog goes missing, your heart is broken,” Quinn said. “The dogs, they’re helpless. They don’t have a voice.”
But the dogs in Moore, Okla., had Kathy Quinn.
She and Paauwe organized a crew that took the dogs down the road to a makeshift animal shelter provided by Home Depot.
“We loaded them into Jerry’s car,” she said. “They were muddy, dirty, but we didn’t care.”
So off the dogs went to Home Depot’s shelter for displaced pets. Quinn had no way of knowing what would happen to them, but her hopes were high.
Turns out, the dogs’ owner was alive and had already called Home Depot looking for them, describing in detail the distinct markings on the dogs.
Diana at Home Depot said a lot of pets have been reunited with their owners through their temporary shelter. She said the animals are held for the day and at night are transferred to an area animal shelter if they aren’t claimed. Those looking for pets at Home Depot can call 405.895.6064. Diana said those looking for pets that aren’t found at Home Depot can call the animal shelter at 405.793.5190.
Quinn said she’s thrilled she was able to play a small role in reuniting two dogs with their owner who lost so much in the tornado.
“I know what it feels like to not know where your dog is, but when you find it, your heart is full again,” she said.
FOX 4’s sister station in Oklahoma City, Okla., KFOR-TV, reported on another dog — Monster — that was reunited with his owner after rescue workers found the dog’s cage wrapped around a tree with him inside. Read that amazing story here.
