LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) - More than 30 dogs were rescued from FIDO Boarding and Doggie Daycare Sunday afternoon, marking the second evacuation in less than 24 hours after ankle-high water filled the facility on Saturday night.
This time, however, the water didn't stop rising until people were standing waist-deep in water.
FIDO owner Heath Willis described the moments that he said felt like only a couple of minutes as the flood water rose and they tried to get the dogs out.
How Ohio State Wexner is working to protect staff, patients"There were dogs in water, swimming in circles, in cages, trapped, so we were picking up cages and putting them up on top of cages of bigger dogs,” he said. “I had five dogs on a leash in this hand. Water was about right here, so they were treading water. I had three dogs over here. There were two swimming around. One was trapped back behind here, which, if it wouldn't have barked, I wouldn’t have known. They're telling me to let go of the dogs and get out of the building and I was the last one here. And I said, ‘No, I'm not leaving these dogs.’ I had to let go of these dogs, go back, find him because he was trapped. The water had pinned him under there, and he had that cart, and the chair pinned him to the wall. So I got him out and then I saw dogs going under. So I started grabbing them, pulling them up.”
Wills was forced to get out of the building with more than 20 dogs still trapped in the back, many of them inside kennels and pens. He watched helplessly as the firefighters rescued each and every dog from the facility.
"I love every one of them and I appreciate them, but when you're watching this unfold and you experience the dogs were drowning, you're feeling like they're going in slow motion," Willis said.
After the floodwaters subsided, Wills was able to get back in the building and see just how bad the damage was.
"We felt the building shifting, we felt it actually making sound, and then we felt it going like this, and then you'll see back here, the damage actually lifted the foundation up and slammed down and busted all of it,” he said. “When that wall gave, I felt like we were in trouble. I thought this whole wall was going to give, and we were all going to get washed into here.”
Lancaster cleans up after back-to-back floodingNow, with some of the mud and grime washed away by restoration crews, Wills could see the damage to the foundation.
"It lifted it up and then all the water washed under it, and then it slammed down and busted all of this, and it's busted all the way around,” Willis said. “If you look along the wall, see the foundation at the bottom.”
Every dog made it out of the facility safely, but one dog is still missing after he got loose from firefighters.
"He bit one of them, and then a second one tried to help him, and he bit the second one, and that's when he was accidentally dropped and took off, with no fault to them,” owner Kathryn Horvath, of Bremen, said. “He's a scared dog. He's also a big alarm, even when he is not scared. So, yeah, he took that as opportunity out of fear."
Horvath had boarded her dog Scooby-Doo, a three-year-old Shar Pei mix, with FIDO while her family took a vacation to Michigan. That trip was cut short to come back and search for Scooby-Doo.
Unauthorized pool parties causing concern at central Ohio apartment complexes"Unfortunately got the call last night that the flooding had happened to a second time at Fido and all dogs have been evacuated,” she said. “So that's when we woke up this morning and made the drive back to also get out here on foot to find Scooby. The people at FIDO are amazing and they called in thermal imaging drones last night as well.”
Scooby weighs around 35 pounds, has tan-colored fur, and a distinguishable curled up tail.
"We've had about four sightings starting about directly after the flooding incident last night and they started over near Fisher Catholic, and then they've led here to Stringtown Road and then over to Rainbow and back to Stringtown Road, so he's in about a one-mile radius of this area," Horvath said.
The family had been searching on foot all day Monday. Several sightings brought them about a half mile away from the boarding facility, where Scooby was seen twice, darting across a backyard by a homeowner. That homeowner generously allowed the dog warden to set up a live trap in the trees at the back of his property. Another trap is set on the opposite side of Fetter Run, the stream that overflowed and caused the flooding.
Both traps contain Scooby's favorite snacks, wet cat food that is supposed to attract him by smell, and one trap has his blanket draped over it. They're hoping to lure Scooby in, but he tends to run when approached. If you see Scooby, you're asked to not attempt to capture him and instead call dog warden Leighann Adams at the Fairfield County Adoption Center at 740-687-3647 or FIDO at 740-277-6022.
University dining changes leave Ohio Wesleyan students frustratedA fundraising page has been set up on behalf of FIDO to raise money for cleaning and renovations after the flood.
Additionally, the remainder of concerts scheduled for the Wendel Stage at the Lancaster Festival have been canceled due to damage from the flood and rain. Festival organizers said that while weather-related cancellations are usually not refundable, it is making an exception for the following shows:
Gary LeVox (July 26) Broadway Night (July 29) Hairball (July 30) Colbie Caillat / Dawes (Aug 2)Other concerts scheduled for the festival are not cancelled and are set to be held as scheduled.
Organizers are asking patrons to forego their refunds to help fund the festival in the coming years.
"It’s important to note that the reason we have a 'no refund' policy is because our ticket revenue does not cover the production cost of these larger concerts, even when cancelled," the festival posted to its website. "This means that issuing refunds will significantly impact the Festival’s ability to continue to operate in the future. Therefore, we are asking community members who are willing to do so, to consider donating the cost of their tickets by simply not requesting a refund. Any ticket costs not refunded are considered a tax-deductible charitable donation to the Festival."
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