HOUSTON – Eight years ago, Hurricane Harvey unleashed catastrophic flooding across Houston. But in the middle of all that chaos came an unlikely story of survival involving two dogs.
Just two weeks before Harvey made landfall, the pair was spotted wandering the streets of Houston, always side by side, never apart. A man driving to and from work kept seeing them. Morning after morning, night after night. And with a monster storm churning toward the Texas coast, he knew time was running out.
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The man made his move and wrangled the skittish dogs into his car and drove them straight to Red Collar Rescue, a shelter he trusted could give them a shot at a new life.
And here they are, before he brought them to the rescue:
This picture is from Red Collar Rescue before the storm hit.
But this wasn’t your typical rescue story. As Harvey slowed to a crawl, the skies opened up, and the rain just wouldn’t stop. 10 inches… 20… 30… 40.
Houston was drowning. Neighborhoods disappeared under water, animals were displaced, and shelters were bursting at the seams with dogs and cats separated from their owners. Rescuers worked around the clock to reunite pets with their families.
But these two? They had no home to go back to.
That’s when the phone rang. It was Charlotte Liberda from Red Collar Rescue. At the time, I was working at NBC in Los Angeles, but my wife and I had a history with Charlotte. Years earlier, when we lived in Houston, we adopted two big dogs from her. Those dogs had just passed away after long, full lives, leaving our home heartbreakingly quiet.
Charlotte knew this. And she also knew these two dogs had to stay together. Not many families were willing or able to take in a bonded pair of large breeds.
Meanwhile, our friends back in Houston were losing their homes to the floodwaters. We felt helpless, sitting hundreds of miles away, wanting to do something, anything, to ease the heartbreak. When Charlotte asked if we were ready to adopt again, we didn’t hesitate.
We said yes.
We worked out the details, and soon enough, the two inseparable pups nicknamed “Princeton” and “Harvard” by Charlotte were boarding a flight bound for Los Angeles. After everything they’d survived, they were about to start a brand-new life.
When we met them at LAX, we knew the names had to change. Princeton and Harvard just didn’t capture their story. So we gave them names worthy of their journey: Houston and Harvey.
The photo below is from that first unforgettable moment: Our kids, Aubrey and Josh, meeting the dogs for the very first time.
Here’s Aubrey showing the dogs the backyard for the first time. They were so happy to see the grass and be out of those crates!
Los Angeles was their home for four years.
Four years after Hurricane Harvey, life came full circle. Our family packed up and moved back to Houston, this time with pups Houston and Harvey trotting right alongside us, back to the city where their story began.
And the adventures didn’t stop there. In 2023, these two street dogs turned storm survivors, found themselves strutting down a very different path, the red carpet at the Citizens for Animal Protection Gala. From wandering Houston streets to helping raise money for rescue animals… what a journey!
Here’s my wife and me that night, proud pet parents of two unlikely local celebrities.
And it’s not just the dogs, every one of our four cats hails from Texas, too.
All rescues, with two of them coming straight from Red Collar. To this day, we’re still close with Charlotte Liberda and continue to support the incredible work she does. We donate annually to the shelter, and during last year’s fundraiser, my daughter even won a mountain bike!
Here’s a photo of Charlotte, our family, the dogs, and yes, the winning bike.
If you’re looking for a “fur-ever” friend, Red Collar will always be at the top of our list. But truthfully, there are so many excellent shelters across southeast Texas filled with animals waiting for their own happily-ever-after.
I’ll leave you with one more exciting thing to share. Houston, Harvey, and I will be featured in the September issue of Houston Pet Talk magazine. The magazine is in 800 locations across the Houston Area. The live link to the digital issue will be available this Friday, August 28, at HoustonPetTalk.com. I can’t wait to see it!