Dorian: Nassau woman takes in 97 dogs
Amid Hurricane Dorian, one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the Bahamas, nearly 100 dogs in Nassau were homeless, so one dog lover took them all in herself.
Chella Phillips is sheltering 97 dogs inside her home in the Bahamian capital during Dorian’s slow-moving stay in the islands. A whopping 79 of them share her master bedroom, she said in a Facebook post.
“It was either leave the dogs on the street to fend for themselves… or do something about it,” Phillips said in a phone interview with ABC News. “I just want these dogs to be safe. I could care less about the dog poop and pee in my house.”
Phillips shared photos of the makeshift shelter ahead of the storm. It was about as cramped and messy as you can imagine.
But for the most part, the dogs stayed calm. She kept AC blowing and music playing. Sick or anxious pups waited out the hurricane in donated crates. The doors and windows were barricaded. And not one of the 79 dogs attempted to jump into her bed, she said in the post.
“We may not get hit as hard as other islands and the saddest part is that after the hurricane leave the Bahamas, some islands will take a long time to recover,” she wrote. “Each island has [an] abundance of homeless dogs, my heart is so broken for the ones without a place to hide a Cat 5 monster and only God can protect them now.”
Voiceless Dogs of Nassau, Bahamas, the shelter Phillips founded, described her as a “one-woman band,” caring for more than 200 homeless dogs every year with little assistance. For 15 years, she’s nursed them back to health and rehoused them in the U.S.
Phillips said in another Facebook post that her home had later flooded and she lost electricity, but all 97 dogs were doing well.
Once things on the island of New Providence are up and running and airlines resume flights to the Bahamas, Phillips will resume finding her furry roommates new homes, the shelter said.
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