The horrific moment a truck crashed into dog dog kennels at a shelter has been shared in footage which shows the pure terror felt by the rescue animals and their carers.
As soon as brave staff at Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association in West Virginia heard the crash, they ran towards the danger, and found a U-Haul truck had crashed directly into their premises.
A new video released by the shelter, shows the moment from the dogs’ perspective, and how the staff stepped up to protect them. “The dogs were so, so scared. Then I honestly teared up with pride at how our team jumped in to help the animals,” the association’s Sarah Tolley told Newsweek.
Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association
Viewers can see the room shaking as the truck crashes into the side of the kennel, on the morning of March 27, 2024, and the dogs look terrified as they jump out of the way.
On Facebook the shelter described it as: “Seventy-four seconds of pure terror, both for the dogs and the humans—thinking our sweet shelter dogs may be crushed beneath rubble.”
Thankfully, no animals were harmed physically but the kennel building, which housed more than a hundred dogs, was a write off and the dogs are still struggling with the aftermath.
“Animals can experience trauma just the same as humans can. We definitely heard mentions from those fostering dogs that were in the section right beside the crash—that all of those animals have had a much harder time,” said Tolley.
“Some of them still are showing signs of distress. The fear of not being able to escape something so loud and scary, when a dog can’t fully process what had happened, will definitely be something that takes time for the dogs to heal.”
Following the crash, the shelter issued an urgent plea for assistance as more than 100 dogs faced an uncertain fate. With the building compromised and no place to house the animals currently living there, the community rallied behind the shelter with many foster carers coming forward.
Since the crash, 146 dogs have found temporary refuge in foster homes, while support from the local community has been huge, allowing the shelter to keep functioning to support animals in need, operating on a smaller case-by-case basis.
“We can house about 40 dogs currently—down from being able to house 108. But we continue to remind ourselves to be grateful that no animals or humans were hurt,” Tolley said.
As they continue to work to help the animals and rebuild, the shelter has been appealing for supplies like food and toys for the animals to assist their efforts.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.