Dramatic rescue of a dog shelter that has been flooded

On Tuesday, 18 March, local firefighters were called to rescue six people and sixteen dogs from the rising floodwaters at the Galgos En Familia dog sanctuary. 

The Guadalhorce River overflowed, triggered by heavy rains from storm Laurence’ saw the river surge to a record 5.46 metres, filling the rescue shelter the shelter located 500 metres from the riverbank in the Doña Ana area.

The volunteers had been on alert since Monday, but rising waters at 5am forced them to act. ‘We waded in with water up to our knees to save the dogs, but the river was rising too fast, and we couldn’t get out,’ said Dolores Alba, a volunteer at the shelter. Guardia Civil firefighters and the Guardia Civil intervened to evacuate the group by midday amid applause of relieved neighbors.

The shelter that houses greyhounds rescued from the streets and podencos suffered a new devastation. ‘We lost everything in last October’s DANA, rebuilt, and now it’s gone again,’ Alba lamented. The refuge has been through this nightmare before, having been evacuated by boat back in 2016.

The rescued dogs were relocated to volunteers’ homes and a kennel in Alhaurín el Grande. Meanwhile, the storm forced school closures across the Málaga province, leaving over 3,500 students at home. As the community gathers once again and the major cleanup begins, the future of the shelter hangs in balance. For now, the floodwaters seem to be receding. But for how long?