Melisa Hill’s lifelong love for animals already had led her to become an animal trainer and breeder, but when Hurricane Harvey hit southeast Texas in August 2017 it also thrust her into the role of animal rescuer.
“I have to go,” she said. “I just can’t let those animals die.”
And then, Melisa Hill was off.
Hill’s lifelong love for animals had already led her to become an animal trainer and breeder, but when Hurricane Harvey hit southeast Texas in August 2017 it also thrust her into the role of animal rescuer.
“I remembered all the stories of the animals during [Hurricane] Katrina. The animals that were left behind,” Hill says. “I knew that would happen again during Harvey, and I was determined to help save as many as possible.”
Hill had just returned from a vacation in South Dakota to her home in Riverside, about 80 miles north of downtown Houston when she saw the devastation left by Harvey on the news. It wasn’t long before she got her horse and trailer ready and marched into the flooded streets. She went wherever she could go, wherever officials pointed her to. But no one said rescue would be easy.
“There were so many [places] they said we could go, but when we got there it was covered in water or the bridges were broken,” Hill said.
Still, that didn’t stop Hill and the volunteers who worked alongside her. From September 1 to 5, Hill traveled to Liberty, Lumberton, Beaumont, Vidor, Dayton, Sour Lake and Orange County to save as many animals as possible.
“We went as far as we could with our trucks and trailers, and there were some places too deep for us. So, we would unload the horses to go, and we would swim out,” Hill said.
She went where the water was high, and the snakes slithered. And the rescues wouldn’t get any easier once she finally reached the stranded animals.
“We go in to get 200 heads of cattle, and, by the time we got to the trailer, we’d only have half of them,” Hill said.
Regardless, the animals were worth it. Even when they resisted help.
During her time in Beaumont, Hill came across a “mean” and “stubborn” cow who put her and Casey Woodard, one of the volunteers she was working with at the time, through the wringer. The bull stood in the back of a herd and watched as volunteers worked. He charged at Hill when she approached him and made this experience harder than it needed to be.
Hill couldn’t help but laugh when she described how she and Woodard struggled to try to save the bull for an hour in waist-deep water before he gave in and let her pull him onto a dry backyard.
“I do remember dogs swimming out to our boat, when we were on the back of boats. But that bull, I tell you,” she sighs. “He was something else.”
After loading the bull and animals like him into her trailer, Hill drove to the shelters in either Beaumont or Montgomery. She dedicated her time to rescue the animals and left reunion efforts to other volunteers. As a result, Hill never saw that bull again.
“If I could say anything to him, it would be ‘Next time, don’t be so stubborn’ and to the owner ‘Thanks for raising good stock! He was probably one of the best-looking bulls I saw down there’,” Hill says.
Hill has been around animals her whole life. As a K9 Search and Rescue dog handler, she trains animals for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and works closely with Texas A&M veterinarians to learn how she can better treat sick and wounded animals.
Nowadays, she trains bloodhounds for the TDCJ and helps humans seeking to lose weight as a health and wellness coach.
Hill says she’s grateful for both the support and the efforts of everyone she worked with. She also believes that there are steps Texan owners can take to help save their animals in the event of disasters. For instance, Texans should consider placing big dog collars detailing their personal information around their horse’s neck or spray paint their number on the backs of cattle and other livestock – anything but chain their pets up.
“If you have animals, be a responsible owner,” Hill says. “Open your gate. Let them out. Give them a chance.”
See photos of the animals Melisa Hill rescued during Hurricane Harvey last year. Also see other animals that had to be rescued during the storm.
