More than three dozen dogs from the Gulf Coast looking for forever homes arrive in the D.C. region on Thursday after Hurricane Louisiana struck there last week. A pet shelter in Derwood, Maryland, welcomed 16 dogs, while 21 others will go to Lucky Dog Animal Rescue in Arlington, Virginia. The Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center said the dogs arrived at the pet shelter Thursday morning and are being evaluated behaviorally and medically before being made available for adoption. The shelter received requests for help after the Category 4 storm hit the Gulf Coast and contacted the Morehouse Humane Society in Bastrop, Louisiana. Morehouse Humane Society had dogs in need of a safe place as a combination of hurricane damage, power issues and an area-wide heat advisory made it necessary to evacuate the animals from that shelter. Now that Montgomery County’s adoption center is taking the dogs, the Louisiana shelter is now empty and work can begin on repairs. All 16 animals will be spayed or neutered, microchipped and given core vaccines before being made available for adoption, the shelter said. Most of the 21 dogs arriving in Arlington are coming from Bayou Animal Services in Dickinson, Texas, where they were in enrolled in a correctional facility training program, according to Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. Others from that same group of 21 dogs are coming from the county animal shelter in Bastrop, Louisiana, where the Morehouse Humane Society is located. “Since the hurricane hit, we have been working with shelters on the ground to ensure they have the support they need during this difficult time. The most important thing we can do to help is care for these animals so they can focus on recovery,” said Mirah Horowitz, founder and executive director of Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. Below is video some of the dogs departing for their journey to Arlington.

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