PAWS Chicago Volunteers Travel To Florida To Rescue Pets Stranded By Hurricane Michael

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A group of volunteers from a Chicago animal shelter is heading to Florida to rescue homeless dogs and cats after Hurricane Michael caused catastrophic damage.

Sunday morning, four PAWS Chicago volunteers left for Florida in two vans filled with pet carriers, food, and other supplies.

PAWS Chicago partners with several animal shelters throughout the country to help rescue homeless dogs and cats.

When the volunteers return to Chicago, PAWS expects it will need help finding foster homes for the animals it rescues, many of whom might be sick, injured, or traumatized due to the hurricane.

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, PAWS Chicago has helped rescue pets who survived natural disasters, after their owners were forced to leave them behind to save themselves. Often, PAWS takes other dogs and cats from shelters in areas hit by a natural disaster to help those shelters make room for disaster victims.

PAWS Chicago helped rescue more than 200 dogs and cats after Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers also helped rescue animals left homeless in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida in 2017; historic floods in Louisiana in 2016; tornadoes in Oklahoma in 2013; flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Quincy, Illinois in 2008.