Pure Mutts Animal Sanctuary owner Priyanka Johri is typically the one helping others so she feels lost now that she needs help.
Johri has run the nonprofit Pure Mutts since 2007 on 2 acres in an unincorporated area of South Montgomery County near College Park.
Following the worst of Hurricane Beryl’s winds Monday, she stepped out of her home on the property and was shocked to find many fallen trees and toppled fences where she runs Pure Mutts.
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‘Mother nature won the war’
“I was not expecting this much damage,” she said. “It’s 2 acres of disaster. Instead of paradise, it feels like 2 acres of war zone where mother nature won the war.”
She has started a GoFundMe page to help with the sanctuary’s recovery. By Thursday mid-day $3,400 of her $25,000 goal had been raised.
Johri has 32 dogs on the property but has housed anywhere from 24 to 45 dogs. None of the dogs were injured in the storm, but they are currently contained to her house or in a fenced-in area on her property because of fallen fences.
In her 20-plus years of fostering dogs, Johri developed a special passion for giving older dogs, dogs with medical or special needs or terminally ill dogs a forever home.
Nothing like Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike in September 2008 hit Galveston Island as a Category 2 storm and traveled northward through Montgomery County.
At the time, the storm helped launch Pure Mutts because so many dogs needed her help.
“We had a few trees down (during Ike) but it was nothing like this,” she said. “I was expecting it to be like Ike.”
There is a main house with a fenced-in yard, an area with several cabins that is fenced in and several storage buildings. The main home is for elderly and terminally ill dogs. The cabins are for younger dogs with shorter-term medical issues with the hope they can be adopted.
When it was safe to emerge from her home Monday, she turned out of her front door and saw a pine tree crashed through the storage building. Then she walked around the other side of the home and saw the damage to the area for younger dogs.
“It was heartbreaking and scary and overwhelming,” she said.
Some friends came to help with chainsaws and clear some of the debris Tuesday.
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‘I just don’t know where to start’
“I’m grateful nothing fell on the house and all the dogs are safe and no one was hurt, but I just don’t know where to start,” she said.
Entergy had a crew on Bill Smith Road to do an assessment earlier this week. Because she’s near the end of the road they told her it could be weeks before her power was back.
She also looked into having some of the fallen trees removed.
“I am told that estimated costs can be any where from $50,000 to $70,000. I can’t wrap my head around that,” she said. “But I need to start somewhere. I want to get the trees removed and at least fences secured so dogs have room to roam like they are used to.”
Johri also runs an assisted living facility for elderly clients in the area.
“She has given so much to her residents both dogs and seniors,” said Kim Kimberly whose son, Jayson, runs the Leave It For the Pooch nonprofit in Montgomery County.