PAWS Chicago headed to Houston to bring homeless pets to Windy City

Volunteers with PAWS Chicago will be readying four transport vehicles on Friday as they prepare to drive more than 17 hours to Houston, Texas to help shelters there make room for more rescued pets.

Flooding after Hurricane Harvey has left many pets in Houston without homes, according to a statement from PAWS Chicago.

Volunteers will drive to Houston Friday and are expected to return Sunday with homeless Texas pets in order for local shelters to make room for more animals, PAWS said. The pets will be given medical care, vaccinations, microchips and will be spayed or neutered as needed. Once cleared, they will be ready for adoption at PAWS Chicago.

The pets taken by PAWS Chicago will help alleviate overcrowding at Houston shelters, the organization said. The volunteers will focus on animals that were already housed in local shelters before the storm hit.

PAWS — Pet Are Worth Saving — is the Chicago area’s largest no kill shelter.