When the weather forecast tells you there’s a hurricane on the way, the first thing you’d probably do is make a mental checklist of what you need to prepare and accomplish: install storm shutters, move your vehicle to a safe place, test your generator, charge your flashlights and mobile devices, and so forth. You’ll also head for the nearest grocery to stock up on enough food and supplies to last you until the weather clears.
Preparation is key
This is what most people did when Hurricane Delta made its way towards North America. They took the necessary precautions, completed the items on their to-do list, and stayed put indoors.
Ricardo Pimentel Cordero, however, added one more noble thing to his list as he prepared for the impending disaster.
Animal essentials
Ricardo runs an animal shelter in Puertos Morelos, Quintano Roo called Tierra de Animales.
His priority as he prepared for the hurricane included keeping thousands of homeless animals safe from the hurricane.
Instead of just focusing on his own needs, he took time to buy essentials for the animals: hundreds of pounds of seed, grain, and pet food.
300 Animals under 1 roof
After making sure he had everything he needed, he then brought every animal in the shelter to his home, along with other strays he found.
Yes, you read that right – all animals. That’s a total of 300 animals under his roof! Dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, horses, sheep, goats… he made sure all of them stayed safe and dry.
It was quite an undertaking but Ricardo did all this without hesitation.
Of course, a responsibility this great also meant he needed to ask for help so he took to Facebook and explained the situation.
“If I lived alone, or only with about 10 or 20 dogs then I would not worry too much, but here there are hundreds of animals, and we cannot afford not to have enough food stored, so I strongly ask you to support us if you can.”
Safety First
Thankfully, Ricardo and all the animals he brought to safety survived the storm, and many of his friends heeded his call for help.
But there was one more problem to resolve after the storm passed: the animal shelter was severely damaged.
Roofs had flown off buildings, trees had fallen, the area was littered with debris… it was definitely going to be costly and would require a lot of work.
Picking up the pieces
Frustrating as it is to be faced with such a dilemma, Ricardo thought well and hard about how he would begin to pick up the pieces.
Once more, he sought help from his Facebook contacts and almost immediately, everyone pulled through and pitched in: donations for the animals’ food started coming in, volunteers offered to help rebuild the shelter… It was a beautiful display of unity and teamwork.
Tagged as a modern-day Noah, Ricardo has truly embodied compassion with his deeds.
Slowly, he brought the animals to safety, fed them, and took care of them, and did what he could to rebuild the shelter so they would still have a safe dwelling after the hurricane.
At the news of a hurricane headed in their direction, Ricardo sprang into action and made sure the animals were spared from it.
Truly, no creature is too big or too small to be treated with kindness.
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