Greyhounds caught in Lismore Floods

By Michael Cowley
April 01, 2022 10:17
Read this remarkable Greyhound As Pets news story.

Hayley Carter had made her decision and when the SES arrived at her door. Like most of her neighbours, she told them she would stay, an answer they were satisfied with.

After all, the house was quite high and even the biggest flood the region had ever seen had not reached within a foot of the house.  

At 10.30pm, she decided to move the kids, the car and some belongings to her partner’s house on higher ground, just in case the roads were cut off. 

She was comfortable leaving her two greyhounds – Darla, who she adopted through the Greyhound As Pets Northern Rivers’ Program to be a companion for her other greyhound Pete - at the house, knowing the water would never reach the house, and expecting to be back to see them soon.

But the rain continued and the floodwaters surged in South Lismore.

“You knew by about 1am that this was not going to be like anything before. It was catastrophic,” Hayley said. “It was so hard knowing they (the greyhounds) were there, but we couldn’t get back through on the roads. We just had to hope they would be ok and the water wouldn’t rise too far.

“And my neighbours had stayed and one of them said they would be able to check on our dogs if we couldn’t get back through.

“We didn’t sleep much and the next morning once you realised what had happened to the town and how high it had come up, you think the worse. 

“My neighbour sent me a photo from her front door, looking towards our house … it was chest high inside the house. She was devastated because she knew the dogs were there, and could hear them, but there was no way she could get to them.

“It was heartbreaking telling the kids the dogs were probably gone. That was horrible.”

At midday Hayley took a call from the vet at nearby Goonellabah telling her Pete was there but he was hypothermic. 

“He was not in a great way. I thought I was going to have to make a decision on him that day,” she said.

“He had actually swum out passed my neighbour who was trapped in her house. She was trying to call him in through the window but the current was so strong and she saw him go under and she thought he was gone.

“But the neighbours two doors up grabbed him and pulled him in through their back door, and it just so happened the tinnie owners who were out saving people, arrived in the street at that moment. They took him to safety but he was in shock and had a seizure.

“They said when they reached the road, he was as good as dead. But a policewoman was there and she put him in the paddy wagon and took him to the vet. (continues below)

Pic: Greyhound Pete with vet

“Amazingly, he came good that night. He stayed overnight and we were able to bring him home the next day after he was eating and walking. It was amazing and somehow he’s made a complete recovery.”

But where was Darla? Adding to the concern was a week earlier she had been bitten by a pitbull and the wound required stitches. She was protective of it and had not wanted to stand very often.

“We couldn’t get back to the house for a couple of days. We thought she was gone,” said Hayley.

“My neighbour messaged to say the road was opened and asked if I wanted them to see if Darla is there.

“She went in and in the first room, Darla was there, up on top of the loft bed. At some point she had gone into that room from where she had been, and made her way up onto the bed, somehow, and she was totally fine. The wound wasn’t great but it thankfully wasn’t infected, and now she is totally fine now.

“I couldn’t believe it, and they are both great now. They are the most adorable dogs, and we’re so lucky that they somehow were able to escape this disaster relatively unscathed.

“Like many we lost nearly everything, but this remarkable story, just keeps us going.”