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Rescued dogs have new home following Bridgeville flood

By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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The process of converting a house from human to canine habitation can be a long one, as Teresa Davis has learned.

About a year ago, the Upper St. Clair resident decided to open a second boarding and grooming business for dogs, joining her Canine Club on Baldwin Street in Bridgeville. She invested in a once-stately home in Findlay Township, an expansive structure with tall columns in front that inspired the moniker of Mutt Manor.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

The front room of the Canine Club a few days after the flood

“Just trying to do work on it ourselves, it has taken a while,” she said. “But luckily, we were pretty close to getting ready to open, and we were able to kick it into high gear and bring the dogs here after the incident.”

Surrounded by some of her canine friends at Mutt Manor, Davis spoke about what had transpired a week and a half beforehand on a night that didn’t seem at all out of the ordinary when she took the short drive home from the Canine Club.

“It wasn’t even raining at that point, really, maybe a little drizzle,” she said. “I got home, and then it really started to downpour, but I didn’t think anything of it.”

That was about 7:30 p.m. on June 20. Within the hour, she was racing back to Bridgeville with her husband and son, Reed Sr. and Jr., after hearing about flooding on Baldwin Street in the borough.

Flood fundraisers scheduled

• Big Bear Construction and 31 Sports Bar & Grille are holding a charity event to benefit Bridgeville flood relief.

From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 7, live entertainment, a Chinese auction, drink specials and foods will be featured at 31 Sports Bar & Grille, 1020 Washington Pike, Collier Township. Cash, checks and gift cards will be accepted. All proceeds will be taken directly to the Bridgeville municipal building to be deposited into the community flood relief account.

• Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department is hosting a flood relief comedy show fundraiser July 28, with all proceeds going to Flood victims within the borough of Bridgeville. Tickets are $30 and include food and beverages. Chinese auction and 50/50 tickets will also be available.

For more information, call Ray at 412-266-1043.

“By the time we got there, the road was closed,” Teresa recalled. “I tried to go down the street, but they wouldn’t let me. They said, ‘You’re going to get swept away.'”

Fortunately, the Canine Club building has access to the second floor from a hillside behind, and that’s where the Davises headed.

“With our phone flashlights only, we ran through the woods, down the hillside, and we were able to get up on the car ramp of the building,” Teresa said. “I came down the steps, and there was water coming up the steps. I was able to start to crack the door open and make sure I wasn’t going to be pummeled with water.

“When I opened the door, the water was around seven feet high over the fencing in the inside play yard,” she continued. “It was pitch black, dead silence, muddy, mucky water, and I really thought no one was going to be alive in there.”

She, her husband and son jumped into the water, swam around a corner and found a dog that had taken refuge on a floating plastic kennel.

“At that point, I started hearing some of the dogs whimpering and crying,” she said. “And we just started pulling dogs that were clinging to things, on top of things they could find that were floating. We were able to get them upstairs.”

Some didn’t make it. The ones that did had to wait a while with the Davises.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Water damage is evident throughout the Canine Club.

“We were upstairs with them for about an hour before the water started to recede,” Teresa said. “And then volunteers and the fire department came and helped us walk all the dogs out. We got them in the car and were able to transport them to this facility.”

At Mutt Manor, they were cleaned thoroughly and then received food and non-life-threatening water.

Back in Bridgeville, homes and businesses on Baldwin Street have been devastated to the point where some are total losses and others face a long, long road to recovery.

“We’re planning to rebuild,” Davis said, but she has no idea when the Canine Club might be up and running again. “Nothing was really salvageable, except for the floors. Everything in the building was completely ruined.”

Still, she’s encouraged.

“We’ve been lucky that the community has really come together to help us. People have donated many things, their time, their money.”

As for the future?

“One day at a time, and plug away.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Mutt Manor

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