CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A tragic pet drowning on North Padre Island over the weekend has residents making a community-wide effort to bring changes to the canals.
Island resident Melissa Reed is a dog-mom to Bear and Mowgile -- two playful pups that did everything together.
That was before Bear became the center of a search party after being spotted swimming in the canals behind Cruiser Street. Unbeknownst to Reed and other neighbors searching for Bear, Mowgile also had fallen in.
Reed told 3NEWS that Mowgile, who always tried to take care of Bear, died trying to rescue his friend.
"Anytime Bear would get out, Mowgile would go get him and bring him back," she said. "The only reason he jumped in at all was to save Bear. He would have never jumped in that canal otherwise."
The unexpected loss prompted Reed to question why there aren't ways for pets to gain ground when they fall into the canals.
"In this canal, there is no way for dogs to get out when they fall in," she said.
Island resident Sierra Bernard is currently working on designing a handmade floating ramps that can be attached to the docks of homeowners. She said the design will give pets a fighting chance if they ever fall into the canals.
"As soon as we can get at least 10 dogs ramps placed. If we can save at least one animal its all worth it," she said.
Bernard has already locked in sponsorship from Shoreline Realty Co. to pay for the first 10 ramps -- which are roughly $50, compared with online dog ramps that easily run $500.
"I really hope the city, county, local HOA will rally behind this," she said. "Because this issue matters so much to local Islanders."
While she is still mourning Bear, Reed said that she is grateful that she still gets to hold Mowgile.
"We still have him. I can't be thankful enough," she said.
If you would like to donate to the project, click here.
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