Featured photograph: An aerial view of Farmington, New Mexico, and its river corridors. Location context, not the October 2026 floods. Photo: Dicklyon. CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Ryan and Cody Dudgeon usually use their river skills to guide people on outdoor trips. During the October 2026 floods in Farmington, New Mexico, those skills helped them reach stranded pets.
The owners of Desert River Guides took rafting equipment into flooded neighborhoods. They also opened their warehouse to animals that needed a safe place while families dealt with the emergency.
At one point, more than 45 dogs were being sheltered there, along with other animals.
River experience met a different emergency
Outside's reporting described Ryan and fellow guides pulling a raft through flooded streets on October 23.
Ryan and her husband, Cody, had years of experience on rivers. The conditions around their hometown brought a different mix of hazards, including mud, debris and difficult access.
Their team used equipment and swiftwater skills to reach animals left in homes, corrals and kennels. They worked with guidance from the Farmington Regional Animal Shelter and city officials.
The response was part of a wider community effort, rather than the work of two people alone.
Photo: Timthefinn at English Wikipedia. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The warehouse became a temporary shelter
As animals arrived, the business's building took on another role. Volunteers helped feed, clean and care for pets whose owners were displaced or unable to keep them nearby.
KOAT reported the temporary shelter operation and the need for volunteers and supplies.
People's report, republished by AOL, included Ryan's description of the difficult rescues and the animals housed at the warehouse.
The figure of more than 45 dogs describes the shelter population at one point. It should not be read as a count of every dog the couple personally rescued by raft.
Photo: Nhandler. CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.
Protecting the animals required more than one move
The warehouse itself later faced a flood threat, requiring another effort to move the animals.
Some pets had been reunited with their families by subsequent reporting. Others still needed temporary care. The available accounts do not establish a final outcome for every animal.
That continuing work is part of the rescue story. Getting an animal out of rising water is one step. Finding safe shelter and reconnecting it with an owner can take much longer.
The guides supplied what they had: equipment, local knowledge and a place to gather. Shelter workers and volunteers helped turn those resources into a coordinated response for families and pets separated by floodwater.