"I was watching the news and they went to a tower cam and I saw the tornado on TV and then the TV went blank so I grabbed the dog and I ran down to our neighbor’s house,” said Omaha native Blair Soukup of Joplin.

“I didn't know where the tornado was, I figured it was far away from me. I just grabbed Lilly and ran down. It wasn't windy or anything by me and I just ran into the apartment."

Lilly is Soukup's Chihuahua and she is like a member of the family. That's why the Nebraska Humane Society is stepping in and sending a team of six to Joplin to help those who aren't as lucky as Blair, who lost their pets in the tornado.

“That's hopefully what we'll be doing is reuniting a lot of those animals,” said NHS animal control officer Jordan Elonich. “We may even be bringing some back that are completely displaced or that are surrendered, hopefully get them homes over here."

“It's just something that is part of them that they haven't lost and can kind of help them start to rebuild and make things familiar again for them,” said NHS volunteer Kathy Barrett.

The Nebraska Humane Society is having a special on animals in Omaha to make room for the pets expected from Joplin. Friday and Saturday, adult cats will be free and dogs and puppies will be half-priced.