It shouldn’t matter, but we believe it does, so we will share this: Today’s story and photo gallery of 14 dogs rescued from Matthew’s flooding who have spent the last four months at the Robeson County Animal Shelter are the result of the Health Department reaching out to us, not us to them.

We were more than pleased to do so.

The Health Department, specifically Director Bill Smith, personnel Director Yulando McLean, and Jason Allison, the manager of the shelter, no doubt watched last year as The Robesonian twice published a photo gallery of cats and dogs at the Robeson County Humane Society’s no-kill shelter in an effort to find those animals homes. Both times the feature was well received, and dozens of cats and dogs now roam carpeted living rooms and grassy neighborhoods, not concrete kennels.

We all are too familiar with Hurricane Matthew’s devastation, and on that long list is that it separated a lot of families from their pets. It’s hard to know exactly, but 19 dogs that ended up at the county pound, where animals don’t have the benefit of a no-kill philosophy, were identified as most likely being family pets. Five have been affirmed as such, but have yet to be reclaimed, we assume because the family’s circumstances don’t permit.

So that leaves 14 on death row, and at four months and counting, they have far exceeded the Health Department’s five-day waiting period, which is 67 percent longer than the state requires.

Spring, which represents resurrection for so many of us, could be the death of The 14. The winter brings vacancies to the county pound, but with spring’s arrival, space there is precious, and these 14 dogs, should they not be adopted, are likely to be euthanized.

So the Health Department rang us up, and with very little effort on our part, these 14 dogs have a much better chance of not only living a longer life, but making life better for the family that comes to their rescue. So if you haven’t already, go take a look at the 14 dogs, 13 males and one female, on pages 1A and 9A and see if there is room in your heart and home for a four-legged bundle of happiness.

We felt it was important to give credit where it is due because the Health Department, which inherits this county’s stray-animal problem, and it’s a mighty one, too often is assigned the black hat. It is left to Animal Control to pick up these strays, haul them to the pound, and put them on a short walk to euthanasia.

It is a necessary job, and lucky for the rest of us that we don’t have to be intimate with just how unpleasant the task is.

We never had a doubt, but for those who believe the Health Department and Animal Control have a dispassionate disposition to this duty, their above-and-beyond effort with regard to The 14 should be compelling evidence to the contrary.

Everyone should understand that, which is why we today tossed this bone in their direction.