FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — She's emaciated, dehydrated and probably sad.

A street dog nicknamed "Bahama Momma" was one of three animals to arrive at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Sunday (Nov. 17) night on a rescue flight from the hurricane-battered Abaco Islands in the Bahamas.

The other two animals on the flight chartered by the Fort Lauderdale-based Good Karma Pet Rescue were a cat and a rabbit.

But, being brought to South Florida for treatment and the promise of a forever home, meant separating Bahama Mama from her eight puppies.

Despite the concerted efforts and pleas by two rescue organizations for U.S. government permission to bring the puppies into this country, they had to be sent to a different clinic — in Nassau — because of their age and conditions.

Good Karma Pet Rescue found the malnourished mother dog and her litter during a one-day mission to Abaco where the organization was delivering urgently needed supplies to Dr. Derrick Bailey, the only veterinarian on the island.

"He is the only one here to take care of the pets and strays," said Deven Soto, special projects coordinator for the animal rescue group.

Bailey, who has been practicing on the island for 20 years, isn't in great shape himself. He lost his clinic and his home in Hurricane Dorian.

Driving along the main road in Marsh Harbor, Bailey educates his visitors about what each pile of rubble used to be. "That was a bank, a doctor's office, gone, the hardware store, gone, the school, closed," he says as he drives the group to pick up the cat and rabbit for the flight to Fort Lauderdale.

A report this month by the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that Hurricane Dorian caused losses totaling about $3.4 billion in the Bahamas while causing 67 confirmed deaths, leaving 282 people still missing and causing nearly 30,000 people to lose their jobs or homes, at least temporarily.

Good Karma Pet Rescue is currently raising money to purchase a mobile clinic that would be shipped to Abaco for Bailey. The effort is being assisted the Boynton Beach-based Veterinary Emergency Group, which has donated equipment and supplies to help kickstart the project.

The mixed breed Bahama Mamma and her pups had been brought to a pop-up temporary spay clinic by a trapper who volunteers for what had been the Abaco Animal Shelter. It was destroyed by the Category 5 Hurricane Dorian that smashed through portions of the Bahamas in September.

The puppies were rescued from the bottom of an eight-foot deep, six-inch wide crevice, officials said. The mother dog was found alongside — listening to her whimpering pups and nearly starving to death.

People in the Bahamas sometimes refer to stray dogs as "potcake," in reference to the dried rice and beans at the bottom of a cooking pot that's typically tossed out to the dogs.

The rescued cat and rabbit were tearfully relinquished by Jana Stone, a team leader for Open World Relief, which is currently on the ground in the Bahamas. No one is really sure how the rabbit got in the mix, but Stone has some history with the tabby.

"Her human family were all killed in the storm," she said. Stone would like to care for the cat, but the demands of her job just aren't compatible for having a pet.

"I bounce from one disaster to another, I don't have stable enough of a life for her," Stone said while hugging the animal goodbye.

The cat's future is bright, however. After landing in South Florida it was met by a woman, Charlene Rodriquez, of Pompano Beach who fosters cats for Good Karma Pet Rescue, but said she would probably "keep this one."

The nonprofit organization mainly raises funds for its missions and other activities through its Facebook page.

"We are very grass roots," said Deb Griffith, Good Karma's director of Fundraising and Grants who was among those on Sunday's relief flight.

As for the mother dog: She was given IV fluids and taken to the Veterinary Emergency Group in Boynton Beach to be nursed back to health while volunteers from Good Karma Pet Rescue try to find her a permanent home following her recovery.

It's not likely, however, that she'll ever be reunited with her pups.