Here They Come To Save the Day
When danger calls, the American Human Association is there to answer – and ready to save all animals in harm’s way
By Sharon L. Peters
CTW Features
American Humane Association's mobile rescue unit Image courtesy American Humane Association
They pluck drenched dogs out of flooded houses, rescue cats wrenched from their yards by tornadoes and haul horses out of harm’s way when fires rage across the hills.
When there’s a large-scale calamity – wildfires, blizzards, hurricanes, floods or disaster like 9/11 – and animals are in jeopardy, there’s a good chance a team of highly trained rescuers and a massive high-tech rescue rig from the American Humane Association, Denver, are quietly effecting rescues.
American Humane deploys one or more teams, chosen from the hundreds of volunteers it has trained over the years, and mobilizes its 82-foot, 16-wheel specialized tractor trailer with all manner of emergency gear; from boats for water rescues to veterinary surgical theater, computers and decontamination tanks.
“We are asked to come in when a disaster is so big civil authorities simply can’t handle it,” says Connor Michael, a spokesperson for American Humane.
The organization’s American Red Star Animal Relief, formed in 1916 to aid horses on the battlefront during World War I, has morphed into a high-tech, go-anywhere unit that does whatever’s needed – from giving decontamination baths to rescue dogs at 9/11’s Ground Zero, to digging out thousands of sows trapped in 15-foot drifts earlier this year after a blizzard hit Colorado.
The state-of-the-art rig serves as a command center, living and eating space for the responders and storage unit for every conceivable piece of equipment that might be needed, including a massive sling for lifting horses via helicopters, swift-water technical rescue gear and fire suits and masks.
They were on the scene soon after the horrific Oklahoma City tornado several years ago, spent weeks in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, have assisted towns in Minnesota, Indiana and Kentucky after floods, and were deployed to Wisconsin to collect housebound animals after a train derailment prompted officials to order an evacuation that was to have lasted a few hours but extended for several days.
American Humane doesn’t keep records on how many animals they’ve rescued, says Michael. “It’s a matter of policy. If we were to do that it would be simply a numbers game, and that’s not what it’s about.” But he figures the number would be “well over 10,000.”
American Humane's mobile unit is the command center during a crisis, and features living and eating areas for responders in addition to the medical equipment. Image courtesy American Humane Assosication
When a hurricane of Category 3 or higher looks likely to make landfall in the U.S., rescue teams will be put on stand-by. “Every hurricane for at least the last 10 years we have monitored,” says Michael. And often the rig is driven to within 100 miles or so of the projected land hit so they can begin assisting animals as soon as local officials clear them to do so. After Katrina hit, several rescue teams were rotated in to Louisiana every five or six days.
“It’s physically and emotionally exhausting, doing this work,” Michael says, for more than six weeks. Volunteers and staff logged more than 18,000 hours, working virtually around the clock.
Sometimes, however, a disaster hits with no warning, and volunteers will get a middle-of-the-night call. Within hours they will have arranged child and pet care for their absence and requested vacation time from their jobs, and they’re headed to the airport to catch a flight to the scene.
“They are passionate about doing this,” says Michael, “and will do anything in their power to try to make it work.”
Michael knows there are many times when pet owners are prevented from taking their pets during evacuations, and other times when the disaster hits while the humans are away from the house and can’t get back. But there are many times when people leave the animals to fend for themselves when it would not be out of the question to take them along.
“If it’s not safe for you,” says Michael, “it’s not safe for your pets.”
What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, training and loving your pet. E-mail Sharon@Pets2008.com.
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