Emergency shelters set up in Troy during flood evacuation
Category Archives: Animal Response Stories
Families Reuniting With Their Pets
Sunday, March 24 was a great day for families, pets and Kansas State Animal Response Team volunteers at the emergency animal shelter in Troy, KS. The ultimate reward for a response volunteer is to witness the reunion of a family with their pets after a disaster and that is what Sunday was all about, watching pets and families enthusiastically reconnecting. Families were told they could could return to their homes at 9am and shortly after 8am families began arriving to pick up their four-legged family members. By 1pm the shelter was empty. By 4pm volunteers had completed clean up and demobilization. It was as time to reflects and bid fairwell to the communities of Troy, Elwood and Wathena fairwell. The Kansas State Animal Response Team was honored to serve!
Emergency Pet Sheltering in Troy, KS
Elwood Disaster Response
The Kansas State Animal Response Team was requested by Doniphan County Emergency Management and Kansas Emergency Management to respond to support the residents of Elwood and nearby Wathena in north east Kansas. The Kansas State Animal Response Team sent volunteers and equipment trailers to temporary shelter pets at the Doniphan county fairgrounds. The deployment began Saturday, March 16 and completed Sunday, March 24. The team cared for and housed 114 pets which included 68 dogs, 39 cats, 6 birds and 1 guinea pig.
Co-Located Sheltering in Manhattan
Shelter Opens for Pets and People in Manhattan Kansas
The North East Animal Response Team and the Red Cross partnered to shelter pets and their families in one co-located shelter in Manhattan, Kansas during flooding this September.
Mary Prewitt with the Kansas State Animal Response team said this decision was long overdue.
“People will cross police lines. They will put themselves at risk and go back to rescue their pets if you don’t provide for pets at the same time you evacuate the people,” she explained.
Click here to read the news story…
Hurricane Harvey Update
Photo- Doug Gross (Patch Staff)
Updated August 29, 2017 11:51 am
Update 08/30/2017
KS SART is closely watching the animal response situation in Texas following Hurricane Harvey and is ready to offer assistance IF REQUESTED! Of utmost importance is that NO ONE SELF-DEPLOY!
The nature of disasters is “hurry up and wait”. Texas is skilled at dealing with disasters and has a robust animal disaster response capability. So far, they have handled pet issues locally and have reached out where necessary for assistance with transport and supply deliveries. Pet Friendly shelters have been opened and neighbors are helping neighbors. We are not surprised that they have not called for general outside support yet. Response must be safe for humans and animals, responders and victims.
Again please DO NOT SELF-DEPLOY! Disaster response is a huge challenge and adding unorganized, albeit with good intentions, untrained and unaffiliated responders is NOT acceptable or helpful!
You can make a difference through online donations too. Our recommendations of organizations currently assisting with Hurricane Harvey include:
www.eerular.org
www.aspca.org
www.code3associates.org
www.ifaw.org
There isn’t a rescue group in the country who can help everyone. We must be prepared to take care of our families and our neighbors first.
Make a plan for your family.
Keeping the storm victims in Texas, and now Louisiana in our hearts and prayers.
Hurricane Harvey
Photo: Tiele Dockens
Trained Kansas Animal Response volunteers have been notified and given the opportunity to respond under one of our national animal response partners as animal sheltering volunteers. Some Kansas animal response volunteers are also involved in the hurricane response through remote liaison and resource coordination efforts to support a partner response agency out of Kansas City.
Thank you to those in communities across Kansas who have asked how you can help the animals affected by Hurricane Harvey. The best way to assist is by funding a legitimate animal response organization that is involved and donate money so that supplies can be purchased to help shelter and care for the displaced animals. Be sure you know the organization you are donating to as sadly, scammers will take advantage of this situation.
If this disaster has inspired you to get involved then please take time to first sign up to be a volunteer for the Kansas Animal Response Coalition; and second, to take the required response training to become a certified animal responder. Click here to learn more about how to sign up and where to go for training.
Volunteers Housing Pets
Nadine Conner did something heroic early Sunday morning.
She braved flooded streets in south Wichita and opened her shop at 1:30 a.m. to allow pets rescued in the storm’s aftermath to have a place to stay.
Caring for Jack
Any rescue of a living creature is difficult, but a pet rescue is extra tough. For starters pets might not be listed as missing. Next, pets often run from their home area during or after the storm. Then, some pets are so small they can get wedged into the smallest of places. Such was the case with Jack.
Jack was a Jack Russell Terrier. Jack’s family lost their neighbor, lost their home, and they lost Jack.