Florida Devastation…Beyond belief
Animal Rescuers Bring Light into People’s Lives

For Immediate Release

Monday, August 23, 2004

Contact: Kathleen Schwartz
Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Inc.
301-854-5037 / 410-442-1534 / Fax-301-854-5146

Lisbon:

As Allan Schwartz crosses into the State of Florida and reaches the town of Bartow he is incredulous at the amount of destruction right before his eyes. “It’s unbelievable,” Allan says, “After years of working disasters you know what to expect and you prepare yourself for it, but the reality is staggering.” Animal rescue professionals, Allan Schwartz, Co-Founder of Days End Farm Horse Rescue and Kelly Harrington with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined up with Code 3 Associates in Barstow, Florida to respond to a plea to help the animals in the devastation left behind by Hurricane Charley.

Code 3 Associates, whose home base is in Longmont, Colorado, is a non profit organization established to relieve the suffering of animals in disasters. Their base of operations in disasters is the Mobile Command Vehicle, a huge, self-sufficient, 77 foot disaster-relief tractor and trailer unit capable of reaching disasters without delay. The center is manned by the Essential Animal Services Team, a group of men and women trained and certified for fire and flood rescue and animal care. This group of expert animal caregivers and rescuers is on-call 24 hours a day to aid animals in distress due to natural and man-made disasters. Allan Schwartz, Pam Delabar, Kelly Harrington, Warren Craig and Mike West combine their skills and knowledge to work in partnership as an Animal Services Team helping the animals in the aftermath of hurricane Charley.

Although the needs of people are always the first assessed in a disaster situation, animal rescuers realize the profound impact that the return of a loving pet (hamster, cat, dog, horse, etc.) can create for someone who has just lost all their worldly possessions and many times their loved ones. The relief and joy is visible on their faces when they are reunited and the devastation becomes more tolerable as a result. They are better able to think about future concerns and making plans to move ahead. Pets also provide an outlet for grief and a listening ear. They give them back hope for better days ahead. In short, by helping the animals in disasters, animal rescuers are helping people as well.

As the Animal Service Team set up camp, people started bringing their injured animals to the Mobile Command Vehicle for help. The trailer portion of the vehicle contains 4 separate water tanks, one of which feeds the Veterinary Clinic and is attached to a water heater to provide hot water to the clinic and berthing area sink. The clinic contains a large stainless steel sink with a rack for surgery preparation, a flat-top stainless steel surgery table, a cage bank of 12 stainless steel cages permanently installed, running water capability with hot water heater, surgery lights, IV rack, surgery packs and numerous storage cabinets stocked with a wide variety of medical, surgery and clinic supplies. This room has sliding doors to separate it from other activity in the vehicle during surgeries, and to help maintain a comfortable environment for the animals. The Mobile Command Center has been set up to triage and treat animals with injuries before they are sent to the shelters to be recovered by their owners. Currently two veterinarians and four veterinary technicians arrived from The University of Florida to handle the animal emergencies at the Mobile Command Center. Many of the dogs and cats brought to the Command Center by rescuers had escaped (due to the intensity of the heat) from their homes through broken windows looking for food and water.

Allan, Kelly and Pam were dispatched along with four University of Florida Vet Students to deal with the aftermath of Charley at neighboring horse farms. The largest problem is a lack of water and animals with heat stroke. To date, aside from the water and feed they have distributed throughout the horse farms, Allan, Kelly and their team have “rounded up” 200 bunnies that escaped from their enclosures and 60 goats.

On August 19th the Mobile Command Vehicle and the team of rescuers broke camp and moved to Wauchula, Florida where they are currently operating at a demolished fairground. VMAT 3 (Veterinary Medical Assistant Team) had been assessing the situation and requested help for the animals. The devastation in this town was massive and many horses and other animals were running free. The National Guard had already been sent in to stop the looting of personal possessions while the police department routinely patrols the area. Everyone has to return to the Command Base by 8:00 pm as a curfew has been set in Wauchula to dissuade the looters and prevent further casualties when darkness threatens.

Another element many rescuers have to address is the daily thunder and lightning storms which bring rain at the rate of 2” per hour and then leave behind a stifling humidity. It is sometimes very difficult for rescuers to reach many of the people and animals living in low lying areas who are not only dealing with the hurricane destruction but are also dealing with continuing flood situations and zero resources. Allan, Kelly and the team are traveling to some of those low lying areas to try to bring food, water and medical aid to both people and animals.

When brought face to face with the totality of the destruction and seeing the pain and suffering of the people and animals, “Burn out” is a major problem that face rescuers. As a result, disaster professionals are typically rotated out every 5-7 days and others are brought in to carry on this very important, lifesaving work. Allan and Kelly will be returning home soon but you can be sure the pictures they carry in their minds of the devastation, the people and the animals will live on for years to come.

If you would like to be a part of helping the people and animals or the organizations that have saved lives, donations can be sent to the Local Animal Shelters or Humane Societies in Florida, or to the organizations who have donated their resources to help. This will enable them to restock their supplies to meet the needs of the people and animals who will be depending on them now and in the future.

 

For more information call:
301/854-5037 or 410/442-1564
E-Mail: info@defhr.org

Physical Address:
1372 Woodbine Road
Woodbine, MD 21797

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 309
Lisbon, Maryland 21765

directions

Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Inc. is a non-profit, volunteer based humane organization whose mission is Fostering compassion and responsibility for horses through intervention, education, and outreach.