Horse Rescue Organization Prepares For 2007
Storm Season Emergencies

Originally published June 05, 2007

By Karen Gardner,News-Post Staff

The 2007 hurricane season is only five days old, but Days End Farm Horse Rescue has been getting ready since well before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005.

The horse rescue organization, located on a cramped farm in Lisbon, has developed emergency rescue techniques for horses and other large animals in the case of hurricane, flood, fire or other natural disaster.

Whether it's rescuing a horse from a flood or getting a stuck horse out of a ravine, Days End has become a national resource in saving horses, not only from abuse situations but from mishaps and disasters.

The Emergency Rescue Team is equipped to handle large animal rescues anywhere in Maryland, Delaware or Virginia. The Rescuing Equines in Disasters team will travel anywhere in the United States, responding to hurricanes or other major disasters. Kathleen Schwartz co-founded Days End back in 1989 and is now the executive director. A decade later, Days End staff and volunteers were getting calls for animals in distress. Out of that came the Emergency Rescue Team.

Brooke Vrany is Days End's director of programs and emergency services. Last week Vrany assisted with rescues in Georgia and New York and spoke at a National Animal Control Officers Association meeting in Ohio.

Schwartz said the mindset of rescuers is changing to include animals. Horses, like dogs and cats, are companion animals, but, unlike dogs and cats, cannot be crated and easily transported out of an emergency situation. The goal of Days End is to work with fire and rescue organizations to build a systematic response to animals in crisis.

One of the missions of Days End is to provide large animal rescue training to fire and rescue organizations. Word is spreading, Schwartz said, not only through fire and rescue but also through local governments. The D.C. Council of Governments, a coalition of local governments around Washington, has tapped Days End to handle large animal rescue in case of a terrorist attack in the area. This means training rescue workers. "People dealing with people don't have the knowledge to deal with horses," Schwartz said.

Emergency rescuers know what to do with a horse trailer in a crash, but they often don't know what to do with the horse in the trailer, she said.

A scared horse can be calmed by stuffing cotton in its ears, blindfolding it or rubbing Vicks Vapor Rub on its nose, Schwartz said. Vapor Rub also prevents a horse from smelling smoke in case of fire.

Days End has a truck and trailer ready to go into a disaster zone, complete with equine medical supplies, tents, inflatable mattresses and food for volunteers for seven to 10 days. The trailer can also remain in place while volunteer crews are rotated in case of a lengthy rescue, Schwartz said.

Days End's first foray into national disasters came during the West Virginia floods of 2003. The next year, Vrany and other staff and volunteers went to Florida to help horses displaced by Hurricanes Charley and Frances.

That helped prepare Days End to care for horses left in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The Days End team also worked with cows, goats, sheep and other farm animals. "In our disaster response, we deal with whatever animal that happens to be there," Schwartz said.

The Days End crew spent part of its time on the Gulf Coast in 2005 at a wildlife park, working with lions, tigers and large birds along with horses and donkeys.

But horses are still Days End's specialty. "We've been lifting horses for years," Schwartz said. "The first horse we got in was so weak it would lay down and we had to get it up. Somewhere along the line a sling got created." For many years Days End used a sling made of hoses and PVC tubing.

In 1999, the rescue was able to buy a $7,000 Anderson sling, which injured animals can use to stand and keep weight off one or more limbs.

Now Days End also owns an Easy Lift, which is used to lift animals out of ditches or rescue them from falls.

Schwartz said Days End gets calls about downed horses once a week. Sometimes the call comes from an owner who needs help getting a horse to stand. "It could be that the horse took a drink in an icy stream and fell in, or it could be that it fell down in a stall," Schwartz said.

A couple of years ago, a horse at a riding stable in Potomac rolled in the grass and accidentally fell into a ditch. Local firefighters responded and one of them had the idea to call Days End. In December, Vrany and volunteer Joseph Jones traveled to Finland to teach rescue techniques to firefighters, police, horse owners and farmers. Days End farm manager Erin Ochoa, rescue technician Erik Anthony and volunteer DeEtte Gorrie also help teach and assist in rescues.

Harold Domer, director of Frederick County Animal Control, said he has worked with Days End many times. "They have been extremely beneficial and cooperative," he said. "Part of our emergency operation plan has to deal with livestock, and we have to be prepared."

Days End works closely with the Humane Society of the United States and other humane organizations. Schwartz said she hopes predictions of an active hurricane season this year turn out to be overblown. "I'm hoping it'll be like last year, but it's better to be prepared," she said.

 

 

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.