Amid the chaos of a mass evacuation -- when every second counts -- even the most beloved companion animals can be overlooked and left behind. If flood waters are rising, people typically cannot take the time to coax terrified cats out from under their beds. Even wild animals, despite their survival instincts, cannot always save themselves from a perilous situation.
Disasters -- whether manmade or natural -- can occur at any time, in any place. American Humane's Animal Emergency Services helps communities prepare for disasters -- before they strike. Once they occur, American Humane's Red Star Animal Emergency Services is on the scene to:
Assess animal needs
Care for injured animals
Reunite animals with their families
Ensure animal shelters are co-located with human shelters
Distribute pet food and supplies
American Humane's Animal Emergency Services is available to help communities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, thanks to a team of Animal Emergency Services Volunteers. These individuals are animal lovers committed to making sure animal needs are met during times of crisis.
Katrina Animal Memorial in New Orleans On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, American Humane will participate in a memorial service that includes the unveiling of a statue honoring the animals that perished. Learn more...
American Humane's Disaster Response Resources
Our Red Star Animal Emergency Services features an 82-foot “Rescue Rig” and a full line of capabilities to find and rescue animals affected by emergencies and disasters. When not deployed to emergencies, theRescue Rig is on the road visiting animal welfare organizations across the country! We can help promote your organization's events and educate your community about animal rescue and care during disasters.
American Humane and its partners in this effort, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Farm Sanctuary and Animal Rescue League of Boston, have been working in Quincy, Ill., and Oakville, Iowa, to rescue and shelter animals that were lost, stranded or displaced by the flooding in the Midwest.
Listen to a radio interview with Debrah Schnackenberg, American Humane’s director of Animal Emergency Services, on The Petcast with Steve Dale, broadcast July 2, 2008, on WGM radio in Chicago.
Oakville, Iowa
Friday, July 11, 2008
Last night, the final group of pigs arrived at Farm Sanctuary and began settling-in to their new, safe surroundings. Because of the large number of pigs, and the fact that the numbers soon will be growing even larger -- 10 of them will be giving birth -- Farm Sanctuary is seeking homes for “levee pigs” and piglets. If you would like to offer housing and lifetime care for one or more of these animals, please contact Farm Sanctuary.
After all the animals in our care at the emergency shelter were either reunited with their owners, taken by animal rescue groups for fostering and adoption, or -- in the case of the pig and chickens -- transported to Farm Sanctuary, our team packed up our equipment and headed home. Our special thanks go out to Jenny Benjamin, Adams County animal warden, for the opportunity to come in and help, and to the people of Adams County, for welcoming us into their community. It was our pleasure to meet and work with such dedicated individuals. The animals of Adams County have been very fortunate to have these people looking out for them before, during and after the disaster. Because of that dedication, the animals from the temporary shelter and those that came to the local humane societies will either return safely home to their families or find new forever homes.
Oakville, Iowa
Saturday, July 5, 2008
After packing up our boats and equipment and heading back to Illinois to pick up our Animal Emergency Services “Rescue Rig” and our emergency shelter team, who had completed their mission as well, we began the long journey home. Though exhausted from the long hours, hard work and difficult conditions, everyone on the team was uplifted by the success of our mission in alleviating suffering and saving lives.
In all, our team rescued 68 pigs from the Iowa floods (in and around Oakville and the “Big Ditch” Levee) and one from Illinois -- “Toby,” who has already found a home in Kansas. The farmers who had owned the pigs relinquished custody of the pigs to Farm Sanctuary through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s state veterinarian. Twelve of the pigs arrived at Farm Sanctuary’s Watkins Glen, N.Y., facility on July 1, and 54 are expected to arrive there Thursday evening, July 10. Ten of the pigs are confirmed to be pregnant.
American Humane thanks our partners in these efforts -- International Fund for Animal Welfare, Farm Sanctuary and Animal Rescue League of Boston -- for their dedication and collaborative spirit; our generous donors, who enable us to continue responding when animals are caught in disasters; and our Animal Emergency Services volunteers, for their willingness to do whatever it takes and go wherever they’re needed to rescue animals.
Volunteers: Ginger Adams - Archer, FL Karen Burns - Bay City, MI Pam Donaldson - Sterling, VA Terry Donaldson - Sterling, VA Barb Ford - Coeur D’Alene, ID Manny Maciel - New Bedford, MA Char Quinn - Eagle, CO Valerie Schomburg - Rancho Santa Margarita, CA Tami Smith - Spokane, WA
American Humane staff: Kerri Burns Connor Michael Tracy Reis Diane Robinson Debrah Schnackenberg Todd Simons
Friday, July 4, 2008
American Humane’s director of Animal Emergency Services, Debrah Schnackenberg, filed this report:
A nine-person team left for the levee at 6:30 a.m. with the large farm tractor and livestock hauler, determined to pick up the remaining five pigs that had to be left on the levee the day before. On the way there, the team spotted an additional pig near their entrance to the levee and marked the spot for attention on the way out that afternoon. On the long journey down the levee, the team also again noted the location of a pig they had nicknamed “bucket head” because she was laying on the side of the levee with her head in a garbage can to protect her bleeding ears from the sun. She was indeed still there and still sleeping peacefully with her head inside her “bucket.”
When the team reached the area where the last five pigs had been left yesterday, everyone was jubilant to find them all still there. After a couple of hours of maneuvering pig boards and setting up panels, the five were loaded onto the livestock hauler. A tarp was placed over the top for shade and the team headed back down the levee to find the “bucket head” pig -- now affectionately nicknamed “Bucky.”
Sure enough, there she was! The team diligently surrounded her and walked her with pig panels to the waiting livestock hauler, where everyone applauded the successful effort. Now there was one more pig left, but could they find her, could they capture her?
The team finished the trip back to the ramp that had given them access to the levee. A search crew went out looking for the last pig, hoping she could be found. None of the responders wanted to go back to their temporary home -- “base camp” at the local middle school -- without being sure that the levee was “clear” of pigs.
After searching 30 minutes, there was no sign of the last pig, and everyone began to feel a little deflated. Then, suddenly, there was a shout, “I’ve got her!” Immediately, everyone sprang into what was by now, well-practiced action. This was a pig that did not want to be herded, and the effort to put her into the pig trailer was huge. But finally she was surrounded and brought into the fold.
The day was finished. Seven pigs had been brought off the levee but, more importantly, the 16 miles of levee -- worked by land and water for a week by the responders -- was finally cleared of pigs. The responders’ work was completed. A feeling of jubilation and accomplishment rode with the team and the pigs as we came off the levee for the last time.
In all, approximately 64 pigs have been taken from the levee by American Humane, IFAW, Animal Rescue League of Boston and Farm Sanctuary teams. All of the pigs will go to sanctuary or adoptive homes for the rest of their days, leaving their experience as levee “castaways” far behind them.
Thursday evening, July 3, 2008
Yesterday we successfully located, herded and penned a total of 19 pigs on the wet end of the levee. Another five pigs presented some difficulty in rounding up, so we left them loose for tomorrow's work. We then scrambled to get our folks off the levee last night before darkness and a severe thunderstorm came through.
This morning, a team of responders rolled out with a farm tractor and livestock hauler that we have been given permission to drive on the levee by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We’ll use that machinery to transport off the levee the 24 pigs we rounded up yesterday. Those pigs will be brought back to the shelter to receive medical care, food and water and be prepared for their transport to Farm Sanctuary’s facility.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
As our team in Oakville continues to care for the latest group of pigs and prepare them to be transported to safety, some of the pigs that were rescued last week have already begun arriving at their new home!
On Tuesday night, the first group of pigs arrived at Farm Sanctuary’s shelter in Watkins Glen, N.Y. “Most of the pigs are stable at this time and settling nicely into our Rescue and Refuge Barn,” Farm Sanctuary reports. Two of the pigs, which are suffering from medical conditions, are receiving care at Cornell University’s veterinary hospital.
The next group of pigs is on its way to Farm Sanctuary and should soon be arriving there to join some of their former levee-mates -- but under much better circumstances.
The first group of rescued pigs arrive at Farm Sanctuary and begin stepping out at their new home.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Yesterday, our team rescued eight more pigs, bringing the current total to 36 pigs rescued.
Today our team in the field, consisting of about 20 people, is using boats to shuttle rescuers, equipment and supplies onto the levee, where they have located 23 more pigs. Due to the condition of these pigs, our rescuers are not yet moving them down the levee to a transport point. Instead, our team is busy building shelters to provide shade for the pigs and is providing food, water and medical treatment to them. In the meantime, while the pigs regain their strength, we are exploring options for getting them off the levee so they can be transported to their new home at Farm Sanctuary.
Monday evening, June 30, 2008
With the floodwaters receding, boat access to the levee has become very difficult, so the team performed only land operations today -- although that still requires driving through heavily flooded areas. Our 20-person team traveled to a location where pigs had been observed previously and rescued six adult pigs, including a mother with seven 10-day-old piglets. The rescuers dubbed these little ones “The Lucky Seven.”
Five of the adult pigs from this group will be transported to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y., likely on Tuesday or Wednesday. The mother and her seven piglets will stay behind for now, so they can receive the special handling they need to be safe and comfortable for their ride to the sanctuary. Debrah Schnackenberg, American Humane’s director of Animal Emergency Services, who was part of the rescue team, reports that when the pigs are found, they tend to come to the rescuers, as they associate people with being fed. More recently, though, as time has passed since the pigs have been on their own, they tend to be more difficult to rescue. A technique being used to guide pigs to a pen or trailer is for rescuers to hold up wire panels and plastic “hog boards” to create a moving pathway in the direction they want the pigs to move.
Overall, the pigs appear glad to be in the rescuers’ company and enjoying the care they’re receiving. “We could tell the momma pig we rescued was hot, tired and stressed,” Debrah said. “So a rescuer held several small bottles of fresh water and poured them into her mouth. The momma was sooooo eager to get the water, and she looked grateful for the refreshment.”
“We also rescued a very large pig with an injured leg,” Debrah said. “The pig had to be put in a sling and assisted to a stall in the shelter, where she would receive medical care and rest for the night. She seemed contented at last that she could relax, probably for the first time in days and days. One of the responders got her a pan of food mixed with water and, though this pig was clearly hurting, she eagerly lapped up the food and water and quickly settled down to sleep.”
Of the 15 pigs previously rescued, 12 began their trip to Farm Sanctuary yesterday. The three that remained behind are awaiting their medical clearances, as they are still receiving treatment.
Monday morning, June 30, 2008
Over the weekend, the state gave approval for our team to proceed with the full pig rescue operation -- and the first group of pigs has been rescued!
American Humane and its partners in this effort, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Farm Sanctuary and Animal Rescue League of Boston, have rescued 15 pigs so far. Today they are being transported to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y., where they will begin living out their lives in safety.
Our team reports that all of the pigs were severely dehydrated, hungry, exhausted and sunburned so badly that their skin was charred in places. Some responders were able to put aloe on the pigs' sunburned, and often bleeding, ears to ease the burns. One of the pigs, found lodged between two trees, was diagnosed with pneumonia; another has an injured leg, which needs to be x-rayed.
Our team has overcome many obstacles to save the pigs. In the past several days, the floodwaters have receded several feet, making it difficult to launch boats and reach the levee by water. We have adapted our rescue plan to address the changing conditions and ensure that the rescue efforts continue as efficiently as possible.
American Humane’s Debrah Schnackenberg, part of a group that headed for the levee this morning, reported that they would be doing land operations to recover more survivors, including a mother and her babies, from an area where five pigs were rescued yesterday.
On Thursday afternoon, American Humane’s Red Star Animal Emergency Services unit and its partners, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Farm Sanctuary and the Animal Rescue League of Boston, received a green light from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to initiate operations to help approximately 60 starving pigs stranded on a levee near Oakville, Iowa. Isolated by flood waters for the past week, the pigs have gone without food, fresh drinking water or protection from the sun.
The operation began Friday morning, when boats carrying feed, apples and hay departed a central staging area and headed for the levee. The team members will distribute the food and assess the condition of the pigs, erecting pop-up tents at multiple locations to shelter pigs found to be in physical distress. Any lost pets that also may have found their way to the levee will be rescued.
Quincy, Illinois
Monday, June 30, 2008
The temporary animal shelter that our team is managing at the Adams County Fairgrounds currently is housing a half-dozen cats and kittens, more than a dozen dogs and puppies, several horses and chickens, and a pig. The flood waters have begun receding, and some of the animals were picked up by their owners, who have been able to return to their homes or find other living quarters. Some other pets have been taken by animal rescue groups to find new homes for them.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Quincy Humane Society’s animal shelter remains full, so our team continues to maintain a temporary animal shelter for additional pets displaced by the flood. Each day, American Humane also sends Red Star Animal Emergency Services team members to assist the staff at the main shelter.
Monday, June 23, 2008
On Friday, June 20, American Humane’s Red Star Animal Emergency Services was invited to deploy to Adams County, Ill., to help rescue and shelter animals displaced by the flooding along the Mississippi River. American Humane is collaborating with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Animal Rescue League of Boston in conducting this joint response effort. American Humane’s 82-foot-long Animal Emergency Services Rescue Rig and other fleet vehicles departed Denver for Quincy, Ill., on Friday afternoon.
On Sunday, June 22, American Humane and IFAW's first-in teams assisted state conservation officers with boat rescue work and assisted in the setup and initial operation of the emergency animal shelter. It is currently sheltering dogs, cats and a number of farm animals, as well as 20 fawns separated from their mothers as a result of flooding. More animals continue to come in. A wildlife rehabilitation team is expected to pick up the fawns on Wednesday, June 25.
The Mississippi River crested Sunday night in Quincy, and the remaining levees have held, but the team is dealing with extensive flooding in Adams County as it continues to rescue and shelter animals.
Iowa City Animal Services shelter
Rushing to clean kennels for new temporary shelter
American Humane Issues Grants to Help Animal Sheltering Agencies
American Humane has issued grants to several animal sheltering agencies that have been heavily impacted by the flooding in the Midwest. The grants will help these agencies provide emergency sheltering and care for hundreds of animals displaced or rescued from the flood waters.
Paws and More Animal Shelter, Washington, Iowa This shelter has been taking in animals for emergency sheltering since the disaster began. It is currently housing 120 cats and 20 dogs, with more arriving daily. The $3,000 emergency grant will be used to improve housing capacity and sanitation for the dogs being sheltered.
Cedar Valley Humane Society, Cedar Rapids, Iowa This organization has been taking in large numbers of animals since the flooding began. The facility’s normal capacity is 170 animals -- it is currently sheltering nearly 300. Additional arriving animals are being cared for at the “overflow” site, Kirkwood Community College, where hundreds more animals are being sheltered. The $3,000 emergency grant will allow the organization to continue the emergency sheltering of these animals, as well as providing food, leashes, bowls and other necessary items to residents who are now residing in motels or with family and friends, and who are quickly running low on resources.
Friends of the Animal Center Foundation, Iowa City, Iowa The Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center was flooded with four feet of water and is uninhabitable. The shelter has been forced to evacuate its facilities and relocate to the Johnson County Fairgrounds, where it is now sheltering hundreds of animals. The $6,500 emergency grant will be used to purchase temporary kennels, leashes, bowls, food and other emergency sheltering supplies. (Friends of the Animal Center Foundation raises funds to support and expand the animal care services of the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center.)
Amid the chaos of a mass evacuation -- when every second counts -- even the most beloved companion animals can be overlooked and left behind. If flood waters are rising, people typically cannot take the time to coax terrified cats out from under their beds. Even wild animals, despite their survival instincts, cannot always save themselves from a perilous situation.
