Category: Disaster Relief

Library raccoon teaches about urban wildlife

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2012:

NEW YORK CITY–The Queens Library at Baisley Park, South
Jamaica, seized the opportunity to educate New Yorkers about urban
wildlife after inadvertently acquiring a resident raccoon during
Superstorm Sandy, safely ensconced in a glass-enclosed atrium garden.
How the raccoon arrived was anyone’s guess, but staff
presumed he would leave the same way when ready. Young visitors
named him “Mr. Rocky Books,” and made a cardboard shelter for him,
placed inside the atrium by library staff, who also supplied him
with fresh food and water.

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How 80 animal charities fared & responded to Superstorm Sandy

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

 
How 80 animal charities fared & responded to Superstorm Sandy
        Adopt-A-Dog,  of Armonk,  New York and Greenwich,  Connecticut,  was profiled by Helen Neachey of Greenwich Time for helping to rescue three feral cats and a late-born litter of kittens after Sandy hit.
        All About Spay/Neuter,   of Far Rockaway,  Queens,   after sterilizing more than 6,400 cats in eight years for local neuter/return programs,  in April 2012 received a PetSmart Charities grant of $40,000 to help increase the pace over the next two years.  Just six months later Sandy hit.  “AASN’s home,  which is also my home,  was flooded and everything inside was destroyed,”  director Joanne B. Monez e-mailed on November 4,  2012.  “We took in 27 inches of water and also lost one of our precious rescue cats,  Cleo.”  Updated Monez on November 24,  “We are rebuilding,  but have secured a new permanent adoption center for our cats and kittens on Broadway in Massapequa.” Read more

Hurricane Katrina history helped the Superstorm Sandy animal relief effort

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

 NEW YORK CITY–Superstorm Sandy hit the U.S. animal rescue community somewhat like a small child falling down stairs.  First came the shocking impact,  then a surprisingly long silence,  and only after that came the cries for help. Afflicting parts of 24 states,  doing more than $32 billion in estimated damage,  Sandy left animal charities in the stricken regions without electricity,  telephone,  and Internet service for days or weeks,  even more than a month in some cases. Read more

10,000 lab animals drowned at NYU due to stupidity, says lab care expert

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  November/December 2012:

 NEW YORK CITY–More than 10,000 mice and rats drowned or died from toxic fumes released by ruptured generator fuel and exhaust lines at the Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center on October 29, 2012.

Part of the Langone Medical Center at New York University, the Smilow Center occupies a 13-floor building,  but the mice and rats were housed in the basement,  more than 20 feet below the crest of the surge from Hurricane Sandy.  Apparently no one considered trying to evacuate them before the electricity failed and all personnel left on the premises were drafted to help evacuate 215 human patients from nearby Tisch Hospital. Read more

Floods again hit overgrazed Pakistan

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2012:

MULTAN--Animal Save Movement Pakistan president Khalid Mahmood Qurashi on September 21,  2012 appealed to the world for help on behalf of animals and humans displaced by the second round of catastrophic monsoon flooding to hit Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan in only three years.

At least 217 people were killed, with 222,500 displaced, according to the international disaster response resource ReliefWeb. No animal toll was available. Read more

Japan uses tsunami relief funds to defend whalers against Sea Shepherds

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  January/February 2012:

FREMANTLE–Even whalers quoted by The New York Times believed
that the March 11,  2011 tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan
had probably killed the whaling industry–but that was before prime
minister Yoshihiko Noda took office in September 2011.

Noda,  from Chiba prefecture,  a longtime hub of coastal
whaling,  diverted 2.28 billion yen–$30 million–from tsunami relief
and rebuilding funds to quadruple the $10 million annual government
subsidy for “whaling research,”  to be conducted by killing from 900
to 1,000 whales in Antarctic waters designated off limits to whaling
by the International Whaling Commission. Read more

Mobilizing to help squirrels & sea turtles in the wake of Hurricane Irene

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2011:

Hurricane-downgraded-to-tropical storm Irene swept from the
Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico past southern Florida, blew out to
sea, then roared back inland and gusted almost straight north into
Quebec. Torrential rains inundated roads and other infrastructure,
especially in upstate New York and Vermont.
Then, after raining cats and dogs, Irene for three days
rained baby squirrels on wildlife rescuers from North Carolina to New
England. “There’s been a flood of calls about squirrels dropping out
of trees everywhere,” Humane Society of the U.S. urban wildlife
program field director Laura Simon told Pamela McLoughlin of the New
Haven Register. “It’s baby season,” Simon explained. Squirrel
nests were among the first casualties of the winds and downpour.
“We had well over 250 baby squirrels admitted,” Outer Banks
Wildlife Shelter nursery supervisor Herda Henderson told Aniesa
Holmes of the Jacksonville Daily News.

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Responding to Texas & South Africa wildfires

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

AUSTIN,  JOHANNESBURG-– Comparable clusters of fast-moving wildfires had contrasting outcomes for animals in Bastrop and Leander counties in Texas during the first week of September 2011 and the Gateway region of Northwest Province,  South Africa,  during the last week of August.

Experienced disaster relief personnel from the Austin Humane Society,  Austin Pets Alive!,  and the Best Friends Network evacuated about 180 dogs and cats from two animal control shelters that were jeopardized by the Texas fires,  reported Best Friends Network volunteer Jessi Freud. Read more

AHA brass shown at meatfest while Hurricane Irene devastates the Northeast

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

LOS ANGELES–What did the American Humane Association do while  Irene became the first hurricane to hit New Jersey since 1903,  and did more damage in Vermont than any disaster since the Flood of 1927?

On August 26,  2011,  six days after Irene hit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, but one day before Irene struck North Carolina, the AHA announced that “Even as the Red Star 82-foot truck drives toward North Carolina from its Denver home base,  AHA President Dr. Robin R. Ganzert waits out the hurricane on her North Carolina farm.”
Said Ganzert,  “It’s very important that families, and especially children,  know that we will help keep their animals safe and sound.” Read more

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