By Pepper Ballard
Among the thousands of pets rescued or lost during Hurricane Katrina, The HSUS's Jeff Eyre recalls with sentiment the stories of two: a skittish dog he lost to the floodwaters and a tense and territorial German shepherd whose trust he won through mutual patience.
Eyre was serving as a National Disaster Animal Response Team (NDART) member, one of the many experienced animal control volunteers sent by The HSUS from around the country to the Gulf Coast in Katrina's wake. Today, Eyre is director of disaster field operations, one of more than a dozen people employed by The HSUS to coordinate disaster services. When the deadly hurricane struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, the crisis response staff consisted of two to three people.
Renaissance for Animal Welfare
"Katrina ignited a renaissance for animal welfare: It ignited government support, public awareness and media attention," Eyre says. "What has come out of this is tremendous for animal welfare."
As the public learned of the enormity of the Katrina crisis, donations poured in to The HSUS to support animal rescue efforts in the hurricane-battered region. Millions of dollars were spent to outfit temporary animal shelters, rebuild those damaged or destroyed by floodwaters, reimburse societies from around the country that sent rescue workers to assist, transport animals out of the disaster zone, cover the field expenses for thousands of volunteers; pay for the facilities and refrigerated transport vehicles that supported operations throughout the Gulf, operate a call center that helped reunite more than 2,500 pets with their owners, and assist in other aspects of the recovery effort.
Expanding Disaster Services
In addition, The HSUS also built up its Disaster Services department by hiring employees and purchasing and refurbishing about a dozen specially-equipped vehicles that stand ready to assist, transport and shelter animals in crisis.
Despite its main mission to help community animal welfare organizations in calamitous situations, the disaster department does not sit idly by waiting for another major tragedy to strike. Training others in animal rescue is a large part of its mission. Staffers are busy teaching smaller animal welfare organizations how to address a variety of overwhelming situations, including handling pets in fires and dealing with large animals in frightening scenarios.
HSUS Disaster Services has provided training in animal rescue in 26 states since January 2006 when the department was first expanded. It has also deployed members to a multitude of crisis events from wildfires in Montana and Texas to large-scale animal hoarding and cruelty cases in several states, including Maryland, Indiana and New York. Over the last several years, HSUS Disaster Services has helped more than 7,000 animals.
Before Katrina, the national NDART volunteers helped community animal shelters rebuild in the aftermath of hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan and also helped humanely trap stray animals in the aftermath of floods and fires. Beyond its own experts, The HSUS has a database of more than 2,000 experienced animal workers to call on for help.
Joining Forces for Effective Responses
The HSUS is not alone in its involvement in the animal welfare renaissance, as Eyre calls it.
Since Katrina, The National Animal Rescue & Sheltering Coalition (NARSC) was formed. The coalition is made up of other major national animal welfare groups: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA); The American Humane Association (AHA); Best Friends Animal Society; Code 3 Associates; International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW); National Animal Control Association (NACA); and United Animal Nations/Emergency Animal Rescue Services (UAN/EARS). The coalition has met bi-monthly since Katrina to coordinate better coverage in the groups' joint response to help animals in disasters.
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| The HSUS/R. Covey |
Eyre coaxes a mare from a Texas response
into the trailer in June 2007. More» |
The importance of animal rescue in future disasters has been recognized by others beyond the humane movement. At the urging of The HSUS, the U.S. Congress approved the Pets Evacuation and Transportation (PETS) Act, signed into law by President Bush in October 2006. It requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure that state and local emergency preparedness operational plans address the needs of people with pets and service animals after a major disaster or emergency.
Sixteen states have also now followed suit—passing similar laws to protect animals in disasters.
Lives Won and Lost
Eyre, a retired cop and former animal cruelty investigator, went into Katrina with animal handling skills and experience in setting up shelters in small-scale crisis events. He also had a strong sense of mission and a deep compassion for animals that probably saved the life of an aggressive and frightened German shepherd. Jittery police had their guns trained on the dog after he created a disturbance on a busy bridge. Eyre approached him and for 15 minutes, man and dog took the measure of each other. Finally Eyre's soothing words calmed the animal to the point where he accepted a leash.
Like so many Katrina incidents, mini-victories were countered by sad losses. Eyre recalls a fluffy brown dog, smiling with his head cocked, sitting beside a flooded street. Without warning, the dog darted into the contaminated flood water. Eyre tugged on a rescue suit as another volunteer frantically pushed a nearby boat into the water. The boat had no fuel. A helpless Eyre could only watch the dog as he was carried away and presumably drowned.
"All you can say is, lives—both human and animal—were saved, and lives were lost," he said. "People cared and tried their best, and in the end, that's all you can do."
