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6/3/07: Kansas: Animal Tornado Victims Still Need Aid1) Donations & EARS Volunteers Needed For Kansas Victims
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1. Donations & EARS Volunteers Needed For Kansas Victims 6/1/07, from United Animal Nations, info@uan.org — Help us help tornado victims in Kansas! Four weeks have passed since tornadoes decimated Greensburg, Kansas on May 4, destroying homes and uprooting people and their pets... And now one small shelter that kindly took in more than 100 of the displaced dogs and cats is overloaded — and in desperate need of the emergency sheltering expertise and volunteer assistance that only United Animal Nations (UAN) can provide. At the request of the Kansas Animal Health Department, UAN has deployed Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) volunteers to care for approximately 150 animals at the Pratt County Humane Society. Many of the animals who survived the tornado are injured or ill, and all of them, according to EARS Northwest Regional Director Kurt Cruickshank, are "starved for attention," having been separated from their families for so long. EARS volunteers are working from morning until late at night, in hot and humid conditions, to feed, love and care for the animals, and to wash dishes, do laundry, and provide general upkeep for the shelter and the additional maintenance needed to accommodate the influx of tornado victims. And now we're expecting to begin trapping animals who were left behind in Greensburg — cats and dogs who are reported to be injured and have been wandering the streets alone for weeks. Thanks to our dedicated EARS volunteers — who have traveled to Kansas from as far as South Dakota and Michigan — UAN is always prepared to respond to emergencies like this one ... but we can only do so much without support from compassionate animal lovers like you! DONATE TO UAN / ONLINE DONATE TO UAN / BY MAIL Trained EARS volunteers needed from Monday, June 11 to Friday, June 15. If you would like to deploy to Kansas between now and Friday, June 15, please sign up here: UNITED ANIMAL NATIONS
RIGHT PHOTO: Mark Slief holds his mother's dog, Bruiser, while Dodge City veterinarian Deanna Post checks for injuries while brother Gary Slief looks on. Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle, www.wichitaeagle.com/627/
2. Tornado Overload At Pratt County Humane Society Tornado Relief 2007 — The Pratt Humane Society has coordinated care for more than 160 animals rescued in Greensburg after the tornado. Animals were originally housed in the Kansas Department of Transportation, but in the past week have been moved back to the Humane Society’s normal headquarters. In order to house the animals, additional facilities need to be created. The staff at Pratt is working to put up a new prefab building that will then be piped with water and electricity. While all the dogs have been moved back to Pratt Humane Society, the cats are being housed at a veterinarian in Pratt’s until the cat house is built at the Humane Society, which they expect to take 10 days. Amazingly, only 18 displaced dogs remain, and 70 cats. Most of the animals have been reunited with their people. All animals will be held for 60 days before fostering, and will then be on 60 day foster agreements in an attempt to reunite animals with owners. Pratt Humane Society is overwhelmed with inkind donations of food and shelters, and at this point, requests that people hold on to their donations as they have no more room for storage. At this juncture, the only remaining need is a desperate cry for funds. PHS has just written checks to Orson’s for dog pens for $5000, another $1000 on dog houses. DONATE TO PRATT COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY *If URL above doesn’t work, go to Pratt County Humane Society page and click on Network For Good logo:
Volunteers Roy Huff and Terry Gaul, of Friends of Felines, a cat welfare group in Sedgewick, Kansas, were hauling a precious cargo of rescued cats from a farm in Syracuse to be spayed preparatory to being taken to new homes. When they encountered a heavy rain and hail storm, they pulled into Greensburg to seek shelter from the storm. Three minutes after parking in town, the devastating tornado hit, destroying the van and trailer and killing all 27 of the rescued cats. Huff and Gaul escaped unharmed. The journey started with the plight of approximately 100 "barn cats" living on the farm, when the owner had to move into assisted living. Dedicated to his mission, Huff plans to return to the farm on May 18th to try to relocate some of the remaining cats... I know that all of us share the sorrow of the hundreds of people who lost everything they owned, including irreplaceable personal
mementos. But I also think some of us will set aside a moment to light a candle or say a prayer for these cats who might have
had had a chance at wonderful new lives. The story goes even deeper, as I found when I "Googled" Friends of Felines. This
project, dubbed "The Syracuse Project," was initiated at the request of Alley Cat Allies, and with support from Best Friends Animal
Society, and the Cat Care Society, the initial rescue was scheduled in April, but postponed due to inclement weather. The Friends
of Felines web site refers to an explanation of The Syracuse Project, however it is on a Word Doc file. I have reproduced that file
in a forum discussion for those readers who feel uncomfortable downloading .doc files. Friends of Felines, Sedgwick, Kansas: www.felinefriendsks.com/ The bottom line is Friends of Felines needs help in rescuing as many of the Syracuse cats as possible, and I hope at least a few of my readers will be able to contribute in some way, whether it be a donation, volunteer help, or foster care. Monday May 7, 2007 Tornado kills 27 cats bound for new homes: www.kansas.com/233/story/63964.html Twenty-seven feral cats that were being transported from a farm in Syracuse to be spayed and neutered in Pratt before going to new homes were killed in the Greensburg tornado. Ray Huff of Friends of Felines, a cat welfare group based in Sedgwick, said he was driving a van and trailer carrying the cats Friday night when he encountered heavy rain and large hail. Huff and fellow volunteer Terry Gaul "pulled off the highway into Greensburg looking for a car wash or any business with a large overhang" where the cats, who were in cages and covered by a tarp, would be protected from the weather, Huff said. "Three minutes after we hit town and parked, the tornado hit," he said. The van, trailer and all 27 cats were destroyed, Huff said. Huff and Gaul rode out the tornado in the van. "We're beat up — we've got some bruises and cuts and abrasions — but other than that we're both very lucky," Huff said Monday. The cats were part of a group of about 100 that had been living on a farm in Syracuse, in far western Kansas, and needed new homes after their owner had to move into assisted living. Veterinarians in Pratt and Johnson had offered to spay and neuter the cats, vaccinate them and treat them for parasites before volunteers were to take them to new homes in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. The mission to rescue the cats — dubbed The Syracuse Project — was originally set for April 13 but had to be rescheduled because of a snowstorm in western Kansas. Huff said they'll try again to relocate more of the cats on May 18. "I've already started looking for another trailer and have ordered some traps," he said.
5/10/07, By Ashley Nietfeld and Walter Jones, Dodge City Daily Globe — In the eerie silence that followed the deadly tornado in Greensburg Friday, fire trucks and ambulances pulled onto streets that were strewn with debris, searching those who were injured and in need of immediate help. It was in the silence of that night, 45 miles away in Dodge City, that Glenna Walker, manager of the Dodge City Animal Shelter received a call asking for her support. "I got to Greensburg at probably 3:30 in the morning on Saturday with only one other animal rescue worker and three plastic crates," said Walker on Wednesday afternoon, back at her office in Dodge City. They went to work, and it wasn't long before volunteers from as far away as Wichita poured onto the scene, setting up a makeshift pen behind the Kansas Department of Transportation building, one of the few that remained standing. Animal rescue workers searched the streets on Saturday, watching and waiting for animals to begin to crawl from underneath the rubble. "Cats are the hardest to catch," said volunteer Ed Carmichael of Dodge City. Pratt County Humane Society took the reins, keeping track of the animals that were coming in and where they were found. By midmorning, veterinarians had begun setting up makeshift tables for onsite treatment, and the more severely injured were taken to Pratt and Dodge City for more intensive care. "It's just been ongoing," said Toni Myers. She and her husband Pete founded the Ford County Humane Society and spent Saturday in Greensburg. "There was a lot of livestock that had no feed," she continued. "I know of one horse that had to be put down because it was too injured." On Sunday, when predictions of even more storms began to reach the town, volunteers began sending the animals to shelters in Pratt and Dodge City. When the skies began to clear once more, they brought the animals back into Greensburg so their owners would be able to find them more easily. "The State of Kansas Animal Health Department has come in and they're going to be taking over actual supervision of the whole animal rescue and holding operation," explained Walker. On Monday, the confusion began to clear and donations of animal crates, food and cat litter had started to come in. By Tuesday, 168 animals had been brought to a makeshift shelter in an equipment shed at the Kansas Department of Transportation facility, and 20-30 have been reclaimed by their owners. They ranged from dogs, cats and horses to goats, lambs, a turtle, a ferret and even a snake. "I wasn't going to be on snake duty," quipped Alice Bailey, manager of the Pratt County Humane Society who assumed charge of the rescue operation. Krysty Young was happy to be reunited with the three goats her daughter is raising for a 4-H project. They had been rounded up once already but had escaped, one fracturing a horn in the process. "She'll be OK," Young said. Plans for the animals have been changing from day to day as new information come in, but Walker said Tuesday that the small animals would be sent to the Ford County Fairgrounds in Dodge City and the livestock would be shipped to the Pratt Sale Barn for boarding. "They're concerned about the people, but they're also concerned about their pets," said Myers. "Once they make sure all their family's okay and there's nothing to do at their house, then they come looking for their pets." Many people are having to surrender their pets. Unsure even of where they'll be in another week, bringing a pet along can often prove more of a hindrance than anything. "That's a very sad situation," said Myers, "but if anybody's thinking about adopting, please think about these pets first. They're displaced, they're confused, they're shocked. They need to find somebody to take care of them." Bailey said cash contributions are the most useful to buy the carrying crates, collars, leashes, food and hay that is needed. Donors can make contributions in the Humane Society accounts at the city credit unions in Dodge City and Cimarron. "Everybody has just really dug deep," said Myers. "Until you come in from the west end of Greensburg and look to the east. It just looks like you're driving on a great big landfill road. I've never seen anything like it and I hope I never have to see that again."
UAN 2007 Press Release /PRATT, KANSAS (May 30, 2007) — The Kansas Animal Health Department; United Animal Nations (UAN) and the State Animal Rescue Team (SART) are working to help the Pratt County Humane Society care for an influx of animals displaced by recent tornadoes in Greensburg and to contain an outbreak of canine parvovirus at the shelter. According to Debra Duncan, Director of the Animal Facilities Inspection Program with the Kansas Animal Health Department, Pratt County Humane Society staff offered to care for 108 dogs and cats displaced by the May 4 tornadoes until they could be reunited with their families or adopted into new homes. But shelter staff and volunteers soon became overwhelmed by the additional animals. Duncan asked United Animal Nations to provide animal care and sheltering assistance for all of the animals at the shelter through its volunteer-driven Emergency Animal Rescue Service. Currently several volunteers with UAN are providing direct care to the animals; at least 20 more are expected to arrive in the coming days. “This is a small shelter with a very dedicated group of volunteers, and they quickly became overwhelmed by dozens of additional animals,” Duncan said of the Pratt County Humane Society. “The Kansas Animal Health Department and United Animal Nations are working together to help the shelter and the community through this crisis.” “UAN has a 20-year track record of providing emergency sheltering to animals displaced by natural disasters,” said UAN President and CEO Nicole Forsyth. “With our network of 3,200 volunteers in the United States and Canada, we are prepared to give these animals the tender loving care they so desperately need until this crisis is over.” The Kansas Animal Health Department placed the Pratt County Humane Society under quarantine on May 25 after several dogs were diagnosed with parvovirus, a highly contagious canine disease. Members of the public are asked to avoid dropping off any animals at the Pratt County Humane Society shelter until the quarantine is lifted on or around June 10. “We are being exceptionally cautious and taking every step possible to prevent the spread of this disease and to treat any dogs who become ill,” Duncan said. “Parvovirus is very common in animal shelters and the dogs who came in from Greensburg were already stressed and vulnerable.” Symptoms of parvovirus include lethargy, vomiting, lack of appetite, stomach discomfort and diarrhea. Puppies are extremely vulnerable. If your dog is exhibiting signs of parvovirus, contact your veterinarian immediately.
RIGHT PHOTO: Bernard Taylor holds his roommate's baby as they both take refuge at the Haviland High School gym after a 
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