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| Everett/The HSUS |
Hope arrives as The HSUS Disaster team
deploys to N.C. |
By Kristen Everett
The cargo pants tell the story—the story of toil, suffering and hope—pants with sweat stains, mixed with mud, flecked with hay and dotted with atomic blue Gatorade droplets.
And yes, there was blood too, from paws that had spent many hours scratching at bars, the paws of animals pleading for another chance.
The cargo pants and all the familiar stains are part of the everyday uniform for the seven members of The HSUS Disaster Response strike team who traveled to North Carolina the last day of January to help 180 animals in need. This is the type of situation that the strike team was created for—to help animals when their needs tax the capacity of local communities.
These are the men and women who have traveled from one end of the country to another to help animals in all types of crisis situations. They were called to action in the aftermath of Katrina, to Maine to help hundreds of dogs seized from a puppy mill, and to California when wildfires raged.
On the Ground in North Carolina
For this North Carolina response, they hit the road in their 75-foot RV—RV in this case standing for Rescue Van. This vehicle, donated to The HSUS, has allowed the team to rescue thousands of animals from danger in the past. Now, it was being used to help 155 dogs and 25 cats relinquished to Henderson County by an overcrowded and substandard private shelter.
Facility officials had agreed to sign over custody of these pets to Henderson County after repeated violations of the state's Animal Welfare Act, according to North Carolina Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Jen Nixon.
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| Everett/The HSUS |
Dogs at the scene were in standing water mixed with
urine and feces. |
The animals, medium- to large-breed dogs, along with domestic short- and long-haired cats, had lived in ramshackle caging for years with little socialization and proper care.
They shared the property with thousands of rats that infested the grounds and buildings, and they competed with the dogs and cats for food and shelter.
Operation Moveout
On the first day of February, officials from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture took temporary custody of the property for "Operation Moveout." A team of volunteer veterinarians, vet technicians and vet students under the direction of the University of North Carolina School of Veterinary Medicine quickly evaluated the animals who needed the most urgent care.
Then the HSUS strike team moved onto the property with HSUS regional staff from North Carolina and Florida, United Animal Nations, Asheville Humane Society, Animal Compassion Network and others to provide "sheltering in place" for these animals. The ultimate goal of all the groups was to provide care for the animals until they could be moved to animal shelters and rescue groups throughout the eastern U.S. where they could be then adopted into new homes.
One former employee of the former Hendersonville shelter recalled facing a personal crisis last summer when the facility kept taking in animals even though it could not provide adequate care for those already in their custody.
One dog lay at the shelter near death while others were still being admitted into the shelter. "I had to quit," she said. However, 'Operation Moveout' gave her the opportunity to come back to the shelter to help take care of the dogs and cats she loved and see them get their fresh starts.
Help Couldn't Come Soon Enough
Some dogs already spun and paced in their cages, a sure sign of the type of emotional deterioration that comes with years of confinement. Others were born at the facility and had never known individual love and attention, so they were difficult to handle—hiding in the doghouses or flinging themselves through the air at those entering their kennels.
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| Everett/The HSUS |
| A pit bull mix watches his rescuers arrive. |
Many had spent years confined to small crates—only getting out to walk occasionally and living in their own filth most of the time.
Dog fights broke out on a regular basis. Cages, bowls, doghouses and fencing all showed signs of intense chewing from the abject boredom of being in crates and group pens around the clock.
On that first day, rescue workers were issued identification badges; teams were formed and duties dolled out. Dogs and cats had to be taken out one by one—each cage, crate or kennel cleaned in succession—and those dogs living in crates had to be given the opportunity to stretch their legs and see the light of day.
It was repetitive and exhausting, but for each dog, it was psychological refreshment. For the HSUS strike team—with its professional animal handlers—it meant taking care of those animals who were not used to human touch and interaction—or those too questionable or outright dangerous for volunteers to handle.
Jumping Right In
This was the first crisis deployment for Scotlund Haisley, The HSUS' senior director of disaster services. Despite being in his third week on the job, Haisley is no novice to disasters. The boots he wore while rescuing animals during Hurricane Katrina are in a Smithsonian museum display.
"There seems to me to be no greater bond than those working for a common cause," Scotlund said. "And that's evidenced by the way volunteers, national and local animal groups, and local and state governments all worked as one team to help the animals of Operation Moveout."
All the responders wore different logos, shirts and hats, but they all had the same team markings—blood, dirt, and Gatorade—the marks of compassion.
