Austin, Texas Resident to Volunteer Time, Expertise, to Help Animals Displaced by Disasters

Stacey Harris Named EARS Regional Director

SACRAMENTO, CA (August 22, 2008) – United Animal Nations (UAN) is pleased to welcome Stacey Harris of Cedar Park, Texas as a Regional Director with its Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS), which shelters and cares for animals displaced by natural disasters and other crises, such as criminal seizures and hoarding cases.

As an EARS Regional Director, a volunteer position, Harris will monitor situations that may affect animals in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas; network with emergency management and animal control agencies in those states; and work with local authorities to operate temporary shelters for displaced animals as needed. 

Harris trained to be an EARS volunteer in 2007. In June 2007, she helped care for animals displaced by the tornado that destroyed Greensburg, Kansas. This summer, just two weeks after becoming an EARS Regional Director, she spent one week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, leading a team of 20 EARS volunteers at a temporary shelter for animal flood victims.

“Stacey has a wealth of hands-on animal care and volunteer management experience, which are invaluable to UAN’s ability to operate temporary emergency animal shelters,” said UAN Director of Programs Karen Brown. “We know that as a member of our volunteer leadership team she will further emergency preparedness for animals in her region and enhance our ability to respond to crises affecting animals throughout North America.”

Harris is an assistant branch manager with Chase Bank and uses her vacation time to deploy with EARS. She has volunteered with the Austin Humane Society since 2004, helping that organization care for animals displaced by a variety of emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and two hoarding situations in 2007. She is certified in pet first aid and is currently taking classes to be able to provide veterinary technician support in a shelter environment.

“Being a leader with UAN’s EARS program is a perfect fit for me,” Harris said. “I not only enjoy working with animals, but I work very well with people too, which is critical when managing volunteers and helping disaster victims who are often under a lot of emotional, physical and financial stress.”

UAN has more than 4,000 EARS volunteers in the United States and Canada, including eight regional directors. Since 1987, UAN’s EARS volunteers have responded to more than 80 disasters, including a series of wildfires in Butte County, California in 2008; the Greensburg, Kansas tornado in 2007; a power outage in St. Louis in 2006 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Founded in 1987, United Animal Nations is North America ’s leading provider of emergency animal sheltering and disaster relief services and a key advocate for the critical needs of animals.

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