SACRAMENTO (September 18, 2008) – Today United Animal Nations (UAN) began deploying a team of Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS) volunteers to Beaumont, Texas to help the Humane Society of Southeast Texas (HSSET) shelter dogs, cats and other pets displaced by Hurricane Ike.
  Dogs displaced by Hurricane Ike are sheltered at a temporary facility on Galveston Island, Texas. EARS volunteers are caring for displaced pets in Beaumont, 50 miles northeast. Photo: Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA.  |
EARS volunteers from across the Gulf Coast are traveling to Beaumont to care for more than 200 animals who were rescued from flooded communities until they can be reunited with their families or transferred to other facilities for long-term sheltering. Distinguished by their red shirts, EARS volunteers will walk, feed and comfort the animals, clean cages and provide general shelter operations support through October 1.
“UAN’s EARS volunteers are specially trained to care for animals in crisis situations, providing comfort and tender loving care to pets who are traumatized and frightened,” said UAN President and CEO Nicole Forsyth. “We are pleased to be helping the people and pets of Beaumont and other Texas coastal communities affected by Hurricane Ike.”
Through its volunteer-driven EARS program, UAN provides free emergency sheltering and disaster relief services for animals in communities that become overwhelmed by natural disasters or other crises. Since 1987, UAN has responded to more than 80 disasters, including deploying more than 400 volunteers to six locations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
UAN is deploying EARS volunteers at the request of the Texas State Animal Resource Team (TXSART), which was developed via a partnership between the Texas Animal Health Commission and the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation. UAN is one of several organizations lending support to TXSART, including American Humane Association, the ASPCA, The Humane Society of the United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and numerous local and regional groups.
[Read more on our blog .] [Donate to our Disaster Relief Fund.]
Founded in 1987, United Animal Nations (UAN) 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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