CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Keeping Families Together... ...continued from page 27
erous trek down to Asheville with their county’s truck and trailer load - ed with sheltering supplies. All four of us worked together to set up the CASTs for the animal residents. The Department of Agriculture had additional staff members that would visit us each morning and evening as they traveled to check on small farmers nearby who might need assistance. We felt well supported. A Coordinated Community Effort I have responded all over the world with IFAW and there are some similarities to this work; but each community is different, and I love getting to know the community and the survivors and their compan- ion animals. At a co-located shelter, guardians are responsible for caring for their own animals, and we are there to ensure that they, and each animal, have or are getting what they need. When people are physically incapable of providing support to their animals, we pro- vide complete care for those animals. With the stress of working with insurance companies, organizing repairs, or looking for a new place to live, having their animals nearby offers guardians a great sense of normalcy and relief during an incredibly trying time. In Asheville, we got to know the people and their companion ani- mals so well, regularly checking in, and learning about their incredible stories of survival. It was humbling to hear how some families made it out of their homes in chest-deep waters and were able to do so with their animals. I witnessed one family’s reunion with one of their dogs who was separated from them in the floodwaters; they had feared the
landfall in Florida. IFAW has responded in North Carolina to hurri- canes before, but much closer to the coast. It was harrowing to see electronic billboards on Route/Interstate 85 Southbound announcing Interstate 40 was closed and to “Avoid Travel into Western NC.” For - tunately, I had put the Agricultural Center address into my GPS when I had a signal, so we were able to arrive at our location. Once in Ashe- ville, we had little to no cell or WIFI service for days. There were just under 300 evacuees at the AG Center and rough - ly 45 animals. Following an arduous and late arrival, the people and animals “co-habitated” in the shelter, meaning the animals slept in crates next to their guardians’ cots. When we arrived on Saturday, the shelter was transitioning to a “co-located” setup; the animals would be sheltered on the same site as the people, but not in the same room with them. We set up an Emergency Animal Shelter consisting initially of two Companion Animal Sheltering Trailers (CASTs) that other North Car - olina counties had delivered to the center. These mobile units were temperature controlled and had built-in steel cages that could house cats, small animals, and small- to medium-sized dogs. We also estab - lished a “Western Sheltering Tent” to accommodate space and crates for larger dogs. When we arrived on scene, there were two Animal Control Officers from Burlington County, NC, already there who had made the treach-
28—PATHWAYS—Winter 24-25
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