|
Response team cares for storm-tossed pets
 Photo:
Dr. Carla Huston, (l.) and Dr. Hart Bailey load medical supplies at the
Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, near Starkville,
Miss., for transport to the state veterinarian's shelter at the Mississippi
Coliseum in Jackson, Miss., August 30. (Photo by Bob Ratliff Mississippi State
University, Office of Agricultural Communications.)
Pets separated from their owners or injured in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
are finding shelter at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. Trained
professionals and volunteers staff the shelter, along with a 28-foot RV that
serves as a mobile food safety and disaster response laboratory.
"People
come first in an emergency, but there are animals that need help as a result of
the hurricane," said Dr. Carla Huston, an assistant professor at Mississippi
State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and a member of the
Mississippi Animal Response Team. "We will assist state veterinarian Dr. James
Watson as long as we're needed."
Hart Bailey, a CVM associate professor,
drove the supply-filled RV from the Starkville campus to Jackson Tuesday night,
August 30.
"There were already about 80 dogs at the shelter when I arrived,"
Bailey said. "A team from Florida also had arrived to help staff the
facility."
Two days later, the number of animals at the shelter had grown to
at least 200, including dogs, cats, birds, pigs and one goat, according to Dr.
Brigid Elchos with the state veterinarian's office.
The RV-based MSU
laboratory will remain at the Jackson shelter to serve as a base for the Animal
Response Team as long as it is needed.
The team was formed about two years
ago to support the state veterinarian in emergencies. The aftermath of Katrina
is its first test.
|
