January 28, 2006
Dear Nancy and my friends at Pet Safe Coalition:
I hardly know where to begin to thank you for all you’ve done to help me in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. These words fall short of expressing my heartfelt gratitude for helping me in my time of need, what I want you to know what your kindness has meant to me. I hope this gives you some notion of the importance of your efforts as I attempt to move forward with my life which was radically changed by the devastation of that single storm.
Nearly five months after Katrina hit, I am not able to return to my house in New Orleans. Repairs must still be made. Mold and debris must be removed. News cameras show the few businesses in town that are trying to eke out a living, but many people in my neighborhood have not returned. Some like me may never go back. The sense of dislocation is overwhelming. The story of Katrina and her evacuees may have moved off the front page of the newspapers, but it’s not over for me. I don’t know where I will be months from now or what I will be doing. I enjoyed a successful practice in New Orleans as a social worker and personal coach, but my client base is gone. My home is in tatters. My family dog, Dix, and my cat, Boudreaux, still suffer post-traumatic stress from their horrific experiences, as do I. But we’re together, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of people like you.
After our relocation to Hauppauge, Suffolk County, NY, my dog began showing signs of joint pain in his legs. I needed to find a veterinarian fast. While attending an open house of organizations on Long Island which offer services for Katrina evacuees here, I cried out for help and, Nancy, you heard my plea. You located a vet and made it possible for my dog to be examined. You understood the need to act quickly in order to have the problem diagnosed before the condition worsened. You knew precisely the trauma that I had experienced and the need for rapid attention to my beloved dog’s medical problem. I would not have known where to look for help because of my inability to focus on tasks at hand due to post-traumatic stress, made all the worse by my precarious financial situation as a direct result of the storm. Nancy you have been supportive every step of the way. You have spent what must have been an enormous amount time researching my dog’s needs and following up with me, even at your own inconvenience. How can I ever adequately express my thanks for that!
The work you are doing with Pet Sale Coalition is crucial in helping to keep families and communities intact in times of disaster, as I experienced with Katrina. The nearly two dozen organizations that comprise the Pet Sale Coalition ‘‘get it.” You all are doing your utmost to minimize the dislocation and disorientation that can occur in times like this, which can tear individual lives and communities apart.
Thank you for helping me keep my family together. God bless you and thank you for all that you have done.
Gratefully yours,
Signature withheld to maintain privacy
PET SAFE COALITION PROGRESS REPORT YEAR ENDING 2005
Since July when the Pet Safe Coalition incorporated as a not for profit, the Nassau County (Disaster) Animal Response Team has made great strides while meeting unexpected challenges. Less than a month after incorporating deadly hurricanes slammed into the US Pet Safe rallied by supporting evacuating pet owning hurricane victims in Nassau County at the VOAD Recovery Center. Dr. Howard Flynn DVM and Dr.Surinder Waydal DVM of the LIVMA offered medical care, evacuees received gift certificates to pet stores for food and new ID tags and the Coalition worked to help reunite pets with their owners. Bereavement counseling was available for those who lost their pets. Pet Safe is grateful to VOAD, the ASPCA and HSUS for making this possible.
In September, with the help of our webmaster, Lydia Bauer, the Coalition launched www.petsafecoalition.org which has served to promote Pet Safe Coalition and it’s partner activities. Since going live we have recorded 21,580 hits to the website. Also in September, thanks to our legislative link Laurie Huenteo we educated pet owners on disaster preparedness at Hurricane Awareness Nights in Merrick, Oceanside and Bayville and at weekend dog shows. In October, thanks to Renee Procida Pet Safe published a colorful information packed educational brochure.
In early November Pet Safe Coalition representatives Dr. Flynn and Nancy Lynch joined OEM’s Bob Beckmann in Albany to meet with state officials and learn about the North Carolina SART pet sheltering plan based on the system of co-locating pets near where people are being sheltered. Pet Safe is part of a network of county teams being developed to make up the New York State Animal Response Team.
In mid November Pet Safe volunteers spent three days at the Pet Expo recruiting volunteers and educating hundreds of homeowners abut the importance of developing disaster plans for their animals. A dozen committed new volunteers met at the first Volunteer Recruitment night at the Holiday Inn Westbury at the end of the month. Finally, last Wednesday December 14th local, state and National Emergency Management officials joined in kicking off planning process for the new Pet Safe Coalition disaster response. In January the participating shelters will again meet with emergency officials.
Pet Safe is also learning about some of the problems following Katrina by participating in twice monthly ABA Teleconferences with the TIPS Animal Disaster Relief Network under the auspices of the ABA/TIPS Animal Law Committee. Local Pet Safe Coalition news was shared as well as information on the NY SART meetings. Nancy also participated in Teleconferences with the Legislative Committee of the ABA TIPA Animal Law Committee. In December she participated in a 90 minute teleconference on not for Profit reforms to be sure the Coalition is up to date on those issues. On January 25, 2006 Nancy will be participating in the New York State Bar Association Special Committee on Animals and the Law Annual Meeting Program in New York City.
On Wednesday February 1 from 7 to 9 pm the Coalition will hold its first evening volunteer meeting of 2006 at the Office of Emergency Management in East Meadow. Please contact 516-676-0808 or petsafe2@hotmail.com for further information. You must pre- register to attend. Volunteers are crucial to Pet Safe’s success and animal handling volunteers as well as general, administrative, business, PR, and Financial Development volunteers are needed to help carry out the plan. Pet businesses and the hotel industry are also crucial to Pet Safe.
Volunteer Recruitment Night News
First hand account of post Katrina pet support in Louisiana captivate Pet Safe Coalition Inc. volunteers at recrutment night. Below, Nancy Lynch recaps the evening:
Coalition partners and friends,
Last night Susan Hassett, head of the Town of North Hempstead Animal Shelter told Pet Safe Coalition veterans and a dozen new supporters that volunteers in Louisiana made a big difference to the animals in the aftermath of Katrina. Sue, who worked in an HSUS shelter and shared sleeping quarters with four hundred people, told about the volunteer who drove down from Alaska to help, the attorney who spent a week washing dog bowls and the couple who drove from Florida in a trailer and washed dog crates all week. Sue explained that egos were left at the door as people worked shoulder to shoulder to help the animals and that is what is needed for the success of the Pet Safe Coalition Inc.as it plans to support animals in disasters.
"It's volunteers that made the difference," Sue said, adding that the influx of volunteers in the animal shelters made sure that the animals weren't let down after Katrina.
Sue emphasized the importance of educating the public to make their own plans for disasters, particularly in light of Long Island's geographical uniquenss. "Remember the pictures you saw of cars fleeing Louisiania, and Texas ?" Sue asked. "Well forget that. We won't be leaving the island. We all need to work together to help the animals on Long island." Sue explained that those who can make plans of their own, should, but that we need to work together to help those whose plans fall through. Experienced animal handling volunteers such as kennel workers, dog groomers, dog trainers, veterinarians and vet-techs will be particularly useful to the Coalition's planning
Pet Safe Coalition Secretary and Pet Safe Action Team head Renee Procida told the packed room that with sixty per cent of households owning animals County officials and residents need to work together to insure there is a workable plan in place for animals in the event of natural or man made disasters. Renee said in addition to animal handlers, Pet Safe also needs volunteers who are accountants, attorneys, media specialists, grant writers, graphic artists, peacekeepers etc. Renee said that the Coalition cannot make this happen alone, we need the involvement of legislators, town and county officials, community associations, and pet businesses as well as individual volunteers.
Representatives from the Office of Emergency Management, and Coalition members from the North Shore Animal League America, the Glen Cove Animal Lovers League, the Shelter Connection and the Nassau County SPCA shared information about the Pet Safe Coalition Inc. with an attorney who came out from the City for our recruitment night, a commuting animal lover from Long Beach who stopped by on her way home from the city to learn more about Pet Safe, a Westbury resident who dropped in and many others.
Representatives from Pet Finders talked about their efforts in reuniting animals and learned about Pet Safe. A VOAD representative and the head of the County Emergency Response Team took time out of their long days to learn more about the Pet Safe Coalition Inc.as well.
As a result of a productive evening of sharing resources, the Pet Safe Coalition Inc. now has more than a dozen new committed volunteers.Many thanks to the Pet Safe Officers and the Pet Safe Action Team who recruited many of the volunteers at the Pet Safe Coalition booth at Pet Expo. Many, many thanks are due to Secretary Renee Procida, Nadja Schwenk, and our Treasurer and legislative liaison Laurie Huenteo, who helped plan our event and this morning is hard at work planning Pet Safe's next meeting. Many thanks also to our webmaster and Dr. Howard Flynn DVM of the LIVMA who helped spread the word of the event.
While we would like to be prepared for the unpredictable disaster, Nassau County needs to be as ready as possible for next year's hurricane season which is predicted to be worse than this year's. Please spread the word to others concerned about animals that we need their support and have them contact petsafe2@hotmail.com. Call 516-676-0808 or write to us at P.O. Box 288, Locust Valley, N.Y. 11560.Log onto our website www.petsafecoalition.org for further information..
We will be scheduling a Pet Safe Action Team meeting for interested volunteers early in the new year. Please forward your name to me, Renee, Laurie and I at petsafe2@hotmail.com if you would like to be notified of that meeting.
Thanks again to all of you who took the time to join us last night. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
Nancy Lynch
UPDATE:Pet Safe Coalition Goes to Albany
Nancy Lynch and Dr. Howard Flynn, DVM, officers from The Pet Safe Coalition, participated in the New York State Stakeholders Summit. The goal of the summit was to help establish a New York State Animal Response Team. Officials from Nassau County Emergency Management will also attended. The event was held in Albany, November 1 & 2. A brief recap follows:
" Dr. Howard Flynn DVM, from the LIVMA, Robert Beckmann, from the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management, three Nassau County Health Department Officials and Nancy Lynch from Pet Safe joined about 100 veterinarians, county officials and humane organization representatives in Albany November 1 and 2 to work on developing a State Animal Response Team (SART) .
A North Carolina SART team shared their experiences and recommended that Response Teams use the resources at hand ant not re-invent the wheel in their planning. The North Carolina plan is based on sheltering pets near where people are sheltered, or "co-locating" the sheltering. We had workshops based on planning, operations, logistics and finance.
The New York State Animal Response Team will actually be a coalition of County animal Response Teams working together."
Pet Safe Coalition Helps Katrina Evacuees on Long Island
Gulf Coast Pet Owners Now on LI Eligible for Free
Veterinary Visit, Bereavement Counseling, Supplies & Other Services
LOCUST VALLEY, NY September 19, 2005 Pet Safe Coalition Inc., a newly formed Long Island not-for-profit organization serving Nassau County with plans to expand into Suffolk County, has been selected by the Long Island Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) as the lead agency in disaster pet care. As part of this role helping Long Island pet owners prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, Pet Safe Coalition volunteers will help Gulf Coast pet owners who evacuated to Long Island in response to Hurricane Katrina.
Pet Safe Coalition can help Hurricane Katrina evacuee pet owners who now reside temporarily or permanently in Nassau or Suffolk counties with:
- Veterinary consultation and support (through participating members of the Long Island Veterinary Medical Association)
- Transportation to veterinarian offices (through local town animal shelters)
- Pet bereavement counseling (through Bide-A-Wee Animal Shelter and ASPCA)
- Pet supply purchases (through Pet Supplies Plus and others).
Pet Safe Coalition is also working actively with the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management to develop a disaster plan for pet owners in the event of a local disaster.
For more information about Pet Safe Coalition, call 516-676-0808 or e-mail petsafe2@hotmail.com.
About Pet Safe Coalition Inc.:
In July 2005, the Pet Safe Coalition Inc. became an independent not-for-profit organization in New York State with five years of disaster relief experience under the umbrella of another organization. The Coalition is made up of Nassau County public and private organizations whose mission is to educate Nassau County pet owners about disaster preparedness and provide emergency care and sheltering through the cooperation of veterinarians and local animal shelters. Pet Safe Coalition has the following partners: Animal Lovers League, Glen Cove; ASPCA; Bide-a-Wee; City of Long Beach Animal Shelter; Clancy & Clancy Brokerage; FEMA; Humane Society of the United States; Lawrence N. Rogak, LLC; Long Island Veterinary Medical Association; Nassau County Legislature; Nassau County Office of Emergency Management; North Shore Animal League America; Pet Supplies Plus; Salvation Army; Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter; Town of North Hempstead Animal Shelter; Town of Oyster Bay Animal Shelter; and Trade Winds Environmental Restoration.
