Muttshack rescues animals in disaster
In the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina, Red Cross government liason David Friedman of Monroe saw a kind of victim he’d never seen in those numbers before.
Dogs. Thousands of them. Everywhere were the bodies of dogs, tied to trees, in the attics of houses, sometimes tied to the owners who refused to leave them.
He wasn’t the only one to notice. Another group of volunteers from around the nation were so horrified they started an organization called Muttshack to rescue animals from disaster areas.
Friedman heard about it and got in on the ground floor. In three years, the organization has spread internationally. But it still has a long way to go.
“After 35 years in medicine, I have seen a lot of bad things, things that happen to people,” said Friedman. “But the devastation I saw to animals in Katrina I could not get out of my mind.”
There had been no plan for how to handle animals during the evacuation of the coast of Louisiana or during the rescue, he said. Sometimes when rescue boats came down flooded streets, they wouldn’t allow pets on board.
“I saw people who died with their animals in their arms, because they couldn’t get in with the dog into the rescue boat. I saw one person with a leash tied around his wrist on the front porch of his house,” said Friedman. “He wouldn’t leave his dog.” He saw that as many as 40 or 50 times, he said.
Friedman had a lot of experience with the Red Cross, with emergency medicine, mass sheltering, search and rescue. When he heard about the group forming called Muttshack, he knew he had something to offer.
They developed a new plan. They recruited hundreds of volunteers, drew up strategies for how to keep pets from dying in disasters, and approached governments. The state of Louisiana gave Muttshack a contract to transport “owner-owned” animals, that is, pets, out of harm’s way in the next emergency.
They didn’t have long to wait. August 23, the Muttshack organizers were in Louisiana to dedicate a pet memorial to the pets who died and the nearly 150 humans who gave their lives trying to save them.
“That was two days before Hurricane Gustav hit New Orleans,” said Friedman. “Coincidentally, we were all there.”
And they were ready. “We provided 135 trucks, 400 personnel, and we arrived at pick-up points throughout the parishes,” he said. “Where a bus would take the people, we would take the pets.”
Then Muttshack trucks would fall into a convoy with the busses removing people from the path of the storm, and volunteers would set up a companion shelter near the shelter for the people. “That way people could take care of their own animals,” he said.
Each person would get a registration number that matched that of the pet, in case animal and person got separated.
After the hurricane made landfall, the volunteers turned their attention to rescuing animals, then helped rebuild animal shelters in the storm-struck areas.
This year, Muttshack also worked to save pets in the face of the California wildfires, the flooding in Mississippi and during flooding in Lewis and Pierce counties. They also coordinated with private pilots who would volunteer to fly pets out of harm’s way.
Early efforts have been successful. But the process could be improved, said Friedman.
Now, the organization is trying to set up shelter start-up kits around the country, so that disaster response teams will have the equipment they need to handle pets on hand in case of emergency. In such a kit will be collapsible wire kennels, transport crates, and things like pet dishes and other pet paraphernalia. Those will be located at fire stations and disaster coordination trailers.
Placing thousands of kennels around the country will cost the organization more than they have, though. So Friedman and Muttshack are reaching out to supporters.
People who want to give a unique gift this year can buy a kennel, a dog dish or other piece of rescue equipment and dedicate it to a loved one.
“We’re giving people an opportunity to come in and create a personalized piece,” said Friedman. “We’re going to have bowls and leads and shelters and they’ll be able to buy these and give them to us an a part of an alternative gift. Dec. 13, Muttshack will join 14 other non-profit organizations at an alternative gift fair at Morningstar Lutheran Church, 338 S. Lewis St. in Monroe from noon to 7 p.m.
Friedman himself got quite a gift as he worked to evacuate a shelter during hurricane Gustav. A river had risen around the shelter, cutting it off from land. As Muttshack volunteers boated to the shelter, Friedman noticed a small scrap of yellow fur clinging to the trunk of a tree and whimpering.
Upon investigating, he found it was a tiny puppy.
“This guy was blown out of the shelter and he was 300 yards away, floating on a tree,” said Friedman. “He lives at my house now. His name is Jordan, for the River Jordan. He’s kind of like a yellow lab with short legs, so he’s just a little yellow dog.”
Beyond rescue, Muttshack has a larger vision, that eventually all dogs and pets have loving homes. “The Muttshack principle is to eventually make shelters obsolete,” said Friedman. “If humans would take responsibility for their animals in their care, we wouldn’t need them.”
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