Hurricane Irma: Kinship Circle Aid For Animal Survivors

April Johnson bottle feeds Irma kittens (c) Kinship Circle — April Johnson bottle feeds rescued kittens.

Survivors

KC-DART — Kinship Circle is still in Texas for Hurricane Harvey animal rescue, as Florida residents brace for Hurricane Irma. Though barely dry from Harvey — where animals engulfed by floodwaters are saved from porches and sheds — we enlist standby volunteers for Irma disaster animal rescue.

Irma threatens parts of Central and Southwest Florida with storm surges and flooding. We hold our breath and watch weather reports like everyone else. Animals are left behind. Always. Hurricane Harvey shows us that. In Southeast Texas, we help cats, dogs, ducks, chickens, guinea, cows, a (rather large) snake, horses, goats. Amid floodwaters that sink entire communities, we conduct search-rescue and animal food/water delivery. We lend crates and leashes. Often, we hold and comfort very frightened animals. How many heartbeats will be lost in Irma's wreckage? As this new storm gains strength and destructive wind-force, Harvey waters finally begin to recede — with reunions or adoptions underway for deserted animals. So we prepare to get KC-DART Ron Presley in Florida as a search-rescue point person who reports to a coalition on standby. Fellow KC-DART officer Cheri Deatsch will join Ron in Florida to lead a volunteer team, if Irma lives up to its catastrophic predictions. Ultimately, Irma makes landfall with hurricane-force winds, but without massive storm surges or lingering rainfall. The winds uproot coastal homes and devastate lives for some residents, but comprehensive disaster impacts do not result in prolonged evacuations. Irma causes isolated damage plus mass power outages and fallen trees. Since most residents return to their properties quickly, Kinship Circle is not needed for ongoing animal search-rescue. Still, we communicate with ground contacts to see if there are any overlooked spots where animals need help.

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA STAGING AREATexas nonprofit Boots On The Ground Volunteers (BGV) runs an Irma animal-relief site on space donated by the Homestead Rodeo Association. Animals are a mix of strays and surrenders — disoriented, starved and wounded in Irma's wake. BGV co-founders Amanda Trask and Jessie Cox tell us they are short on volunteer staff with an urgent need for veterinary technicians to bottle-feed nursing kittens and treat injured animals. Kinship Circle sends April Johnson, a KC-DART volunteer with seven years vet tech experience, to assist at the BGV operation. At the time, an exhausted staff oversees some 50 cats, plus 30 dogs.

April and Winkie, dog with injured eye (c) Kinship Circle — April Johnson and Winkie, a survivor who lost an eye.

April and Rocky, dog with back fracture (c) Kinship Circle — Rocky's fractured back needs surgery.

SURVIVORSOn the ground, April reports: Kittens, kittens and more kittens! And the kids are hungry. “Bottle feeding these babies is a round-the-clock job,” she notes. “We stay up until 2:00 am.” April also tends to canine storm survivors like Google, a rusty brown stray whose post-Irma life can get better once he finds a loving, adoptive home. Winkie is a tri-color Jack Russell Terrier mix who survived hurricane ravage and arrives at the Homestead staging area with an injured eye. Winkie is 100-percent love and kisses, a sweetheart who occupies laps whenever possible. April writes: “Winkie saw a specialist today, with the hope that medical treatment can prevent eye removal.” But the wound is severe and the veterinarian feels removal is necessary. “Winkie is doing great,” April says. Rocky, a pointy-eared dog with caramel color fur, was found after the storm. He is lame and drages his back legs. A vet believes a heavy object fell on the small dog, fracturing his back. But the impact did not snap the sweet pup's spinal cord. Rocky still has some feeling in his hind legs. He tries very hard to move around and cuddle his caregivers. Surgery and intensive post-op care may let this hurricane survivor walk again. For displaced and injured animals, disaster impacts last far beyond the initial destruction.

Kinship Circle deploys overseas and in the United States for animal aid after disaster strikes. Follow us on Facebook to stay current with Disaster Watch and Deployment News as it unfolds. If you want to volunteer as an animal disaster responder, register with KC-DART to get on our standby list for deployments (based upon your availability). And please consider a tax-deductible donation to our Animal Disaster Fund, so we are always ready to go — whenever and wherever animals need help. Your kind heart saves lives!