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WIAR Finding homes with a Heart.
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GOD'S FACTORY
“God’s Factory”. That is how one member of Western Illinois Animal Rescue (WIAR) describes the scene in Tylertown, Mississippi where they arrived Sunday to assist in the rescue and rehabilitation of lost and abandoned pets from New Orleans. Under the supervision and organization of disaster experts from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary hundreds of rescued pets of all types are being brought to the shelter in Tylertown where they are being decontaminated, washed, fed, watered and re-socialized. WIAR members are assisting with all aspects of the operation in Tylertown and are hoping to be able to actually go into New Orleans on rescue missions in the coming days.
With only a two hour break on the road, the WIAR party drove throughout the night and arrived at the scene at 1pm, Sunday afternoon. Literally as soon as they arrived they dug into the work at hand, watering, walking, feeding and playing with the animals. Many of the pets were in need of comforting as they have been alone and afraid with little food or clean water for nearly two weeks. The work of the shelter in Tylertown is going on round the clock. At 11:30pm Sunday night a van from New Orleans was expected to arrive with more dogs. These vans arrive around the clock and as animals are processed they are sent on to other shelters as transportation becomes available. The goal of this shelter is to ensure that as many as possible of the pets are returned to their original owners if they can be located.
Beginning at first light, a flotilla of boats enters the city looking for lost and abandoned pets. When the boat’s capacity is filled it returns to the “shore”, the closest point where the vans can approach the dirty, contaminated water and the rescued are transferred into the vans for the long trip to Tylertown. Under the supervision of a volunteer nurse, the rescuers on the boats have strict rules. They cannot eat or drink anything besides bottled water from the moment they enter the floodwater, until they are decontaminated at the end of the day for fear of disease. Most of the rescuers on the boats do not eat from dawn to dusk and do not take breaks during the day. The selflessness and dedication of these people are an inspiration to the workers at the shelter.
Robbin Sage states that the work is “very addictive”, but also very hot, muggy and physically demanding. “This shelter is very organized & is running smoothly”, said Sage. “The scene is like a factory whose goal is to rescue, care for and return lost animals”. Sage states that the shelter is doing ok for most hard supplies, except for pet beds. However in terms of people to do the work in the heat without electricity or modern comforts the effort is coming up short. “They have a desperate need for more people”. There is a limit to what these people can do and more people are needed to keep the operation running. In fact, the directors of the operation have told everyone working that they will all reach a breaking point. They have been told, “When you get to that point stop what you are doing and sit with one of the animals. The animal will comfort you just like you are comforting them”. Hopefully that advice will work as the team reported this evening that they are waiting for the arrival of 150 more cats and 60 dogs at eleven pm Monday night.
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Story published in newspapers and on line at Best Friend's website written by Marty in honor of the WIAR Members who gave blood, sweat and tears to help those who needed it the most.
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