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Best Friends Rapid Response / Disaster Recovery
Providing Rescue and Support for Animals in Need |
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Best Friends' Rapid Response program is ready
to respond to calls for aide in emergency and
disaster situations.
The Rapid Response Community of the Best Friends
Network is made up of volunteers and Best
Friends staff trained
and ready to meet the needs of the animals
should an emergency situation arise. Working
together as a team, Rapid Response volunteers
are prepared to move quickly in order to aide in
the rescue of animals in the event of a
disaster. With careful coordination, the team
commits to the long term care of animals in each
situation. |
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Hurricane Katrina
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- Best Friends rescued over 4,300 animals
including 2,844 dogs, 1,427 cats
and 54 other types of animals from
hurricane-ravaged areas in Louisiana
and Mississippi.
- In addition, Best Friends took in and
transported another 2,639 dogs and 872
cats from other organizations working in the
Gulf Coast region. Best Friends
arranged for the temporary care of these
animals, either with foster homes
or other reputable shelters, until they
could be adopted or reunited with their
families.
- Within the first two weeks after
Hurricane Katrina, Best Friends staff
fielded
more than 10,000 phone calls and 78,000
e-mails from people trying to find
their pets, reporting abandoned pets or
asking how to volunteer.
- Conducted Katrina reunions, utilizing a
volunteer network spanning across the
country to help reunite hurricane victims
with their pets.
- Successfully completed the Hurricane
Katrina rescue effort, closing down the
rescue center outside of New Orleans after
249 days of operation, and returning to the
sanctuary with the last seven dogs.
- Led a Disaster Relief Summit, bringing
together experts involved in the Katrina
rescue effort to develop future disaster
recovery strategies and continue to promote
inter-agency collaboration.
- Learn More at:
http://network.bestfriends.org/hurricane/news/
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Great Bunny Rescue
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- Intervened to rescue 1600 rabbits in
Reno, NV
- Established a Rabbit Ranger program,
partnering with many rabbit rescue
organizations across the country to secure
medical care, food, supplies, spay/neuter
operations, resources, transport assistance
and financial aid for the operation.
- Successfully placed all of the rabbits
into new homes by year end.
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Best Friends in the Middle
East
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- Aided Beirut for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals (BETA), Lebanon’s only humane
society, whose shelter was destroyed and
food sources depleted.
- Provided food, supplies and medical
assistance on the ground, and ultimately
airlifted 295 homeless cats and dogs back
here to the sanctuary. Best Friends
established temporary shelter for them while
they underwent medical evaluation and
rehabilitation. Most of the animals have
already found new, forever homes.
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Pets Alive
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- At the request of the board, Best
Friends temporarily took over operations for
over 500 animals at Pets Alive Sanctuary in
Middletown, NY, after the passing of its
founder.
- Best Friends provided emergency medical
care, training, supplies, improved housing,
staff, volunteer and adoptions support, etc.
from March through year end.
- An assessment was conducted and
recommendations provided by Best Friends to
ensure Pets Alive remains a sustainable
resource for the community.
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Best Friends in Nye
County/Pahrump
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- When Nye County took control of FLOCK
(For the Love of Cats and Kittens), a
nonprofit organization located on a two-acre
spread in the desert outside Pahrump, NV, it
turned to Best Friends Animal Society for
help.
- Best Friends responded by organizing
staff and volunteers to provide on-site care
for the more than 600 cats at the FLOCK
compound.
- Through significant medical care,
socialization, adoption event support and
re-homing of some of the cats to the
sanctuary, Best Friends is planning to
successfully close down rescue operations in
Pahrump.
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Best Friends in Peru
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- In response to the earthquake and
reports that the government was considering
mass euthanasia (because of fear of rabies
spreading), Best Friends’ rapid response
assessment team was deployed.
- Best Friends initiated a program of
vaccinations and spay/neuters and provided
food, in an effort to stabilize the
situation.
- Working with local government,
veterinarians and Peru’s rescue
organizations, Best Friends established
animal care protocols for a safer, healthier
environment.
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Mexico Flood Rescue
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- Coordinating efforts with the Mexican
government, local veterinarians and other
animal rescue groups, Best Friends was on
the scene in Tabasco, Mexico, in the
aftermath of severe flooding.
- Best Friends took charge of water
operations for the city and outlying areas,
and set up a staging area on the campus of a
local university where staff, volunteers,
veterinarians and other animal welfare
organizations coordinated efforts.
- In the final days, a thorough assessment
was conducted throughout Villahermosa, its
suburbs and outlying farmlands to make sure
the mission was accomplished.
- By the end of the operation, the teams
had distributed more than 8,000 pounds of
food, delivered hundreds of gallons of fresh
water, vaccinated 225 animals, and rescued a
number of dogs in need of medical attention.
A total of 950 dogs, 36 cats, 20 horses, 16
pigs, five cows, two parrots and countless
chickens received care.
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