Seattle shelter, PAWS, pitching in to help pets at ground zero 09/18/2001 Associated Press, SEATTLE The Seattle Animal Shelter and PAWS, the Lynnwood-based Progressive Animal Welfare Society, are pitching in to help pets abandoned or orphaned in the terrorist attack on New York City. They're responding to a call for help from New Yorkers for Companion Animals, an animal-welfare group that has been flooded with dogs and cats dropped off by people unable to care for them. John Jordan, manager of the Seattle shelter, says the New York group sent out e-mails describing cars "doubleparked up and down the block and the lobby full of people dropping off animals." He and PAWS spokeswoman Robbin Jones say Seattle-area residents have been contributing toys, blankets and dog dishes. Food for the animals is apparently not a problem. The New York group is also looking for saline-solution eye drops and bandages for rescue dogs. Placement options for the animals is the primary concern. The New York group is looking for adoptive homes and foster homes for animals whose owners still might turn up and want them. Jordan says the items collected in the Seattle area will be flown back East. He says Federal Express has donated cargo space on a plane leaving Wednesday. Volunteers from PAWS and the shelter will accompany the cargo, and Jones says they plan to stay in the city for three days to volunteer. Jordan says some animals were recovered from apartments whose occupants were killed, some were removed at the request of owners staying in shelters and some were turned in by relatives of terrorist victims. In addition, Jordan says some animals are being left behind by people who have suddenly decided to move out of the city. He says there are large numbers of "strays" - chows, Pomeranians and other purebred dogs that do not usually make up a large share of the abandoned-animal population. Jordan says the New York group just has "more animals than they can handle." Jones says animals whose owners cannot be found are being equipped with microchips, so they can be traced if their owners turn up. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- PAWS sent the following email to the HLF after the trip: Thanks for all your warm wishes for safe travel prior to my trek to New York to deliver all the wonderful donations we collected for the Humane Society of New York. There were so many interesting experiences I thought I would jot a few down here... Christine (Seattle Animal Shelter) and I arrived in New York at Kennedy airport at 6:30 am Thursday morning. (We left Seattle at 7 pm the prior evening and flew all night.) After getting to where we would be staying we tried to relax a little, and got ready to go to the shelter. We arrived at the Shelter at 10:30 am just in time to meet the Fed Ex truck. The Fed Ex truck was completely filled with the gifts in kind that we had collected and it took nearly an hour to get all the stuff out of the truck an into the lobby of the shelter. This shelter is also a low-cost vet clinic that treats 30,000 animal a year, so they actually have a waiting room area - which we promptly took over with our truck load of stuff. Many of the staff - vets, vet techs, adoption counselors, etc. came out to help us sort the stuff and all we overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from people 3,000 miles away. The goods were certainly needed, which we began to experience first hand almost immediately. Dog and cat food in bags lines the stairwells now of this five story shelter. Airline blankets are piled high in one of the basement food rooms. Boxes of toys stand ready along the kennels and throughout the cat room. The most poignant reminder of what the city is going through is the pile of food, toys, blankets and other supplies on one side of the lobby. Above the pile is a small laminated sign that simply reads "Relief". It is understood by all who arrive there that they are free to take what they need to get by in the weeks ahead. All of the supplies in this corner came from that Fed Ex truck from Seattle. Thursday a call came in from a man in Brooklyn. He had lost his job in a bar a few blocks from the WTC. No one is coming to have an after-work drink now and the bar had let all the employees go. His young female pit bull was urinating blood and he was very worried, but had little spare money and no way to get into Manhattan. All the other shelters he'd called had either turned him away or not answered the phone. At first Christine and I were told to get our jackets and wait out front for the van - we were being taken to Brooklyn to get the dog and they might need us. Then another call came in - the man had found a friend willing to rearrange his work schedule to drive him and his dog into the shelter the next morning. When David and Penny arrived they were ushered into an exam room and Penny was diagnosed with URI. David was given antibiotics for free, the exam was free and Penny was booked in for a follow-up two weeks later at which time she would also be spayed. For free. David was then given a 50lb bag of Iams food for free and a big box of dog cookies. And a green Bark in the Park bandana was tied around Penny's neck as she pranced around the lobby looking much happier now that the exam ordeal was over. David stopped on his way out to talk with us and said thank you. He didn't know what he was going to do or how he'd get his life back on track, but at least he knew he's be able to keep Penny healthy and fed and wouldn't have to give her up. He actually had tears in his eyes as he told us how much he appreciated all that the people of Seattle had done. Later that day the shelter director, Sandra, and one of their vets, Dr. Wells, took us in the van down as close to ground zero as we could get. Not that close. It was believed at that point that all the animals needing assistance in being evacuated had been found. Only one cat had died from the blast and one search and rescue dog. At first search and rescue didn't provide vets for their dogs, so when EARS showed up they took over that part. We learned that the disaster plans are not exactly organized to look after animals. The shelters don't really talk to each other and it really just is a matter of who gets to the project first. And who has the resources to deal with it. This actually made Christine and I feel better about our situation in Seattle because the animal organizations put such great importance on cooperation and partnership. We've already begun to develop the cross- organizational relationships that will prove beneficial in times of disaster. Well, that's all I can spit out right now... it was pretty overwhelming. So many people were just wandering around the streets of Manhattan crying. The looks of loss and devastation on their faces was tremendously sobering. Thanks to everyone who helped get the word out and the supplies organized! PAWS has made national news in the fundraising media (Chronicle of Philanthropy, Fundraiser Files) for our efforts to help in NY. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- As we stated before, PAWS is very much a Cause Worth Caring About. Please donate time or money if at all possible... or find a similar group in your local area.