As some of you may know, I am a volunteer with the Lehigh Valley Animal Response Team. We are called in emergency situations to assist in relocating animals. This past Saturday was our first official emergency call. Before this, we only held practice drills and training sessions.
Saturday morning, I received a call from our phone chain notifying me that LVCART (Lehigh Valley Animal Response Team) was on stand-by until further notice.
An accident had occurred on Route 33 in Wind Gap area. It involved and overturned tanker truck with hazardous material. (I later found out that the material was hydroflouride.) A 7 mile stretch of the highway was shut down. All residents within a 1 mile radius of the accident were being evacuated to Pen Argyl area HS. The incident may take 12-24 hours to clean up. Therefore, we may need to set up a shelter to house the pets overnight.
Most of the volunteers were ready if the situation required us to jump into action. One of the team members had the trailer ready, just in case, and we had a place to temporarily house the animals.
Around noon time, we were informed that the emergency personnel at the scene were working on uprighting the tanker truck. By 3PM the truck was towed away from the scene and crews were cleaning the area. By 4PM, residents were allowed to return to their homes and by 6PM the highway was reopened.
At 5PM the Team was informed that we were no longer on stand-by and the situation was cleared.
Nice to know that in case of an emergency, the LVCART Team was ready to go.
Brigita,
What a great team you guys are. On behalf of animal lovers everywhere, THANK YOU! As many of us do, I hope you never have to go into action.
Dan:
I hope not either. But, it's nice to know that we are there in case any emergency does occur. At least our animals will be rescued and cared for, too.
Brigita
Brigita,
How did you get something like this off the ground? I think this is something we need here in the Casper Wyoming area. We have thousands of horse owners and I know most of them would be happy to provide shelter and horse trailers if ever needed. We have a lot of large ranches around with plenty of acerage.
Dan:
See if your state has a CART (County Animal Response Team) and contact them. If not, you can check PASART (Pennsylvania State Animal Response Team) website and possibly contact them to see how you may be able to start one.
Let me know how you make out.
Brigita
Hey Brigita, It's great that you are part of this important team! I had to call 911 a few years ago when my 1,600lb warmblood mare got cast (stuck next to the wall) in her stall & couldn't get up. My husband wasn't at home & the 911 contact didn't want to help because my mare, Europa wasn't a person. I ended up begging a neighbor to help & we wrangled the big girl up to her feet. It would be great to have a team in place.
Marian:
Many states are now starting up Emergency Animal Response Teams. Check with your county or state to see if you have one.
Brigita