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Emergencies & Disasters
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Animal death toll unknown after Moore twister
5/21/2013
At least four veterinary clinics still operating in devastated area
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Tornado missed veterinary hospital by 70 yards
2/11/2013
Doctor and staff huddled with surgery patient
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Free pet food offer brings deluge of requests
12/26/2012
All 10,000 pounds now spoken for
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Free pet food available by the ton
12/21/2012
Surplus from Hurricane Sandy relief sits in warehouse
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Storm recovery focus of NYC symposium
11/15/2012
Veterinarians, physicians, dentists invited to free event
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Battered, not beaten: Veterinarians brace for new storm in Sandy’s wake
11/7/2012
Ravaged areas of East Coast evacuated ahead of nor'easter
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Veterinarians, clinic staff recount effects of Sandy
10/30/2012
ACVS cancels annual symposium
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Veterinarians recount Pentagon 9/11 search and rescue
9/11/2012
Effort less publicized than Ground Zero’s but equally intense
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Louisiana authorities checking Isaac's effect on livestock
8/29/2012
Mississippi shelter transfers pets to New York
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Colorado wildfire livestock refugees treated for free
6/25/2012
Tales from fire include donkey heroics
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Duluth veterinarian corrals zoo animals during flood
6/22/2012
Polar bear breaks out, seals swim in street
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Ohio Veterinary Medical Association building burns
6/1/2012
Flames destroy more than half of structure
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Company asks veterinarians to stop using its hyperbaric oxygen chambers
2/14/2012
Fatal explosion a 'wakeup call' for safety, training
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Veterinary practice digs out from Alabama twister
1/24/2012
Animals unharmed; massive cleanup ensues
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Veterinary 9/11 first-responders were local
12/1/2011
Shared experience forged lifelong ties
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Preparedness urged for Australian bushfire, cyclone season
10/6/2011
Experts advise reviewing insurance coverage, readying for evacuation
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9/11 brings first responder to ‘emotional brink’
9/9/2011
Memories from Ground Zero haunt veterinarian
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Veterinarians encounter Irene
8/29/2011
Accounts mixed on storm's impact
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North Carolina veterinarians brace for Hurricane Irene
8/26/2011
NCVMA collects names of volunteers
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Colorado State to examine rubble in fire's wake
8/2/2011
Source of blaze that destroyed Equine Reproduction Laboratory unknown
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Zoo stranded by titanic flood
8/2/2011
Displaced animals won't return for a year or two
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Joplin marches forward
7/12/2011
Adopt-a-thon finds homes for 745 displaced pets in two days
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Wildfires: Veterinary volunteers urgently sought in Arizona
6/21/2011
Pharmaceuticals, supplies needed
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Veterinarian tells story of chaos, relief in tornado's aftermath
6/1/2011
Dr. Ben Leavens sets up makeshift ER while family is missing
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Tornadoes strike again; veterinarians shaken
5/25/2011
Oklahoma veterinarian escapes twister by jumping into kennel
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Veterinary relief under way in deadly tornado’s wake
5/23/2011
At least one Joplin, Mo., veterinary practice destroyed
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Recovery continues for wildlife affected by Gulf oil spill
4/22/2011
Rescuers able to release most animals back to sea
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Fearing overseas radiation, Americans seek potassium iodide for pets
3/18/2011
Veterinary experts say medication isn’t warranted
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Normalcy returns to Queensland veterinary school after epic flooding
2/17/2011
Most pets reclaimed by families
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Pet rescues undertaken in flooded Queensland
1/17/2011
Veterinary school becomes ad hoc shelter
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AU veterinary student missing in Thailand
7/30/2009
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Australian vets treat victims of deadly Victorian bushfires
2/18/2009
At least one veterinary clinic reportedly succumbed to blaze
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Colleagues Beset by Disaster Set Bitterness Aside
One forgives employee who set clinic on fire
10/31/2008
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Ike promises depressed economy for Texas region
9/24/2008
17 veterinarians practice in Galveston, TVMA reports
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Ike's aftermath
9/17/2008
Veterinarians endure post storm
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Generators wanted, Texas veterinary officials say
9/17/2008
More than 1,000 DVMs in devastated counties, TVMA reports
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Texas gears up for countdown to Ike
9/10/2008
Animal care agencies prepare for storm's strike
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LSART to assess damages before taking on new volunteers
9/2/2008
Aide workers should wait, officials say; supply donations not needed at press time
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Free pet food offer brings deluge of requests
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December 26, 2012
By: Edie Lau
For The VIN News Service
The food is taken.
In yet
another testament to the reach of electronic communication, an online news
article about tons of free pet food stacked in a New York warehouse with
nowhere to go attracted a torrent of requests almost instantly, some
from as far away as Greece and Poland.
This week, if all goes as planned, 40 pallets’
worth of Pedigree, Cesar and Whiskas dog and cat food will start finding
its way to pet owners ravaged in late October by Hurricane Sandy — the
very people the food was intended for originally.
“It worked!” pronounced an elated, if weary, Dr. Brian Green.
Green
is a veterinarian in Tarrytown, about 25 miles northeast of New York
City. After Hurricane Sandy thrashed much of the coast, Green joined
with other volunteers, including Mike and Martha Witkowski, owners of
ZipJack Custom Umbrellas in nearby Elmsford, to collect and deliver
donations of food and goods to storm victims.
Among the
donations the volunteers received were 46 pallets of pet food from an
animal rescue group in Texas. They were able to find takers for
six of the pallets — equal to about 1,500 pounds of food — but as storm
assistance poured in from all over, demand dwindled for the rest.
Green
reached out to the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), a professional
organization with nearly 50,000 members around the world, for help in
spreading the word about the free food. VIN’s media arm, the VIN News
Service, published an article on Friday.
By Saturday, responses began filling Green’s email inbox.
“Then it hit Facebook and went viral, and I have fielded probably close to 300 emails now,” Green said Wednesday.
Five
came from Greece and one from Poland — from rescue organizations that
apparently hadn’t thought about the cost and logistics of shipping the
food overseas, he said.
Within the United States, messages came
from 15 or 16 states, Green said, including one from a rescue
organization in Texas offering help distributing the food. It turned out
the organization was the same one that donated the food originally.
Calls
also poured into ZipJack. In the end, the storm relief volunteers were
able to connect with several organizations that said they could deliver
the food to storm victims on Staten Island, the Rockaways and Long
Island, the hardest-hit parts of the state.
“We were having so
much trouble identifying the people in need, and the organizations, they
know where it needs to go and can provide the transportation,” Green
said.
“The happy ending is, people in desperate need are going
to get a lot of pet food,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. ... I’m
very happy to have been a part of it.”
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