09.20.05
At the request of Katrina rescue officials, North Carolina?s State Animal Response Team (SART), in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, has deployed to assist the Katrina animal rescue operations in Mississippi. Led by a team of thirteen animal experts, the SART Katrina mission is expected to last 10-14 days.
"SART was still responding to Ophelia on the North Carolina Coast when we were tapped by Katrina's rescue team for our animal expertise," said Chester Lowder, of the North Carolina Farm Bureau and a SART volunteer, "we quickly ensured the appropriate team was in place in North Carolinaand then assembled another team to deploy to Mississippi."
The SART team is led by Bill Gentry, Director of the Community Preparedness and Disaster Management (CPDM) Masters Certificate Program within the Department of Health Policy and Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gentry serves as a SART volunteer and trainer and is largely responsible for many similar SART rescue teams across the country.
"SART has demonstrated that it can successfully mount and deploy an animal rescue, care and recovery effort on two days notice, fully staffed by trained volunteers, while also maintaining its ability to deal with a hurricane on our own coast." said Dr. Leonard Bull, SART Chair and Interim Executive Director.
For more information or if you wish to contribute to SART?s Katrina and Ophelia animal rescue efforts, please visit www.sartusa.org.
