Animal Rescue Groups Seek Support to Help Pets Victimized by Terrorist Attacks

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

September 21, 2001 —  As most people evacuated ground zero, where sirens blared and authorities warned of asbestos in the air, animal rescue worker Holly Staver remained. It was her job to help animals in need, and she knew that thousands of pets were in danger. Two days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Staver convinced authorities to assist her in retrieving pets for distraught owners who telephoned City Critters, the animal rescue service that Staver runs. Wearing a dust mask, she entered empty, dark and dusty buildings – both saving helpless animals trapped without food or water and bringing peace of mind to New Yorkers traumatized by the disaster.

Escorted by an ASPCA humane law enforcement officer, a resident of Ground Zero returns to her evacuated apartment on West Street to rescue her cat. --Photos courtesy of Samarra Khaja/ASPCA

The animal lover received calls for help from crying and pleading people all over New York. But when she heard the desperate voice of a man who had fled to a friend's house in Long Island, her heart went out more than it had before.

"The man said that he and his wife were never moving back to New York. The only thing they wanted was their animals," said Holly Staver, president of a non-profit animal rescue group in Manhatten called City Critters. "The man had been injured while he and his wife were walking by the Towers during the collapse. They were in shock and needed somebody to bring their pets to their vet to be boarded [until they could return to the city to gather their belongings]."

Staver, with the help of a building superintendent and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) entered the couple's apartment to gather two very frightened animals - an aged, blind terrier and a plump calico cat. Volunteer veterinarians at a mobile ASPCA clinic cleaned the dog and another volunteer from an emergency pet transport service delivered the pets - safe and sound - to the vet. The vet had remained open 24 hours over the weekend in order to receive them. The acts of kindness brought a little comfort to a couple traumatized by last week's terrorist incidents.

ASPCA officials review street maps to plan a day of rescuing abandoned animals trapped in the evacuated apartments in the hot zone.

"Pets are so important to people, especially when they're in turmoil," Staver said, later adding that the volunteers, who want so desperately to help those suffering as a result of the attacks, benefit too. "Being able to help animals and people who have pets is healing," she said.

While much of the nation has focused on the enormous human suffering wrought by the recent terrorist attacks, the disasters also have taken a toll on animals. Pets have been stranded in airports and left alone without food or water in homes of the missing and evacuated. In response, animal shelters, humane societies, rescue leagues and veterinarians have come together in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., to rescue and find homes for these animals.

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, several organizations, including the ASPCA, set up 24-hour "command centers" where pet owners could find police escorts to take them to their stranded pets in New York. They also could get free veterinarian care for pets that were left alone in the prohibited area.

Anatomy of a Collapse: View a slideshow of how the 110-story World Trade Center towers fell. Courtesy of U.S.News & World Report

"A lot of the animals were treated for dehydration, respiratory illness and shock. But most were surprisingly healthy and just all excited to see their owners of course," said Brigid Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for ASPCA. Since last Tuesday's disaster, the ASPCA alone has rescued 160 pets - including cats, dogs, guinea pigs, turtles, snakes, rats and birds -- and treated 300 with veterinarian care.

Phones rang nonstop with calls from concerned pet owners, volunteers and others who wanted to help. Even the American Red Cross received calls. "They were really concerned about who was taking care of the animals and what was being done with them," said Jennifer Richmond, head of public inquiries for the Red Cross. Because the Red Cross can not accept pets in its shelters, it refers people to other organizations that can help, such as the The Humane Society of the United States.

Animals groups are now concerned about the pets left alone by owners who are missing as a result of the disaster at the World Trade Center. "We really need to depend on neighbors, friends and relatives to call us, and we'll find the pets a permanent home," Fitzgerald said. "It's a traumatizing experience for the pet, too. They think their owner just never came home … We're working on nine days now. An animal can survive this long if it's resourceful and able to drink out of the toilet."

Vinnie Spinola, of the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition shelter, worries that many animals will not be found until it's too late. "A lot of them are being helped by friends or family members. But since a lot of people live alone in this city, I'm afraid the pets will perish if nobody finds them."

If you know of a pet in the New York area that was stranded as a result of the recent terrorist attacks, here are some numbers to call for help: ASPCA   (212) 876-7700 ext. 4PET HSUS   (212) 1-888-LOST-123 B.A.R.C.   (718) 486-7489 City Critters   (212) 252-3183

He encourages neighbors who know of stranded pets to contact an animal rescue group.

Spinola and others also are concerned about the future, when friends and relatives realize they can no longer care for their loved one's pet. That's when the biggest need for adoptions will occur.

Animal groups say the outpouring of support for their cause has been staggering. Accustomed to begging for foster care and adoptions, the organizations report that thousands have volunteered to take in or care for abandoned and stranded pets since last Tuesday. Others have sent food and other items.

The best way to help, say the organizations, is to volunteer to adopt or foster an animal or to send a cash donation. (See Related Links for more information on how to help or to report an abandoned animal in the New York or Washington, D.C. areas).

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