Helen Woodward Animal Center Announces Emergency Response RV and Rescue Team
Rancho Santa Fe, CA (Feb. 18, 2021) – Helen Woodward Animal Center is proud to announce its newest program. The organization which, up to now, has offered 14 programs and services dedicated to helping animals and people, is now ready to make an even greater impact when disaster strikes with its own Emergency Response Unit and Rescue Team. Thanks to generous donors, the Linda C. Scott Fund for Animal Welfare held at The San Diego Foundation and the Alex and Elisabeth Lewyt Charitable Trust, the Center is unveiling a state-of-the-art, 37-feet-long Rescue RV completely retrofitted with veterinary equipment and prepared to deploy to the rescue of animals in any part of the U.S. The media is invited to tour the Center’s new Emergency Response RV and meet members of the Rescue Team on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 at 9 a.m.
Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Helen Woodward Animal Center has taken an active role in aiding devastated shelters during emergency situations around the country. Again, in 2012, when parts of the East Coast were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, the Center partnered with Southwest Airlines and SeaWorld Rescue to fly 60 orphan pets to Rancho Santa Fe. The orphan dogs and cats, who had been housed in an east coast shelter before the storm, had nowhere to go when the shelter was left underwater. The rescue provided them safety and ultimately found them their forever homes.
Center adoptions and medical staff were also on the ground after Hurricane Harvey left the Houston area underwater. There, Center adoption team members were able to assist Operation Pets Alive, providing medical care and rescue to approximately 80 orphan pets housed in shelters that were flooded during the hurricane. Once again, the rescue efforts succeeded in getting the orphan pets out of the devastated shelters and to the Center thanks to a life-saving flight donated by Southwest Airlines.
These rescue missions left their mark on Helen Woodward Animal Center, prompting an initiative to fund an Emergency Response Unit and train a team ready to deploy whenever and wherever disaster strikes.
“It has always been Helen Woodward Animal Center’s goal to not only assist animals in need locally but all around the country and even the world,” said Helen Woodward Animal Center President & CEO Mike Arms. “This new emergency response equipment gives us the ability to assist when help is most needed.”
Thanks to two incredible acts of generosity, the Center received funding totaling $250,000 to purchase and retrofit the response RV, as well as train a rotating team of nine Center staff in emergency response. Helen Woodward Animal Center is endlessly grateful to the Linda C. Scott Fund for Animal Welfare and The San Diego Foundation’s matching grant support of $125,000, generously matched by the Alex and Elisabeth Lewyt Charitable Trust.
These important donations funded the purchase and unique customization of a 37-feet-long RV that sleeps four people, and includes 12 animal kennels and a medical exam table. The unit is stocked with life-saving veterinary medications and supplies to aid injured animals and even transport displaced orphan pets back to San Diego to find forever homes. Most crucially, the new rescue RV allows the Rescue Team to be self-sufficient amid a disaster situation, equipped with a refrigerator, laundry facility, bathroom and bathing equipment for the animals.
This funding also supported the purchase of personal safety equipment including dry-suits, helmets, boots and more and will send a team of nine Center staff, including the Center’s Adoptions Veterinarian and other medical and adoptions personnel, to a specialized training in Del Mar in April. The week-long course is conducted by Code 3 Associates, a nonprofit providing professional training to individuals and agencies involved in animal related emergency response. There, the team will learn water and boat operating safety, animal handling and behavior, fire awareness, search and rescue and more.
The goal of these rescue missions is to alleviate the burden on animal welfare professionals and shelters in areas affected by disasters when help is needed most. The Center’s team will respond by rescuing and treating injured pets and transporting orphan animals in need back to San Diego to safety.
The media is invited to hear more and tour the Emergency Response RV at Helen Woodward Animal Center on Tuesday, February 23 at 9 a.m. The announcement ceremony will be held at the front of the Center’s adoption building. Coffee and a light breakfast will be available at 8:45 a.m. Please RSVP to JessicaG@animalcenter.org or FernandaL@animalcenter.org if you plan to attend.
For more information on Helen Woodward Animal Center, go to www.animalcenter.org or call (858) 756-4117.
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About Helen Woodward Animal Center
Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization where “people help animals and animals help people.” Founded in 1972 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the Center provides services for more than 90,000 people and more than 10,000 animals annually through adoptions, educational and therapeutic programs both onsite and throughout the community. Helen Woodward Animal Center is also the creator of the International Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, the International Remember Me Thursday® campaign and The Business of Saving Lives Workshops, teaching the business of saving lives to animal welfare leaders from around the world. For more information, go to: www.animalcenter.org.