Animals and Disaster: Recovering in the Wake of Hurricane Harvey

As many of us sadly know, when natural disasters happen, humans are not the only ones affected. The recent hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico have left thousands of animals displaced, with many suffering serious injuries and illnesses due to flooding.

Luckily, there are plenty of amazing volunteers and organizations who have devoted their time and energy to rescuing and caring for these animals.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Vetericyn donated wound care products to a number of Texas facilities caring for horses rescued in the disaster. We caught up with a few of them to see how they were doing.

Texas Equine Angels (T.E.A.)

More than a month after Hurricane Harvey hit southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana with catastrophic wind and rains, much of the area is still dealing with flooding. That’s the case at Texas Equine Angels in Bremond, Texas, a nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals overcome injuries and illnesses through equine therapy.

“There are still so many places where the water needs to get pumped out. The news can’t show you it all because they can’t get to the places we are in,” said T.E.A. founder Jackie Campbell, who started the organization as a tiny operation out of her own car, and credits equine therapy with helping her recover from a wheelchair-bound injury of her own.

With many of the horse’s owners still displaced and unable to communicate with T.EA., the nearby Sam Houston Raceway Park, in collaboration with the Red Cross, has stepped up to home many of the organization’s horses. Unfortunately, the flooding has caused many water-related issues in area horses, such as colic, sores, cellulitis, infections and damage from fly and mosquito bites. Because of this, “the Vetericyn went like crazy. It’s an awesome product, and it’s been wonderful using it to deal with the sores and fly situation. The healing properties are amazing,” said Robertson.

Robertson and volunteers like her have been “hustling” and “working 26 hour days” since the hurricane hit, she says, rescuing 193 horses and two donkeys thus far, from Houston to Angleton, and as far as out as Katy, Tx. Some of the horses went directly to other facilities, including peoples’ homes.  “We rescued horses in the dark, we rescued them in the light,” said Robertson, who shared that at one point during the rescues, a nearby power plant exploded. “These are stressful times, but we have to laugh about it,” she said.

Due to damage incurred by Hurricane Harvey, T.E.A. is looking for a new location to house its therapy horses, and is accepting donations on its Facebook page or via PayPal at telephone number 979-661-0362.

Liberty County Police Department

Many of the animal rescues that have happened in the wake of Hurricane Harvey have been organized not by huge rescue groups, but by individuals looking to help, such as Cherie Morgan of Hull, TX. A traveling surgical nurse by day, Morgan, a lifelong animal lover, said she couldn’t just stand by, and wanted to do anything she could to help out, so one day she and her husband hooked up their trailer and headed out to disaster-struck areas. Morgan and other volunteers used two-way radio app Zello to communicate with major rescue groups to learn about animals that needed rescuing after the flood, and in particular, horses.

When natural disasters strike, a lot of people ask, “How can you abandon your animals? You knew this was coming,” said Morgan. “But no one expected that dams were going to be breaking, and no one expected it to be bad as it was. The Coast Guards just dropped in overnight, and no one had time to react,” before evacuations began. “So they didn’t really have a choice.”

Morgan began her rescue efforts with Equine Rescue, and later worked with the Liberty County Police Department, alongside volunteers Sarah Jackson and Chance Ward, whose unbelievable horse rescue video made the news and racked up more than 10,000 views on YouTube. Tragically, one of the volunteers, Brian Sumrall, a 15-year Houston Fire Department veteran, lost his life while riding a tractor to donate goods. Sumrall had played an important role in Harvey relief efforts and helped raise awareness of recovery efforts through a Vimeo video.

“It was something we’ll never forget,” said Morgan of the rescues, which entailed her and other volunteers running through river bottoms and trying to herd cattle while swimming.  “Many of the horses were underwater for four or five days. The animals are so exhausted by the time of rescue, they no longer fight you, they just float out,” she added. At one time, Morgan had four rescued horses on her own property and is now down to a pony and a miniature donkey.

Following the rescue efforts, a local police office generously donated his welding shop to act as a donation barn. The donation center has received goods from all over, including feed and bales of hay from all over the U.S. With many of the rescued horses dealing with health issues such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and rain rot, “Everyone’s mouths dropped when we heard Vetericyn was going to help,” said Morgan. “It is the best thing for the rain rot and sores.”