After hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the southern portions of the United States , AACR swung into action to offer assistance. When Katrina evacuees arrived in Kansas City , the Red Cross Chapter of Greater Kansas City contacted our organization and asked for members and their specially trained crisis response dogs to assist at a Red Cross Service Center . We had eight animal/handler teams respond. These teams were composed of people from Kansas , Missouri , Texas and Oregon . If needed, we had additional teams on standby in Nebraska . Our members and their dogs provided stress management and relief, emotional support and coping strategies for hundreds of Katrina evacuees and also for the stressed Red Cross volunteers working with them.
In addition to the response to Kansas City after the hurricane, we had teams working in other locations with the Red Cross to assist Katrina evacuees, among them Terre Haute , Indiana , Grand Rapids, Michigan and Eugene , Oregon .
After the country was hit by Hurricane Rita, the American Red Cross once again called upon our services. The national office contacted us to respond to Houston , Texas . Over the course of three weeks, we had nine members and seven dogs in southeast Texas . After responding to Houston , we spent two days visiting Red Cross shelters in Baytown , Texas , once again providing stress management and relief and emotional support to shelter residents and the Red Cross volunteers. After spending two days in Baytown , the Red Cross requested we move to Beaumont , Texas , where our services were greatly needed. The next two and a half weeks were spent stationed at “ Camp Beaumont ” in the Ford Park Arena in Beaumont , working closely with Red Cross mental health. Our days were spent at Red Cross service centers throughout southeast Texas , working with hundreds of Rita survivors standing in long lines waiting to receive benefits. In the evenings, we and our dogs worked with over 2000 emergency responders (from Red Cross, FEMA , US Forest Service, Salvation Army , US Army, National Guard, firefighters, EMS 's) who were housed at “ Camp Beaumont .” These workers were highly stressed by the work they were doing each day in the area and came to look forward to seeing the dogs as a way to deal with their stress and the emotions they were dealing with.
The dogs were enthusiastically welcomed everywhere we went and became an important component in supporting the mental health needs of responders and survivors alike.
Kansas Teams respond to Katrina relief efforts
Three canine crisis response teams from Kansas City responded to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. The dog/handler teams were Amy Wurst and Cabby (tri-color rough coat Collie), Laura Horseman and Cheyenne (Border Collie mix) and Julie Yoder and Mackenzie (German Shepherd Dog).
Teams were able to provide calming effects, well-needed distractions and the unconditional love of a dog. The teams did their very best to make them feel special and loved. As much as they try to put on a brave face, you can tell they still feel very lost and scared. Hopefully by spending more time with the dogs, they feel more integrated into their new lives and schools. Obviously, it's been a very traumatic experience and they left the schools each day knowing that they have helped ease their transition.
At the end of the trip, the team received letters of thanks and gratitude. Some who were skeptical at first were converted to full believers in the POWER OF THE DOGS.