American Humane has received a substantial Marta Heflin Foundation grant to help fund efforts to save animals in the wake of catastrophic flooding in eastern Kentucky. The flooding killed dozens and displaced thousands of people and animals across multiple counties in the state.
"American Humane is grateful to the Foundation for helping our Rescue Team with its mission to aid as many animals as possible in the aftermath of this devastating destruction," said Dr. Robin R. Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane.
The American Humane Rescue Team, and the organization’s 50-foot rescue truck, rushed to eastern Kentucky in early August as part of a coordinated effort with the National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition (NARSC). Working on the ground alongside the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), American Humane went on the ground to assist in the recovery of one of the state’s deadliest floods in decades. The team worked with local authorities and animal shelters in Perry, Knott, Letcher, Breathitt and Floyd counties to help rescue animals and provide relief to locals impacted by the disaster. Volunteers and team members distributed pet supplies and food to local residents while helping rescue animals who were lost during the flooding.
The American Humane Rescue Team was founded more than 100 years ago during World War I when the U.S. Secretary of War requested assistance caring for injured horses in the battlefields of war-torn Europe. Since then, American Humane’s team of animal first responders has been on the ground for virtually every disaster in our nation’s history, from Pearl Harbor, to 9/11, to the most recent flooding in eastern Kentucky.
