Transcripts
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
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people and rescues making a
difference in the lives of animals.
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Welcome back to Animal Posse.
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Today we are catching up with a
guest that we had on last year,
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Ashley, with Southern Paws.
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As we all know, when disaster strikes,
our four legged family members
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are often the most vulnerable.
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Ashley has been on the front lines of
animal rescue and pet safety for years
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ashley, it is so good to have you back.
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Thanks for joining us to help
our listeners get their go bags
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in order and we're gonna talk
about disaster preparedness.
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Ashley: Hello.
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How are you?
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Dixie: I'm good.
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I wanted to say thank you for coming
on the show last time and then reaching
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back out to me about coming on the
show again today so we can talk about
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animals in emergencies and disasters.
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Ashley: Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And people and rescues
and all of the things.
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Dixie: I looked on your website
for Southern Paw and it looks
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like you have extensive knowledge
of doing disaster response and
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disaster preparedness for pets.
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Ashley: It all started before
I actually did animal rescue.
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I used to do human rescue.
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I was in emergency services, and when I
started to get into animal rescue, , I
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didn't have time to do everything.
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So I had to pick and choose.
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And obviously as you can tell I chose
animal rescue mainly 'cause I just
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the real truth of the matter is I
just like animals better than people.
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So it came to a head in 2016
with the, there was severe
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flooding in Louisiana actually.
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And I think you're from
Louisiana, aren't you Dixie?
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Dixie: I am, yeah.
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I remember that.
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Yeah.
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That was up near like Gonzalez
towards the Baton Rouge area
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Ashley: Yeah.
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Livingston.
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Yep.
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Yeah.
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Yep.
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Livingston.
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So we had the 2016 floods.
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So my sister organization which is
technically Tylertown, Mississippi,
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but we work with a lot of people
in the Livingston area and, they
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were on their way back from a
transport and could barely get home.
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And I remember calling them and
being , Hey is everything okay?
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And she was , I need help.
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And I was like, okay.
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What do you need?
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And she was like, I need
boots on the ground.
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Can you get here?
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And I was like yeah.
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Okay.
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So we packed up a truck with a
ton of supplies and we just left.
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We just went down, we rented a van.
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I brought down an entire truck of
supplies and we got in and I got there
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and she said what do you wanna do?
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And I was like, I wanna
be out in the field.
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I said, it would be a waste
to put me in a kennel.
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And she said, okay.
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She said here's a grid.
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This is where I need you to go.
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These are where the calls are.
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Like, go out there.
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And it was like these two
passions of mine collided.
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And I loved it.
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And I've been obsessed
with doing it ever since.
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So it's cool 'cause I have
all these specialties, ? I
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have different certifications.
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So I'm a hazmat technician, I have
a Swift Water Rescue certification.
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I used to be an EMT, I let it lapse.
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But over the years, all of those
different certifications have really.
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Come together in doing this really
amazing search and rescue work which is
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helping animals, but it's also helping
people too in different disasters.
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Since 2016, I have worked almost
every storm that we've had in the
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United States except for California.
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Mainly I would say Texas
East is what I've done.
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We have, built this network.
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I've worked with other organizations
under them, but really for us
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specifically, our team is really made up.
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More like a coalition.
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We work with a lot of different rescues.
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We partner up and we all feel, we all work
on the same level, which is really nice.
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So nobody really works underneath
one another unless there's a an MOU
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involved, which is like a contract
with the county or the state or the
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town, whatever area you're working in.
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But I love a good collab within, every
single element of my life in my work.
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So this really gives us an opportunity.
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, Every rescuer that we work with, in
every organization we work with kind of
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brings something different to the table.
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And when we all work together, we
really come up with these really
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beautiful, amazing accomplishments,
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I worked the floods.
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I did Hurricane Harvey.
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I worked hurricane Michael.
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That was a really bad one.
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Hurricane Sally.
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Hurricane Laura.
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Hurricane Irene.
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Hurricane Ida.
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All the I's.
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I chased Dorian all the way to Florida
and then all the way up the East Coast.
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But I never actually worked it.
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And then we just did hurricane Helene.
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We actually did 17 days for
Helene, and it was crazy because
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we actually did human rescue.
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We didn't even end up doing animal rescue.
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We did more human rescue
during Helene than animal.
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And yeah it's become we can
do it on this large scale,
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? Where we go and we assist during
natural disasters or we can
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do it on a really small scale.
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An example of that would be, we
had this rescue up here Oscar, it's
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called One Step Closer Animal Rescue.
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And they just had a
fire that it was awful.
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They lost their entire kennel
and just had no idea what to do.
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It happened to be local to me
and I was able to run out and.
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I self deployed, which you're not supposed
to do, but considering their neighbors for
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me, they're about an hour from my home.
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I just showed up and was like,
hi, this is what I can do.
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And they were like, oh
my God, we need you.
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Please sit down.
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So we were able to really help
get them organized and implement
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some of our protocols there.
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We also are able to do it with
hoarding cases, that's a big one.
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I'm on the cart team which is a
animal response team for my county.
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We also have a couple other ones
in the area that I'm a part of.
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And one of my things there is I'm
usually their transport coordinator
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where, I'll figure out which animals
are gonna go where, how they're gonna
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get there how long they're gonna
stay there, and making sure all the
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paperwork and stuff is in place for that.
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But it, natural disasters happen.
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A bad day happens, a fire happens.
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These are all things that
are out of our control.
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And being able to have somebody who
can assist you through it, I think is
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really something that's super valuable.
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And that's what I love.
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That's what we do and
that's how I love to do it.
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Dixie: Yeah.
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I know pets are very resilient
in the natural disasters.
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The way that I help when we have
natural disasters is I actually
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will set up lost and found pet
pages for the actual disaster.
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And there's a group of us that do that.
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We almost mobilize ourselves to do that.
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And it's really amazing
how resilient animals are.
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I'm not saying that they don't need
to be rescued because they do, there
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are situations, but I know a lot
of people give up hope easily with
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their animals, and a lot of 'em are
so resilient where you might not see
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'em and they'll end up showing up.
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Now, I know in Louisiana when
we had that flood in 2016, that
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was a very unexpected thing.
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We are used to floods here, but.
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That kind of flood was insane.
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Yeah.
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And the rate at which the water came
up and we are , honestly here, we're
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not used to that type of flooding.
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The type of flooding that we're
used to is, we'll hear, okay, we're
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gonna get a lot of rain and the
water comes up and we will flood.
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But it's usually slow.
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It's not really fast moving.
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It's same thing when we have
a hurricane and at least for a
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hurricane we have time to get out.
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But I know for the 2016 flood it came
up so fast that people were actually at
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work and their pets were in their houses.
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Yeah.
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And they couldn't get home.
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I'd like to hear you know more about that.
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What is the difference in approaches
that you take to a disaster like
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that versus a hurricane that
people can actually plan for.
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And then you also have to plan for
coming to be boots on the ground after
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the disaster because you've gotta know
what roads to take and things like that.
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Ashley: Yeah, so I think there's
a lot of elements to that, ? The
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first thing I would say is, it's
funny that's how you describe it.
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'cause there are a lot of the floods,
the situations that I've worked.
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We did the Kentucky floods and
then there was the crazy flooding
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in landslides during Helene.
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Every single one of these situations
were situations where they were like,
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either oh, we're used to it, and then
all of a sudden it's just the flash flood
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happens and it's just comes so fast.
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But we had flooding in Kentucky that
we worked at was really like that.
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And they have a lot of what
they call hollers up there.
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So it's all these houses in I don't
even know how to explain a holler.
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It was the first time I've ever
experienced that in the heart of Kentucky.
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But they're these little groves it's
literally the bottom of a mountain and
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there's a whole bunch of houses in there,?
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And honestly the best thing you can
do, and I tell everybody this, get out.
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If you even think there's
a question, just leave
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, if you get evacuation orders.
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Just leave.
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Okay.
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The worst thing that's gonna happen
is you're wasting money on a hotel
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room for a night or a day, or
you're staying at friends for a day.
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The worst case that happens
is your house is gone.
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So when you're looking at your pros and
cons I promise you your pros of leaving
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are a lot higher than your cons are.
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That's the first thing I say, because
90% of the victims that we meet in these
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situations, animals and humans are because
they were , oh, we thought we could stay.
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Like we've always stayed before.
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And it was never a big deal.
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And trust me when I tell you, we've
seen the awful disaster and the
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tragedies that go along with that,
the second one for you guys preparing
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when you have time ahead of time.
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Like I said, if you can leave, great.
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Leave ? If you can't leave, okay.
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First of all, don't ever
go into your attic,?
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This is a big one, and I know you
know this from Katrina, but you'd be
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amazed how many people still do that.
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They go into their attics and you never
wanna do that because in a situation
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where you have severe flash flooding
you're gonna drown in your attic.
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There's no way out.
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And we've seen that in, in multiple
scenarios and it's horrific.
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Number two is if that water
is rising, take what you can
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and just get to high land.
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We have a rule if it's wind
hunker down, if it's water run.
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And that's exactly what
it is, ? Because water.
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You are not gonna be able
to stay where you are.
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You're gonna have to get out.
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Another big one, always have
a go bag for your animals.
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This is a big one that I feel like
a lot of people don't have your go
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bag, especially during storm season
or if I know something's coming in,
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I have my dogs tags.
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I have at least a day
or two of their food.
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I have a week of their medication.
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I have their medical records.
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A lot of the states in the United States
have really been great recently about
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putting together these shelters that
are human animal shelters where people
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can stay with their pets, but you still
have to have their supplies, ? If your
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dog is in congenital heart failure, make
sure you have your meds, for at least
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a week or two until we can get more.
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Same thing with their food.
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A lot of dogs are on prescription diets
or they're on sensitive skin and stomach.
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I have a dog that has IBD,
if I give him something other
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than his food, he's gonna die.
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There's things that we can do as
humans to prepare ourselves, ? Make
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sure you have a leash, you have
a collar, you have that go bag.
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So if you need to go, you just up and go.
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You're not scrambling last minute.
239
00:11:28,253 --> 00:11:29,303
Another big one.
240
00:11:29,333 --> 00:11:32,303
, It's such a silly thing and it's
scary when you think about it.
241
00:11:32,723 --> 00:11:37,373
But one of the best things you guys can
do is take a sharpie marker and write
242
00:11:37,373 --> 00:11:39,143
your name and phone number on your dog.
243
00:11:39,603 --> 00:11:43,103
Coming from somebody who I
really love reunification.
244
00:11:43,143 --> 00:11:45,633
There's a lot of organizations
out there that aren't for that.
245
00:11:45,633 --> 00:11:47,913
I am all for reunification.
246
00:11:48,388 --> 00:11:53,338
And we actually work ahead of a storm
to try and empty shelters to be able
247
00:11:53,338 --> 00:11:57,028
to make space for those lost animals
so that people can find their pets.
248
00:11:58,228 --> 00:11:58,768
But.
249
00:11:59,473 --> 00:12:01,473
In that same sense okay, we get them back.
250
00:12:01,473 --> 00:12:03,123
Now nobody has the internet.
251
00:12:03,153 --> 00:12:04,653
Nobody really has phone.
252
00:12:05,133 --> 00:12:07,503
Nobody's seeing the lost pet pages.
253
00:12:07,503 --> 00:12:10,863
So how do you connect
with your animals now?
254
00:12:10,963 --> 00:12:12,463
And nobody knows where to go.
255
00:12:12,463 --> 00:12:17,963
People in the us in animal rescue, we
know, go to your local shelter, call
256
00:12:17,963 --> 00:12:22,613
the police department and find out where
their staging location is for animals.
257
00:12:22,623 --> 00:12:23,343
Find out.
258
00:12:23,343 --> 00:12:26,013
You can call the vet's offices,
they might say, Hey, there's a
259
00:12:26,013 --> 00:12:27,573
location here and a location there.
260
00:12:27,573 --> 00:12:30,743
Or maybe your animal control
is big enough, but I'll use
261
00:12:30,743 --> 00:12:31,883
the floods as an example.
262
00:12:31,883 --> 00:12:35,003
During the floods, we
were staged at Livingston,
263
00:12:35,133 --> 00:12:39,583
? And we had animals from four
or five different parishes.
264
00:12:39,583 --> 00:12:42,573
now you're dealing with people
lost their cars, i'll tell you
265
00:12:42,573 --> 00:12:45,693
what, what works really well is
if you've written your, name and
266
00:12:45,693 --> 00:12:47,823
number in Sharpie, on their belly.
267
00:12:48,073 --> 00:12:52,163
'Cause chances are eventually they're
gonna get to somebody, that's got a phone.
268
00:12:52,483 --> 00:12:55,403
Or most of us are gonna
take our phones with us.
269
00:12:55,613 --> 00:12:59,363
So if we at least have that number, we
can call and say, Hey, we have your dog.
270
00:12:59,413 --> 00:13:00,463
This is where he is.
271
00:13:00,673 --> 00:13:02,593
And then they can say,
oh, we don't have a car.
272
00:13:02,593 --> 00:13:03,733
And we can say, okay, no problem.
273
00:13:03,733 --> 00:13:05,743
We're gonna send a volunteer
to bring you your pet.
274
00:13:06,193 --> 00:13:07,903
And just being able to provide that.
275
00:13:07,903 --> 00:13:12,553
Now when it comes to us, ? Storm
season for me, the best way to
276
00:13:12,553 --> 00:13:14,383
describe it is storm chasing.
277
00:13:14,503 --> 00:13:17,593
I'm usually glued to my television
if there's a storm coming.
278
00:13:17,593 --> 00:13:21,303
Don't even talk to me the we are
watching the weather Channel 24 7.
279
00:13:21,723 --> 00:13:23,193
It's on in the background.
280
00:13:23,193 --> 00:13:24,453
I am already.
281
00:13:24,998 --> 00:13:27,098
Making plans three days in advance.
282
00:13:27,098 --> 00:13:29,978
I'm talking to people, I am
trying to figure out who can
283
00:13:29,978 --> 00:13:31,708
go how are we gonna get there?
284
00:13:31,708 --> 00:13:33,268
Do we need to rent vehicles?
285
00:13:33,268 --> 00:13:37,858
Because the last thing I wanna ever do
is take, my vehicle into a disaster area.
286
00:13:37,908 --> 00:13:39,948
I usually will get a rental vehicle.
287
00:13:39,948 --> 00:13:42,168
The enterprise people up
here know me real well.
288
00:13:42,198 --> 00:13:44,328
'cause usually I'm calling
them and I'm like, hi.
289
00:13:44,328 --> 00:13:46,668
And they're like, Ashley, it's
seven o'clock on a Friday.
290
00:13:46,668 --> 00:13:49,548
And I'm like, I know, but I
need a lifted pickup truck and
291
00:13:49,548 --> 00:13:50,788
I need it tomorrow morning.
292
00:13:50,788 --> 00:13:51,868
And they're like, we're not even open.
293
00:13:51,868 --> 00:13:54,868
And I'm like, can you just figure
this out, but I need it for this.
294
00:13:54,928 --> 00:13:58,198
And they know me so well at this point
that they're like yeah, we got you.
295
00:13:58,208 --> 00:13:59,048
We'll figure this out.
296
00:13:59,498 --> 00:14:01,358
So they've been really great.
297
00:14:01,388 --> 00:14:03,578
And it just at the end of
the day, ends up being.
298
00:14:04,418 --> 00:14:09,008
A lot of support from a lot of
different people coming together.
299
00:14:09,058 --> 00:14:12,988
We wanna be there as soon as
the storm leaves, and we like to
300
00:14:12,988 --> 00:14:15,148
be there for at least 72 hours.
301
00:14:15,248 --> 00:14:18,158
My rule of thumb is usually seven days.
302
00:14:18,258 --> 00:14:21,768
I try to go two days, travel,
five days on the ground.
303
00:14:22,578 --> 00:14:27,708
By the end of that time, usually the
national organizations have gotten in and
304
00:14:27,708 --> 00:14:35,663
they're then able to kinda set up MOUs and
they are able to really provide much more.
305
00:14:36,553 --> 00:14:37,513
Than we can.
306
00:14:37,563 --> 00:14:41,233
Our goal is to be there , as things
are just happening so that we can
307
00:14:41,233 --> 00:14:46,483
do the emergency setup until the
cavalry can come, if that makes sense.
308
00:14:46,513 --> 00:14:49,783
'Cause it sometimes it'll take them
a little bit longer to mobilize.
309
00:14:50,203 --> 00:14:53,383
Or if they have especially those spur
of the moment things a lot of the
310
00:14:53,383 --> 00:14:56,693
national organizations get MOUs, I keep
talking about this, they're , these
311
00:14:56,693 --> 00:14:59,668
contracts that they have that allow
you to work in different areas.
312
00:15:01,198 --> 00:15:06,538
And those contracts by the time, like
OEM, office of Emergency Management
313
00:15:06,568 --> 00:15:10,688
and everybody gets done with the
human rescue, all of a sudden it
314
00:15:10,688 --> 00:15:14,048
then pivots and they're like, okay,
now we can also focus on animals.
315
00:15:14,378 --> 00:15:18,308
And that's around the time that the more
national organization comes in, your
316
00:15:18,338 --> 00:15:23,018
A-S-P-C-A, your best friends, your aha,
all these different amazing national
317
00:15:23,018 --> 00:15:24,518
organizations that come at that point.
318
00:15:24,518 --> 00:15:27,908
But we like to try and do that
in between time and to hold
319
00:15:27,908 --> 00:15:30,308
everybody over before that happens.
320
00:15:31,261 --> 00:15:33,661
Dixie: The MOUI was
gonna ask you about that.
321
00:15:33,661 --> 00:15:38,611
That's just basically a
contract for you to go in or
322
00:15:39,361 --> 00:15:39,961
Ashley: Yeah.
323
00:15:39,961 --> 00:15:46,191
So it's a contract for you to go into
and you can have a standing contract,
324
00:15:46,191 --> 00:15:48,231
like a standing MOE with different areas.
325
00:15:48,231 --> 00:15:51,521
I know some of the national
organizations have standing MOUs
326
00:15:51,521 --> 00:15:52,901
with different organizations.
327
00:15:52,901 --> 00:15:55,921
And usually what it is office
of Emergency Management will
328
00:15:55,921 --> 00:16:01,111
usually have a list of approved
organizations that they'll bring in.
329
00:16:01,441 --> 00:16:03,091
And that's what that MOU is.
330
00:16:03,091 --> 00:16:07,691
It pretty much gives you the
ability to operate in in whatever
331
00:16:07,691 --> 00:16:09,401
area it is that you're working in.
332
00:16:09,731 --> 00:16:11,921
And that can come from
multiple different places.
333
00:16:11,921 --> 00:16:17,691
So for instance, during Hurricane Ida,
I was working under A DRC and animal
334
00:16:17,691 --> 00:16:23,541
Disaster Relief Coalition, and they
had an MOU alongside Terrebonne Parish.
335
00:16:23,601 --> 00:16:28,191
So we had permission to
operate and work in Terrebonne
336
00:16:28,191 --> 00:16:31,171
Parish during the Livingston.
337
00:16:32,566 --> 00:16:37,726
Floods we had, or the Louisiana floods
of 2016, we were operating under
338
00:16:37,726 --> 00:16:42,426
HSL who had an MOU for that area
for that parish or whatever it was.
339
00:16:42,486 --> 00:16:46,146
I know during Harvey we had one,
we were working under somebody,
340
00:16:46,146 --> 00:16:47,106
I don't even remember who.
341
00:16:47,496 --> 00:16:53,336
But typically we do in it is we usually
are teamed up because we do a coalition.
342
00:16:53,336 --> 00:16:58,136
And if that county says Hey, you
have to have an MOU to work here,
343
00:16:58,196 --> 00:16:59,426
we can't work in that county.
344
00:16:59,816 --> 00:17:03,756
So if we can't, if assuming we
don't have the MOU or we're not
345
00:17:03,756 --> 00:17:07,106
teamed up with somebody who has the
MOU, ? That can get a little sticky.
346
00:17:07,106 --> 00:17:08,786
And it's like the, I'm
not gonna lie to you.
347
00:17:08,786 --> 00:17:12,026
There are certain places in
Louisiana that we won't work.
348
00:17:12,106 --> 00:17:17,766
I will not work west of the Lafayette
line if you a state or straight line
349
00:17:17,766 --> 00:17:22,326
of Louisiana, because the certain
national organizations in that
350
00:17:22,326 --> 00:17:26,106
area, or even state organizations
have made it so difficult to work.
351
00:17:26,356 --> 00:17:27,286
We've been threatened.
352
00:17:27,286 --> 00:17:29,626
People have come out and been
, we're gonna have you arrested.
353
00:17:29,676 --> 00:17:31,716
There's some crazy stuff
that goes on out there.
354
00:17:31,716 --> 00:17:33,456
So after Hurricane Laura.
355
00:17:34,011 --> 00:17:36,651
We won't even work in that area.
356
00:17:37,091 --> 00:17:41,231
And I understand the MOUs, , I respect
and love working under an MOU when we
357
00:17:41,231 --> 00:17:44,521
can, we don't work somewhere if we don't
have, if we're told to leave and we're
358
00:17:44,521 --> 00:17:47,501
told we don't have permission to be
somewhere we leave, we don't do that.
359
00:17:47,601 --> 00:17:51,141
There is a problem in the field
with what we call cowboys,?
360
00:17:51,141 --> 00:17:55,041
And they're organizations that
are not necessarily trained
361
00:17:55,041 --> 00:17:56,871
in disaster relief officially.
362
00:17:57,371 --> 00:18:00,941
And they come in gun slinging not with
physical guns, but they'll come in and
363
00:18:00,991 --> 00:18:02,551
they take a whole bunch of animals.
364
00:18:02,601 --> 00:18:06,571
They don't categorize them, they don't
document where they got them from.
365
00:18:06,571 --> 00:18:10,621
They don't bring them to the appropriate
staging locations for people to find them.
366
00:18:10,921 --> 00:18:16,601
And then those animals get moved out of
state, or they get moved out of, the area
367
00:18:16,601 --> 00:18:18,041
and then people can't find their pets,
368
00:18:18,081 --> 00:18:21,861
? Or they're messing up the current
operations that are there.
369
00:18:22,111 --> 00:18:26,761
And this has been a big problem for
many years with many organizations.
370
00:18:26,861 --> 00:18:30,761
And it is important that wherever you
are, if you're on one of these teams and
371
00:18:30,761 --> 00:18:34,761
you haven't physically been invited in,
that really should be your first step.
372
00:18:34,761 --> 00:18:37,981
So anytime we have a storm, we'll
stage outside the storm and then
373
00:18:37,981 --> 00:18:41,331
we'll call ahead of the storm and say
Hey, it looks like it's gonna hit.
374
00:18:41,331 --> 00:18:45,261
Say, I don't know Charleston
say it's gonna hit Charleston.
375
00:18:45,651 --> 00:18:48,771
We'll be calling everybody
in Charleston going Hey.
376
00:18:49,221 --> 00:18:50,331
Do you guys have somebody?
377
00:18:50,331 --> 00:18:53,211
Are you we'll call emergency
management and say, Hey, do you
378
00:18:53,211 --> 00:18:56,811
have something lined up for your
your animals in this situation?
379
00:18:57,051 --> 00:18:59,961
And sometimes they're like, Hey, listen,
we don't care about animals right now.
380
00:18:59,961 --> 00:19:00,801
We care about people.
381
00:19:00,801 --> 00:19:04,341
And I'm like, okay, that's great, but
then that's gonna come in a day or two.
382
00:19:04,391 --> 00:19:10,241
And then at that point we, we do a lot of
scrambling and a lot of conversations to
383
00:19:10,301 --> 00:19:12,791
get people to say, Hey, yay, we need you.
384
00:19:12,791 --> 00:19:13,541
Or, yay, we don't.
385
00:19:13,571 --> 00:19:17,441
Or we go in and we just team up with
whatever their animal control is.
386
00:19:17,491 --> 00:19:20,791
We just go in, we go to the animal
shelters and we say, are you guys good?
387
00:19:20,791 --> 00:19:22,921
And sometimes everybody's
yeah, we're good.
388
00:19:22,921 --> 00:19:26,021
But we heard that, two
counties over got slammed.
389
00:19:26,021 --> 00:19:27,371
You guys might want to go over there.
390
00:19:27,671 --> 00:19:30,281
And then we'll go over there and
we'll talk to their animal control.
391
00:19:30,281 --> 00:19:31,901
We'll say, Hey, are you guys good?
392
00:19:31,901 --> 00:19:32,711
Do you need anything?
393
00:19:32,711 --> 00:19:35,201
And sometimes they're like,
oh my God, please help us.
394
00:19:35,201 --> 00:19:37,911
And sometimes they're like no,
we're good, but this one needs it,
395
00:19:37,961 --> 00:19:41,831
? So it's hard because those first
couple of days you're doing a lot
396
00:19:41,831 --> 00:19:45,261
of ping ponging, ? Trying to figure
out where the actual need is.
397
00:19:45,691 --> 00:19:48,391
And you go in and you do
recon to figure it out.
398
00:19:48,751 --> 00:19:50,701
But you have some states Florida.
399
00:19:50,911 --> 00:19:52,681
Florida has disaster relief.
400
00:19:52,831 --> 00:19:55,051
So down pat they don't even need us.
401
00:19:55,261 --> 00:19:58,251
We say all the time, we're not going
to Florida unless we get invited in.
402
00:19:58,591 --> 00:20:02,481
But then we turn around and we look
at Hurricane Helene in the Carolinas.
403
00:20:03,081 --> 00:20:05,601
They had no infrastructure
for disaster relief.
404
00:20:05,601 --> 00:20:09,591
Where we were in, in Western
North Carolina, they had no idea.
405
00:20:09,591 --> 00:20:11,441
So we worked there for days.
406
00:20:11,501 --> 00:20:14,201
I didn't even see national
organizations out there.
407
00:20:14,451 --> 00:20:18,291
Every storm I think is different
and every disaster is different.
408
00:20:18,741 --> 00:20:22,761
And I think like there are certain
places like Louisiana is real strict.
409
00:20:22,821 --> 00:20:26,911
Like you have to have an MOU if you're
gonna go to Louisiana, ? Or you have to
410
00:20:26,911 --> 00:20:28,651
be working under an organization there.
411
00:20:28,651 --> 00:20:31,261
So like we might work under, say.
412
00:20:31,981 --> 00:20:36,071
Livington Parish, or we might
work under dog friends or we might
413
00:20:36,071 --> 00:20:40,201
work under Louisiana Humane, say
Louisiana, like whoever is working
414
00:20:40,201 --> 00:20:42,031
there, we may work under them.
415
00:20:42,881 --> 00:20:45,491
But like I said, there's other
areas where it's not like that.
416
00:20:45,491 --> 00:20:49,571
, It all depends on who and where.
417
00:20:49,671 --> 00:20:53,001
I love working with some of these
national organizations, they don't
418
00:20:53,001 --> 00:20:57,611
necessarily always love working with
smaller organizations that are your
419
00:20:57,611 --> 00:21:02,561
newer organizations that are not
big enough to really sustain MOUs.
420
00:21:02,611 --> 00:21:04,951
'Cause when you go and you
get your MOU, you have.
421
00:21:05,431 --> 00:21:07,081
All of this that you can offer them.
422
00:21:07,111 --> 00:21:11,401
For me, I'm like, listen, I can offer
you strategy, I can offer you field
423
00:21:11,401 --> 00:21:15,631
work, I can offer you organization,
I can offer you setting up tip
424
00:21:15,631 --> 00:21:19,731
lines and hotlines and email chains
and all these different things.
425
00:21:20,541 --> 00:21:24,201
I can offer you a star link, ? I
can offer you donations, but
426
00:21:24,251 --> 00:21:26,471
my team is relatively small.
427
00:21:26,521 --> 00:21:28,531
These national organizations are huge.
428
00:21:28,591 --> 00:21:32,401
So what typically happens is we go down
and find out , okay, who needs help?
429
00:21:32,401 --> 00:21:36,361
And then if it's something that we
think we can't handle because it is too
430
00:21:36,361 --> 00:21:40,321
small, then I'll reach out to some of my
contacts at the national organizations
431
00:21:40,321 --> 00:21:44,241
and say okay, hey guys, we're gonna need
way more that I can offer these people.
432
00:21:44,241 --> 00:21:45,111
Can you come in?
433
00:21:45,201 --> 00:21:48,291
And then depending on whether
they see the need is there
434
00:21:48,291 --> 00:21:50,451
or not, then they'll come in.
435
00:21:50,511 --> 00:21:54,071
So that's been how we've operated
in the last, however many years.
436
00:21:54,311 --> 00:21:56,711
But most of the time when
we do go, we've been.
437
00:21:57,236 --> 00:21:59,606
Talking to somebody whose boots
on the grounds there that's
438
00:21:59,606 --> 00:22:01,016
Hey, this is where we are.
439
00:22:01,166 --> 00:22:02,366
This is where we need you.
440
00:22:02,906 --> 00:22:04,376
This is how you get here.
441
00:22:04,426 --> 00:22:05,056
That kind of thing.
442
00:22:06,346 --> 00:22:06,586
Dixie: Yeah.
443
00:22:06,586 --> 00:22:09,916
See, I was wondering how that works
because me being from Louisiana,
444
00:22:09,916 --> 00:22:11,776
I know how strict Louisiana is.
445
00:22:12,236 --> 00:22:16,256
I know if you evacuate for
a hurricane, you can't even
446
00:22:16,256 --> 00:22:17,846
get back in most of the time.
447
00:22:17,846 --> 00:22:19,826
And especially if it's a bad hurricane.
448
00:22:19,826 --> 00:22:24,176
If it's a bad hurricane and you
evacuate, you might be out of town
449
00:22:24,176 --> 00:22:28,666
for two weeks, until they clear the
roads and let us in and and they will
450
00:22:28,666 --> 00:22:31,066
check to make sure where are you going.
451
00:22:31,066 --> 00:22:34,816
They only allow certain people in, so
that's why I was wondering about that.
452
00:22:34,816 --> 00:22:38,386
Now, do you have an have to have
any kind of special certifications
453
00:22:38,386 --> 00:22:39,736
to work with any of these people?
454
00:22:41,191 --> 00:22:45,111
Ashley: Yeah, so we typically have,
my whole team is FEMA certified.
455
00:22:45,391 --> 00:22:48,751
So there's a whole bunch of certifications
that you should get through FEMA if
456
00:22:48,751 --> 00:22:50,491
you're looking to do disaster relief work.
457
00:22:50,711 --> 00:22:54,681
They have a whole animal
disaster certification thing.
458
00:22:55,011 --> 00:22:58,341
And so we require everybody on
our team , especially if they're
459
00:22:58,341 --> 00:23:01,251
gonna go do field work, they have
to have those certifications.
460
00:23:01,351 --> 00:23:05,891
And then honestly, the more certifications
you have, the better usually we're
461
00:23:05,891 --> 00:23:08,111
teamed up with somebody who has access.
462
00:23:08,111 --> 00:23:11,431
So when we worked in Terrebonne,
they had access to everything.
463
00:23:11,431 --> 00:23:13,681
So all we had to do was say
like, this is who we're with.
464
00:23:13,781 --> 00:23:16,271
Each storm is different,
each area is different.
465
00:23:16,271 --> 00:23:19,811
Sometimes it's the credentialing
is , you have to have, there's
466
00:23:19,811 --> 00:23:21,731
not an everywhere certification.
467
00:23:21,731 --> 00:23:24,801
I wish there was 'cause it
would make things a lot easier.
468
00:23:25,161 --> 00:23:27,311
But I could tell you guys
this is a great story.
469
00:23:27,411 --> 00:23:31,911
So when I was, we were
working in Terrebonne Parish
470
00:23:31,911 --> 00:23:33,171
with their animal control.
471
00:23:33,271 --> 00:23:39,241
And the animal staff there, there
were, these ladies were phenomenal and.
472
00:23:39,676 --> 00:23:45,236
I like to go with people in my pickup
truck when I do this because as we're
473
00:23:45,236 --> 00:23:49,196
doing calls, I like to bring food
out with me and give food out to
474
00:23:49,196 --> 00:23:52,096
the community, ? Hey, you guys, you
have no electric, you have no power.
475
00:23:52,096 --> 00:23:53,476
You don't nothing's open.
476
00:23:53,476 --> 00:23:54,436
Do you need dog food?
477
00:23:54,436 --> 00:23:57,366
Everybody's walking around with hot
meals, but nobody's thinking oh, hey, what
478
00:23:57,366 --> 00:23:59,766
about food for my dog, food for my cat.
479
00:23:59,766 --> 00:24:01,236
People run low on that stuff.
480
00:24:01,686 --> 00:24:03,996
So I always like to do that.
481
00:24:03,996 --> 00:24:07,886
So all week I kept saying, 'cause they
were in these, the animal control trucks
482
00:24:07,886 --> 00:24:10,016
and there's no room for stuff like that.
483
00:24:10,016 --> 00:24:12,236
So I kept saying let me take my truck.
484
00:24:12,236 --> 00:24:12,986
Let me take my truck.
485
00:24:12,986 --> 00:24:13,646
Let me take my truck.
486
00:24:13,646 --> 00:24:17,866
So finally one of the head girls from
animal control says to me, all right,
487
00:24:17,866 --> 00:24:22,066
listen, there's one lady, , she found
this dog, she's gonna foster the dog.
488
00:24:22,066 --> 00:24:25,396
I have all the information, but she
needs a crate and she needs dog food.
489
00:24:25,906 --> 00:24:26,926
Can you bring it?
490
00:24:26,926 --> 00:24:30,256
And the whole reason they kept saying
to me like, you cannot just go off in
491
00:24:30,256 --> 00:24:33,496
your pickup truck and do this because
you're gonna get stopped by police.
492
00:24:33,736 --> 00:24:36,196
They're gonna ask you a million
questions this way you're with the
493
00:24:36,196 --> 00:24:38,986
vehicles that are the animal control
vehicles, and all these things.
494
00:24:38,986 --> 00:24:43,506
But obviously we didn't have any
insurance to be able to drive the
495
00:24:43,506 --> 00:24:45,096
animal control vehicles and stuff.
496
00:24:45,096 --> 00:24:48,856
So we were paired up with the ACOs
and the animal control officers.
497
00:24:48,906 --> 00:24:49,896
, She's just go.
498
00:24:49,896 --> 00:24:53,256
All you have to do is give them
food, give them this, so it's just
499
00:24:53,256 --> 00:24:56,526
me and I have no idea this area.
500
00:24:56,626 --> 00:24:58,096
I don't know anything about this area.
501
00:24:58,096 --> 00:24:59,866
All I know is I am in the bayou..
502
00:24:59,916 --> 00:25:00,126
Yeah.
503
00:25:00,131 --> 00:25:01,566
You are in Cajun country.
504
00:25:02,556 --> 00:25:03,036
Oh yeah.
505
00:25:03,036 --> 00:25:03,666
Straight up.
506
00:25:03,786 --> 00:25:05,226
Straight up Cajun country.
507
00:25:05,226 --> 00:25:05,916
It was great.
508
00:25:06,216 --> 00:25:10,476
So I get in the, I get in
the car and, I'm all excited.
509
00:25:10,476 --> 00:25:15,476
I'm gonna go do this call, whatever I'm
gonna be so helpful and I am listening
510
00:25:15,476 --> 00:25:19,426
to my music and I pull into this it's
not even a trailer park, it's a camper
511
00:25:19,426 --> 00:25:21,496
park is the best way to describe it.
512
00:25:22,186 --> 00:25:28,896
And I pull in and there's this girl,
and I see her and she's raking her dirt.
513
00:25:28,966 --> 00:25:29,716
There's no grass.
514
00:25:29,716 --> 00:25:31,006
So she's just raking dirt.
515
00:25:31,186 --> 00:25:32,506
And I'm like, okay.
516
00:25:32,596 --> 00:25:35,656
So I pull in and as I pull
in, there's this weird noise.
517
00:25:35,986 --> 00:25:38,286
And I had heard it and I
was like, what was that?
518
00:25:38,316 --> 00:25:41,166
Because again, I'm in a rented
truck, so I'm like, I don't
519
00:25:41,166 --> 00:25:42,216
even know what that noise was.
520
00:25:42,251 --> 00:25:43,176
I was like, what was that?
521
00:25:43,626 --> 00:25:48,156
And so I turn the car off and I go
to step outta the car and come face
522
00:25:48,156 --> 00:25:49,836
to face with two police officers.
523
00:25:50,146 --> 00:25:54,136
, and I realized in that moment
that the weird noise I had heard
524
00:25:54,436 --> 00:25:57,166
was the whoop of a cop car.
525
00:25:57,746 --> 00:26:02,136
They had followed me all the way
down into this driveway and they're
526
00:26:02,136 --> 00:26:03,216
like, what are you doing here?
527
00:26:03,366 --> 00:26:04,836
And I'm like, oh, hi.
528
00:26:04,836 --> 00:26:05,796
My name's Ashley.
529
00:26:06,516 --> 00:26:07,896
I'm from, Southern Paw.
530
00:26:08,446 --> 00:26:12,676
, I am doing disaster relief for working
with, Terrebonne Parish Animal Control.
531
00:26:12,676 --> 00:26:15,956
And I'm telling I this whole story,
? And literally all that's in my car
532
00:26:15,956 --> 00:26:19,766
right now in the bed or two massive
bags of dog food and a huge crate.
533
00:26:21,026 --> 00:26:23,096
He looks at me and he is
you have Jersey plates?
534
00:26:23,276 --> 00:26:24,326
And I was like yeah, I know.
535
00:26:24,326 --> 00:26:25,076
That's where I'm from.
536
00:26:25,076 --> 00:26:26,831
We're just here helping after the storm.
537
00:26:27,161 --> 00:26:29,371
And he is okay, can I see
your license and registration?
538
00:26:29,371 --> 00:26:30,631
And I'm like sure, no problem.
539
00:26:30,841 --> 00:26:34,411
So I pull out the license and registration
and I'm so flustered because, like,
540
00:26:34,411 --> 00:26:37,451
when you get pulled over by the
cops, you're automatically flustered.
541
00:26:37,721 --> 00:26:40,351
But I didn't even have that
split second moment of oh
542
00:26:40,351 --> 00:26:41,671
crap, I'm getting pulled over.
543
00:26:41,671 --> 00:26:44,291
And the lights are flashing
and now the cop is at my door.
544
00:26:44,291 --> 00:26:47,561
I had none of that, literally
face-to-face license or registration.
545
00:26:47,561 --> 00:26:48,371
I'm like, oh God.
546
00:26:48,671 --> 00:26:49,871
So I'm super flustered.
547
00:26:50,291 --> 00:26:52,661
And so I give him my license
and he looks at me and he is
548
00:26:52,711 --> 00:26:54,361
huh, and what are you here for?
549
00:26:54,361 --> 00:26:56,731
And I tell him again, and I'm like,
yeah, see, there's a dog food.
550
00:26:56,881 --> 00:27:00,391
And this lady, you would think she would
be like, oh yeah, she's here to deliver.
551
00:27:00,571 --> 00:27:02,851
No, this lady's still out
there just raking her dirt.
552
00:27:03,031 --> 00:27:05,691
So I'm sitting there and he
looks at me and he is you Yeah.
553
00:27:05,691 --> 00:27:07,211
But like you're from New Jersey?
554
00:27:07,571 --> 00:27:08,811
And I'm like yeah.
555
00:27:08,841 --> 00:27:09,201
Yep.
556
00:27:09,231 --> 00:27:10,311
. We've established this.
557
00:27:10,311 --> 00:27:10,611
Yep.
558
00:27:10,731 --> 00:27:11,421
I am.
559
00:27:11,841 --> 00:27:12,711
I'm from New Jersey.
560
00:27:12,711 --> 00:27:12,921
Yep.
561
00:27:12,951 --> 00:27:13,401
I'm here.
562
00:27:13,401 --> 00:27:14,031
Just helping.
563
00:27:14,241 --> 00:27:17,031
So he asked me like three more questions.
564
00:27:17,271 --> 00:27:20,451
And literally at this point, I'm
showing him the bag of dog food.
565
00:27:20,451 --> 00:27:21,411
I'm like, what is this?
566
00:27:22,131 --> 00:27:25,211
And he looks at me one more time and
he is but you're from New Jersey.
567
00:27:25,211 --> 00:27:27,351
And I was like yes, I am from New Jersey.
568
00:27:28,351 --> 00:27:29,251
He lets me go.
569
00:27:29,551 --> 00:27:33,841
I give the lady my stuff, I go back to
the animal control and Leanne's there
570
00:27:34,051 --> 00:27:36,721
and I walk in and I'm like, I get it.
571
00:27:36,781 --> 00:27:37,711
And she was like, what?
572
00:27:37,711 --> 00:27:40,741
And I was like, you are never gonna
believe what just happened to me.
573
00:27:40,981 --> 00:27:43,681
So I tell her this whole crazy
story and she goes, oh, they
574
00:27:43,681 --> 00:27:44,971
thought you were selling drugs.
575
00:27:45,191 --> 00:27:46,331
She was like, oh yeah.
576
00:27:46,401 --> 00:27:49,361
She's people come in there all the
time from outta the area to buy drugs.
577
00:27:49,481 --> 00:27:49,991
. Dixie: See now.
578
00:27:50,021 --> 00:27:52,991
Being from Louisiana, I
totally understand this.
579
00:27:53,486 --> 00:27:56,516
Because there are small towns
in Louisiana, and when you
580
00:27:56,516 --> 00:27:59,606
get into that small town, it's
like you check everything.
581
00:27:59,606 --> 00:28:02,746
Make sure you go on a speed
limit, putting your blinkers on,
582
00:28:02,836 --> 00:28:04,156
make sure your lights are on.
583
00:28:04,156 --> 00:28:06,196
It's just how it is
especially the small towns.
584
00:28:07,816 --> 00:28:10,096
Ashley: Oh man, I gotta tell you,
there were some crazy things.
585
00:28:10,146 --> 00:28:12,156
My chihuahua came out of that storm.
586
00:28:12,256 --> 00:28:16,156
My personal chihuahua, I joke all
the time and say I trauma bonded him.
587
00:28:16,276 --> 00:28:20,696
The day after the hurricane, we were
driving through trying to figure out
588
00:28:20,786 --> 00:28:25,636
who had the MOU in the area to try
and link up with them and, my partner
589
00:28:25,636 --> 00:28:31,436
saw this this little chihuahua and
sitting on this stairway to nowhere,
590
00:28:31,486 --> 00:28:34,366
? Like literally, there was a trailer
there at some point, but now it's
591
00:28:34,366 --> 00:28:37,486
in pieces somewhere else, and
it's just this stairway to nowhere
592
00:28:37,486 --> 00:28:38,986
and there's this little dog.
593
00:28:39,086 --> 00:28:42,176
He was three pounds and
I thought he was a cat.
594
00:28:42,296 --> 00:28:46,966
And he popped his head up and
his ears popped out and we went,
595
00:28:46,966 --> 00:28:48,166
oh my God, he's a chihuahua.
596
00:28:48,736 --> 00:28:53,106
And so we ended up taking him with
us and we reported him as loss.
597
00:28:53,106 --> 00:28:55,716
We did all the right steps,
nobody ever claimed him.
598
00:28:56,016 --> 00:28:57,336
He was three pounds.
599
00:28:57,336 --> 00:29:01,126
But he was this little three
pound chihuahua at six months old
600
00:29:01,176 --> 00:29:04,336
outrode, a cat five hurricane under
a set of stairs in a trailer park.
601
00:29:04,906 --> 00:29:06,346
He came from outta that storm.
602
00:29:06,346 --> 00:29:10,416
And then we also had one of my other
favorite stories that we ran into.
603
00:29:10,746 --> 00:29:13,856
So Leanne calls us out to another area.
604
00:29:14,056 --> 00:29:15,106
, It was a neighborhood.
605
00:29:15,796 --> 00:29:25,116
And we get out there , I pull into this
area and they said, there are two dogs.
606
00:29:25,456 --> 00:29:30,826
. I wanna say it was like two large German
shepherds, that were supposedly in
607
00:29:30,826 --> 00:29:33,596
a pen in the backyard of a property.
608
00:29:33,816 --> 00:29:37,296
We were tasked out to go make sure
they were okay, that they had food and
609
00:29:37,296 --> 00:29:38,466
water, this, that, and the other thing.
610
00:29:39,076 --> 00:29:41,836
Obviously if they're not, or if
they're sick or if they need something,
611
00:29:41,836 --> 00:29:42,856
bring 'em into animal control.
612
00:29:42,856 --> 00:29:43,816
And I'm like, okay, fine.
613
00:29:44,116 --> 00:29:49,006
So me and one of the animal control
officers that was from Lafayette, or maybe
614
00:29:49,006 --> 00:29:53,136
Baton Rouge, he was down substituting
his name was Demetrius and he was so much
615
00:29:53,136 --> 00:29:54,996
fun to ride with him and I had a blast.
616
00:29:54,996 --> 00:29:59,531
And we get out here and we're expecting
to find two I don't remember what it
617
00:29:59,531 --> 00:30:01,051
was, but it was something ridiculous.
618
00:30:01,051 --> 00:30:03,031
I roll up and, Demetrius
is just go check it.
619
00:30:03,031 --> 00:30:03,991
I'm like, I'm sure it's fine.
620
00:30:03,991 --> 00:30:05,131
I'm like, somebody's
probably feeding them.
621
00:30:05,461 --> 00:30:11,001
So I go out and I get there and
there's a poodle in this cage.
622
00:30:11,151 --> 00:30:15,201
And I'm like, what the,
I'm like, wait a second.
623
00:30:15,441 --> 00:30:18,921
So I go back and I'm like, are you
sure we're in like the right place?
624
00:30:18,921 --> 00:30:21,111
. He's yeah he's like, why, what?
625
00:30:21,171 --> 00:30:21,861
What's out there?
626
00:30:21,861 --> 00:30:23,451
And I, so I tell him,
and he is wait a second.
627
00:30:23,451 --> 00:30:24,531
He is that doesn't sound right.
628
00:30:24,531 --> 00:30:27,501
So we call Leanne over at
dispatch, and I'm like, Leanne.
629
00:30:27,501 --> 00:30:31,011
I'm like, are you sure that
these, she's yeah, I just talked
630
00:30:31,011 --> 00:30:32,721
to, the owner of the property.
631
00:30:32,871 --> 00:30:35,991
He said they're out there and he can't get
back to them, and blah, blah, blah, blah,
632
00:30:36,021 --> 00:30:36,951
blah, and this, that, and the other thing.
633
00:30:36,951 --> 00:30:41,201
And I'm like, Leanne there's no lab in
here and there's definitely whatever.
634
00:30:41,201 --> 00:30:43,211
I was like, that's not what's here.
635
00:30:43,361 --> 00:30:44,411
And she's what do you mean?
636
00:30:44,411 --> 00:30:44,951
And I'm like.
637
00:30:45,716 --> 00:30:48,596
There's a dachshund and
a poodle in this cage.
638
00:30:48,626 --> 00:30:53,396
I'm like, so then this guy comes
up and he, and this family member
639
00:30:53,396 --> 00:30:55,526
comes up and she sees this,
and she's comes up real quick.
640
00:30:55,526 --> 00:30:56,246
What are you guys doing?
641
00:30:56,296 --> 00:30:58,066
And we're like hey, we're
here with animal control.
642
00:30:58,066 --> 00:31:01,216
We just got called out to check
on, let's say a German shepherd.
643
00:31:01,376 --> 00:31:03,716
I got called out for a German
Shepherd that's supposed to be in
644
00:31:03,716 --> 00:31:06,356
the pen back here just to, to check
on him and make sure he is okay.
645
00:31:07,116 --> 00:31:08,376
She goes, oh yeah, he's fine.
646
00:31:08,376 --> 00:31:11,986
And I said no there's no
German Shepherd back here.
647
00:31:11,986 --> 00:31:12,816
She's what do you mean?
648
00:31:12,816 --> 00:31:15,596
So I called Leanne and , we had a real
sugar rule, Leanne was like, listen,
649
00:31:15,596 --> 00:31:19,256
unless it's sick or broken or needs
immediate medical do not bring it back.
650
00:31:19,256 --> 00:31:20,186
We don't have anywhere to put it.
651
00:31:21,026 --> 00:31:21,866
So I called Leanne and I'm.
652
00:31:22,646 --> 00:31:23,036
Hey.
653
00:31:23,336 --> 00:31:25,046
, I know we're supposed to
have a German Shepherd.
654
00:31:25,196 --> 00:31:25,646
She's yeah.
655
00:31:25,646 --> 00:31:26,726
I'm like, yeah we don't.
656
00:31:26,846 --> 00:31:27,481
She's what do you mean?
657
00:31:27,481 --> 00:31:31,591
I'm like, I don't know who put these
dogs here, but these are not his dogs.
658
00:31:31,681 --> 00:31:33,421
And this is not a German Shepherd.
659
00:31:33,421 --> 00:31:35,701
And we just talked to the owner and
these dogs don't belong to them,
660
00:31:35,701 --> 00:31:39,241
so I have no idea how they ended
up in the pen in his backyard.
661
00:31:39,931 --> 00:31:42,721
I said, but they're sick, and
I'm gonna have to bring 'em in.
662
00:31:42,721 --> 00:31:44,071
And she's are you kidding me?
663
00:31:44,071 --> 00:31:47,971
So now we bring these dogs in, and
by the way, there's this cat it was a
664
00:31:47,971 --> 00:31:50,251
little Calico coming up and brushing on.
665
00:31:50,251 --> 00:31:51,346
And I was like, Dmitri.
666
00:31:51,481 --> 00:31:52,381
Put him in the truck..
667
00:31:52,621 --> 00:31:54,361
So we put her in the
truck and bring her back.
668
00:31:54,901 --> 00:31:59,001
But yeah, it was one of those things
where we were so tired and I was like
669
00:31:59,051 --> 00:32:01,271
none of this is making sense at all.
670
00:32:01,321 --> 00:32:05,911
You wanna be teamed up with somebody
because of stuff like those situations,
671
00:32:05,911 --> 00:32:09,151
? You wanna be dispatched, you wanna have
some sort of an organization to it.
672
00:32:09,571 --> 00:32:11,621
We do a lot of dropping food.
673
00:32:11,871 --> 00:32:12,801
That's another thing.
674
00:32:12,801 --> 00:32:15,231
And then what we'll do is we'll
collect those addresses and then
675
00:32:15,231 --> 00:32:18,111
give them to whoever the animal
control is that's in charge.
676
00:32:18,111 --> 00:32:21,001
So they can do sheltering in
place and stuff like that.
677
00:32:21,001 --> 00:32:26,071
But yeah, there's been some great stories
awful disasters that we've worked and
678
00:32:26,071 --> 00:32:30,301
some really sad moments and really
just devastating, heartbreaking stuff.
679
00:32:30,301 --> 00:32:34,891
But it's the people that make it,
we meet new people, we work with all
680
00:32:34,891 --> 00:32:37,681
kinds of people from all walks of
life, and it's just, it's really cool.
681
00:32:38,651 --> 00:32:40,721
Dixie: Did you ever find
out about the two dogs?
682
00:32:41,441 --> 00:32:43,686
Ashley: I never found out
who owned those two dogs.
683
00:32:44,116 --> 00:32:44,416
Nope.
684
00:32:45,061 --> 00:32:45,571
That's crazy.
685
00:32:45,571 --> 00:32:47,401
I don't know what happened to
the German Shepherd that was
686
00:32:47,401 --> 00:32:48,301
supposed to be there either.
687
00:32:48,351 --> 00:32:48,891
No idea.
688
00:32:50,071 --> 00:32:52,771
Dixie: I wanted to backtrack a little
bit when you were talking to about
689
00:32:52,771 --> 00:32:56,311
the Go bag because there is a tip
that I wanna give everybody as well.
690
00:32:57,041 --> 00:32:57,311
Yeah.
691
00:32:57,411 --> 00:32:59,961
You were talking about make
sure you have all your paperwork
692
00:32:59,961 --> 00:33:01,326
and , photos of your animals.
693
00:33:01,806 --> 00:33:06,036
What I started doing since Katrina,
'cause I did go through Katrina.
694
00:33:06,791 --> 00:33:09,781
And even people who evacuated
our phone lines were down.
695
00:33:09,781 --> 00:33:11,431
We had no access to our phones.
696
00:33:11,581 --> 00:33:18,391
But one thing that I always tell people
to do is get all your important documents
697
00:33:18,871 --> 00:33:21,631
and email them to yourself because
698
00:33:21,791 --> 00:33:24,401
If your phones go down, you
can't access your phone.
699
00:33:24,401 --> 00:33:27,671
You can go to a library and access
your email through a computer.
700
00:33:28,721 --> 00:33:29,201
Ashley: Yeah.
701
00:33:29,321 --> 00:33:29,621
Yeah.
702
00:33:29,621 --> 00:33:30,191
That's smart.
703
00:33:30,191 --> 00:33:30,761
Really smart.
704
00:33:30,766 --> 00:33:30,806
Yeah.
705
00:33:31,356 --> 00:33:31,646
Yeah.
706
00:33:32,871 --> 00:33:38,181
I do that with my certification, so I have
a booklet of all of my certifications.
707
00:33:38,211 --> 00:33:40,761
'cause that's obviously the first
thing that emergency management
708
00:33:40,761 --> 00:33:42,411
wants to know when I talk to them.
709
00:33:43,011 --> 00:33:43,791
And.
710
00:33:44,481 --> 00:33:48,201
They had all said one of the things
is I put it all in a Google drive.
711
00:33:48,201 --> 00:33:50,451
'cause I'm like, at least
this way I have access to it.
712
00:33:50,451 --> 00:33:51,261
I can find it.
713
00:33:51,261 --> 00:33:53,271
It's accessible, all those things.
714
00:33:54,194 --> 00:33:58,424
Dixie: You mentioned that you did
this fire two at one step closer.
715
00:33:58,424 --> 00:34:02,504
So you went over the go bags
for disaster preparedness.
716
00:34:02,504 --> 00:34:07,414
So what would you tell people to do for
something that's unexpected like that?
717
00:34:07,414 --> 00:34:10,384
Like a fire, because that's
one of my biggest fears too,
718
00:34:10,384 --> 00:34:11,704
especially with animals.
719
00:34:12,554 --> 00:34:15,554
Ashley: One of the best things that
we have are those little stickers that
720
00:34:15,554 --> 00:34:17,264
they put in the windows for the firemen.
721
00:34:17,484 --> 00:34:21,984
It's a sticker and it says please find
my animals, so that the fire departments
722
00:34:21,994 --> 00:34:26,164
know that hey, there's animals in the
building and please try and find them.
723
00:34:26,504 --> 00:34:30,074
A fire is nasty I did
a hoarding case fire.
724
00:34:30,174 --> 00:34:33,114
56 cats and the house went up in flames.
725
00:34:33,994 --> 00:34:38,043
Luckily the fire was really
contained to the upper levels
726
00:34:38,043 --> 00:34:39,994
of the house and the cats hid.
727
00:34:40,424 --> 00:34:42,793
And I think there was
only two that they lost.
728
00:34:42,793 --> 00:34:45,974
And then there was three that
had pretty substantial burns.
729
00:34:46,404 --> 00:34:46,494
But.
730
00:34:49,119 --> 00:34:51,159
Fire is so difficult.
731
00:34:51,469 --> 00:34:55,918
One of the best things, and I think this
goes for humans too, ? Especially if you
732
00:34:55,918 --> 00:34:58,949
have children, plan your escape route.
733
00:34:59,379 --> 00:34:59,949
Yes.
734
00:34:59,949 --> 00:35:02,439
Everybody's gonna argue with
me and say oh in a fire you
735
00:35:02,439 --> 00:35:04,899
never, everything goes sideways.
736
00:35:04,949 --> 00:35:08,369
But my big argument here is if
you've done it multiple times.
737
00:35:09,154 --> 00:35:11,254
It becomes real second nature to you.
738
00:35:11,504 --> 00:35:14,624
And you can be very calm in the situation,
739
00:35:14,674 --> 00:35:20,764
? So for us, in my household, we keep
our crates in a central location,
740
00:35:20,874 --> 00:35:24,264
? And if I have to get out, this is
the door we're gonna go out of.
741
00:35:24,324 --> 00:35:28,144
And we'll even set up simulations in
my house especially if you have kids,
742
00:35:28,144 --> 00:35:29,429
this is a great one to do with kids.
743
00:35:29,479 --> 00:35:31,159
There's a fire in this room.
744
00:35:31,159 --> 00:35:31,969
What do we do?
745
00:35:32,019 --> 00:35:35,249
And help let the kids help you
work it out, ? So that if God
746
00:35:35,249 --> 00:35:39,149
forbid something like this ever
happens, you can just grab and go.
747
00:35:39,249 --> 00:35:41,619
Now obviously a fire is something that.
748
00:35:42,804 --> 00:35:43,494
I hate fire.
749
00:35:43,494 --> 00:35:45,174
I'd rather have a flood
any day of the week.
750
00:35:45,174 --> 00:35:48,384
Fire is just, it's so
destructive, it's so fast.
751
00:35:48,924 --> 00:35:52,634
And all of the planning, I feel like
with a fire really doesn't go great.
752
00:35:52,954 --> 00:35:53,704
A big one.
753
00:35:53,794 --> 00:35:55,594
Microchipping your pets is huge.
754
00:35:55,654 --> 00:35:59,524
Not only microchipping them, but making
sure that you're registering them.
755
00:35:59,914 --> 00:36:00,754
That's another one.
756
00:36:00,794 --> 00:36:04,734
A lot of people I would say
five outta 10 microchips that
757
00:36:04,734 --> 00:36:06,294
we find are not registered.
758
00:36:06,834 --> 00:36:08,754
So make sure your pets are microchipped.
759
00:36:08,994 --> 00:36:13,074
Make sure that they always have
collars on, that have tags on them.
760
00:36:13,344 --> 00:36:15,624
They don't have to be super tight.
761
00:36:15,654 --> 00:36:16,614
They can be loose.
762
00:36:16,764 --> 00:36:18,114
They don't have to be super big.
763
00:36:18,384 --> 00:36:21,784
But a lot of people that I know
don't have collars on their
764
00:36:21,784 --> 00:36:23,794
dogs, and I'm like, you're crazy.
765
00:36:24,034 --> 00:36:25,804
My dogs always have tags on them.
766
00:36:25,854 --> 00:36:28,254
The easier you can make it, the better.
767
00:36:28,254 --> 00:36:29,634
Knowing and being prepared.
768
00:36:29,684 --> 00:36:33,204
My crates for my dogs are
in a shed on my property.
769
00:36:33,204 --> 00:36:35,974
God forbid, my house burnt
down, the shed's over there.
770
00:36:36,154 --> 00:36:39,574
The other thing is keep your
animals up to date on vaccinations,
771
00:36:39,734 --> 00:36:41,084
? Nobody ever thinks about this.
772
00:36:41,084 --> 00:36:43,324
We really live in a culture of not me.
773
00:36:43,354 --> 00:36:44,524
It's not gonna happen to me.
774
00:36:45,034 --> 00:36:48,294
And then it does, and you're
unprepared, ? I say to people all
775
00:36:48,294 --> 00:36:51,024
the time, 'cause they're like, oh,
my, my dog doesn't leave the house
776
00:36:51,024 --> 00:36:52,614
so we don't vaccinate him anymore.
777
00:36:52,644 --> 00:36:54,654
And I'm like, yeah, but
what if you had a fire?
778
00:36:54,654 --> 00:36:55,734
What if there was a flood?
779
00:36:55,734 --> 00:36:56,814
What if there was an emergency?
780
00:36:56,814 --> 00:36:58,734
What if we had a hurricane and
you had to go to a shelter?
781
00:36:59,004 --> 00:37:01,344
Your animal needs to be
up to date on vaccines.
782
00:37:01,694 --> 00:37:02,654
So that's another one.
783
00:37:02,654 --> 00:37:06,314
That's how you protect your animals
in one of these crazy situations.
784
00:37:06,314 --> 00:37:07,694
And it's something
nobody ever thinks about.
785
00:37:07,724 --> 00:37:09,374
'cause they're like, oh, it's a house cat.
786
00:37:09,774 --> 00:37:12,384
Yeah, what happens during a disaster?
787
00:37:13,024 --> 00:37:17,774
I didn't work the California fires, but
my friend Nikki with paws of War did.
788
00:37:18,944 --> 00:37:23,594
And one of the big things was they were
not allowing families back into the
789
00:37:23,594 --> 00:37:27,794
area to go get their animals because
it was still such a volatile area.
790
00:37:28,094 --> 00:37:31,244
So animals were stuck in their house,
just like you were saying, days
791
00:37:31,244 --> 00:37:32,624
and days with no food and water.
792
00:37:32,624 --> 00:37:36,654
So , what she was doing was she would
have them send a picture of their license.
793
00:37:36,654 --> 00:37:39,864
They had to fill out a form with a
legal signature stating that they had
794
00:37:39,864 --> 00:37:42,594
the ability to go to this property
and get the animals, and then they
795
00:37:42,594 --> 00:37:45,564
were bringing them out of the danger
zone and giving them to the owners.
796
00:37:45,894 --> 00:37:53,324
If you were in, I don't know, New York
and on vacation, and you have a wildfire
797
00:37:53,324 --> 00:37:56,714
in California and everybody evacuates.
798
00:37:56,984 --> 00:37:58,154
How do you get your dogs?
799
00:37:58,254 --> 00:38:02,034
You don't, those dogs are now going
to probably go to a shelter and if
800
00:38:02,034 --> 00:38:05,004
they're not vaccinated, they're gonna
get whatever is in that shelter.
801
00:38:05,674 --> 00:38:09,034
And now we're looking at a disaster,
which means you're gonna have 10 times
802
00:38:09,364 --> 00:38:12,304
the normal amount of animals that are
coming in, which means you've got all
803
00:38:12,304 --> 00:38:15,874
these different petri dishes happening,
which means chances are they're gonna
804
00:38:15,874 --> 00:38:19,084
be upper respiratory infections, you're
gonna have kennel cough, you're gonna
805
00:38:19,084 --> 00:38:20,534
have, all these different things.
806
00:38:20,844 --> 00:38:24,504
So having your animals be vaccinated
is really important for their
807
00:38:24,504 --> 00:38:26,214
protection in those situations.
808
00:38:27,654 --> 00:38:28,974
Dixie: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
809
00:38:28,974 --> 00:38:30,744
And I've never thought about that either.
810
00:38:30,744 --> 00:38:33,624
I vaccinate, so I'm not worried
about that for my own pets.
811
00:38:33,624 --> 00:38:37,354
But there are a lot of people, like you
said, that'll say, , my animal doesn't
812
00:38:37,354 --> 00:38:39,994
go outside and so I don't vaccinate.
813
00:38:40,414 --> 00:38:42,304
And, but that makes
perfect sense actually.
814
00:38:43,954 --> 00:38:44,194
Ashley: Yeah.
815
00:38:44,194 --> 00:38:48,054
And we see a lot of that so with our
adoption process, I'm super strict
816
00:38:48,054 --> 00:38:53,224
about vetting, with our approvals
and with the approval process.
817
00:38:53,284 --> 00:38:54,844
For me, vetting is just so important.
818
00:38:54,844 --> 00:38:56,644
Keeping your dogs up to date on vaccines.
819
00:38:56,984 --> 00:38:59,834
People criticize me and say I over
vaccinate and things like that.
820
00:38:59,834 --> 00:39:02,574
But you know what I've
seen we see the worst.
821
00:39:02,574 --> 00:39:03,624
So it's important.
822
00:39:04,074 --> 00:39:06,884
The other thing I would say too is if
you're somebody that's listening that's
823
00:39:06,884 --> 00:39:09,194
part of a shelter or an organization.
824
00:39:09,244 --> 00:39:10,834
This can happen to you.
825
00:39:10,894 --> 00:39:11,434
Okay.
826
00:39:11,484 --> 00:39:15,764
We just had a situation where in Newark
which is one of our inner city shelters
827
00:39:15,764 --> 00:39:21,104
here the snow collapsed a portion of
their kennel, ? So what do you do?
828
00:39:21,284 --> 00:39:22,544
Where do we put the animals?
829
00:39:22,544 --> 00:39:23,444
Where do we go?
830
00:39:23,444 --> 00:39:24,794
Like, how does it happen?
831
00:39:24,794 --> 00:39:26,504
We have this Oscar fire,
832
00:39:26,534 --> 00:39:28,064
? They had 40 animals.
833
00:39:28,514 --> 00:39:30,434
They lost six dogs in the fire.
834
00:39:30,434 --> 00:39:32,054
It was awful and heartbreaking.
835
00:39:32,054 --> 00:39:36,214
But at the end of the day these heroes
were running into burning buildings,
836
00:39:36,214 --> 00:39:42,754
pulling animals out, and they were able to
say, , I wanna say 37 was what they saved.
837
00:39:42,754 --> 00:39:44,644
I wanna say I don't quote
me on these numbers.
838
00:39:44,644 --> 00:39:49,424
I could be wrong, but , by the time I
got to them, they're sitting there on
839
00:39:49,424 --> 00:39:52,034
pen and paper trying to figure out.
840
00:39:52,544 --> 00:39:53,774
Where are the animals?
841
00:39:53,924 --> 00:39:55,304
Who was the animals?
842
00:39:55,544 --> 00:39:56,744
How many do we have?
843
00:39:56,744 --> 00:39:58,394
There was no accountability.
844
00:39:58,634 --> 00:40:02,054
This was an organization
that was very old school.
845
00:40:02,114 --> 00:40:06,014
A lot of their documentation was
not kept in shelter software.
846
00:40:06,284 --> 00:40:09,634
So accountability for
them was a huge challenge.
847
00:40:09,684 --> 00:40:12,719
So it wasn't even a matter
of just figuring out.
848
00:40:13,089 --> 00:40:14,229
Who went where?
849
00:40:14,469 --> 00:40:17,719
It was, how many animals are
actually missing, ? It wasn't
850
00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:19,669
until we had those final counts,
851
00:40:19,669 --> 00:40:23,389
by the end of that night, we knew there
were five that were at unaccounted for.
852
00:40:23,659 --> 00:40:28,159
We didn't know if they had perished
in the fire or if they were lost.
853
00:40:28,459 --> 00:40:30,229
There were two that ended up being lost.
854
00:40:30,229 --> 00:40:33,559
We actually brought in Buddha Dog
Rescue and Recovery, who's phenomenal.
855
00:40:33,609 --> 00:40:37,389
They trap lost dogs, and the
dogs actually showed up the next
856
00:40:37,389 --> 00:40:39,429
morning at the property next door.
857
00:40:40,029 --> 00:40:41,149
So that was a big one.
858
00:40:41,149 --> 00:40:44,599
But if you are one of these smaller,
rural shelters where you're not
859
00:40:44,599 --> 00:40:45,919
really technologically savvy.
860
00:40:45,919 --> 00:40:49,769
You do a lot of your stuff on Excel,
I'm not saying that's a bad thing,
861
00:40:49,769 --> 00:40:51,589
but , if you have a catastrophe.
862
00:40:52,479 --> 00:40:54,579
You need a way to track your animals.
863
00:40:54,579 --> 00:40:56,919
So at least make sure
your stuff is in a cloud.
864
00:40:57,219 --> 00:41:02,399
Make sure that if you don't have one, but
you can afford it to do shelter software.
865
00:41:02,559 --> 00:41:06,189
There's a couple of shelter softwares out
there that are really on the inexpensive
866
00:41:06,189 --> 00:41:09,099
side as well as ones that are almost free.
867
00:41:09,469 --> 00:41:12,249
There's a lot of companies so
definitely do that because if
868
00:41:12,249 --> 00:41:16,809
you ever do have a disaster, the
accountability is a massive problem.
869
00:41:17,229 --> 00:41:21,819
If you can't figure out how many animals
you have, you don't know what you
870
00:41:21,819 --> 00:41:24,059
lost, ? So that's a big portion of it.
871
00:41:24,179 --> 00:41:26,849
Have a emergency response plan.
872
00:41:27,119 --> 00:41:31,529
If, God forbid, something happened
and we had to evacuate this shelter.
873
00:41:32,219 --> 00:41:35,489
What is my plan, ? , Where
are we taking the dogs?
874
00:41:35,489 --> 00:41:37,589
What organizations are taking the dogs?
875
00:41:37,619 --> 00:41:40,379
Who do we work with that can place dogs?
876
00:41:40,419 --> 00:41:43,629
We're lucky here where we have our
cart team, which is it's pretty much a
877
00:41:43,629 --> 00:41:47,259
certified animal response team, ? We're
all, we went through a certification
878
00:41:47,259 --> 00:41:51,059
class and we have this, so we're
really lucky that we have that here.
879
00:41:51,059 --> 00:41:55,889
So if, God forbid I ever had an
emergency and we needed to empty out
880
00:41:55,969 --> 00:42:00,619
a shelter or whatever, I could call
animal control and my contacts over
881
00:42:00,619 --> 00:42:05,249
there which also is the head of my cart
team and say Hey Carol we need help.
882
00:42:05,489 --> 00:42:07,769
Same thing if you have a farm.
883
00:42:08,159 --> 00:42:10,289
These wild fires are crazy.
884
00:42:10,409 --> 00:42:10,859
Okay.
885
00:42:11,199 --> 00:42:14,199
If you have a farm, you
need an escape plan.
886
00:42:14,469 --> 00:42:15,039
Okay?
887
00:42:15,099 --> 00:42:18,619
You need a plan if there is a
flood, ? And don't give me this
888
00:42:18,619 --> 00:42:19,849
oh, that doesn't happen here.
889
00:42:19,879 --> 00:42:20,769
'cause it does.
890
00:42:20,769 --> 00:42:22,599
And there's always that small chance.
891
00:42:22,599 --> 00:42:26,319
So it doesn't hinder you at all to
have some sort of a plan in place.
892
00:42:27,279 --> 00:42:30,519
So the more prepared you
can be, utilize that plan.
893
00:42:30,669 --> 00:42:33,759
My animals are gonna go where,
what is the plan for this?
894
00:42:33,759 --> 00:42:34,929
How do I do this?
895
00:42:34,979 --> 00:42:38,729
, Where do I escape to if this there's all
these different things that we can do
896
00:42:38,729 --> 00:42:42,389
to prepare ourselves for these things,
but you just don't wanna get caught in
897
00:42:42,389 --> 00:42:46,639
that emergency and not have that plan
because that is when things get bad,
898
00:42:46,739 --> 00:42:49,899
? And then, and that's where we
come in and I can say that night
899
00:42:49,899 --> 00:42:53,109
I sat down and I literally looked
at Cassie and I said, Cassie.
900
00:42:53,994 --> 00:42:55,464
Who, she's the director over there.
901
00:42:55,464 --> 00:42:56,994
And I said, Hey, or the president.
902
00:42:56,994 --> 00:42:59,844
And I said, Hey, like, how
many animals do you have?
903
00:42:59,844 --> 00:43:01,074
And she was like, I don't know.
904
00:43:01,254 --> 00:43:03,264
And I was like, okay, take a breath.
905
00:43:03,294 --> 00:43:06,524
And again, they're all panicking,
emotions are high, so , I'm able to
906
00:43:06,524 --> 00:43:09,694
come in with a level head and say
okay, do you have a shelter software?
907
00:43:09,724 --> 00:43:10,114
No.
908
00:43:10,234 --> 00:43:11,584
How do you track your animals?
909
00:43:11,584 --> 00:43:12,424
We use Excel.
910
00:43:12,784 --> 00:43:13,294
Okay.
911
00:43:13,504 --> 00:43:14,434
Is there a cloud?
912
00:43:14,524 --> 00:43:15,034
No.
913
00:43:15,214 --> 00:43:15,664
Okay.
914
00:43:15,874 --> 00:43:17,464
Is there a hard drive?
915
00:43:17,644 --> 00:43:18,094
Yes.
916
00:43:18,124 --> 00:43:18,454
Okay.
917
00:43:18,454 --> 00:43:19,774
Were you able to get Yes.
918
00:43:19,774 --> 00:43:21,994
We brought the, somebody
brought the hard drive here.
919
00:43:22,024 --> 00:43:22,834
Okay, great.
920
00:43:22,834 --> 00:43:24,244
Pull the hard drive up there.
921
00:43:24,274 --> 00:43:24,634
Boom.
922
00:43:24,634 --> 00:43:25,354
That's done.
923
00:43:25,564 --> 00:43:26,404
Okay, great.
924
00:43:26,454 --> 00:43:27,504
I have my laptop.
925
00:43:27,924 --> 00:43:29,034
I'm starting to Google Drive.
926
00:43:29,064 --> 00:43:29,424
All right.
927
00:43:29,424 --> 00:43:32,334
Who, which dogs went to Happy Hounds?
928
00:43:32,334 --> 00:43:36,994
Which dogs went to, Newton Vet,
which dogs went to Southern Paws?
929
00:43:36,994 --> 00:43:38,344
Which dogs went here?
930
00:43:38,584 --> 00:43:41,794
And then you start to get organized,
but if you don't have somebody
931
00:43:41,794 --> 00:43:45,664
coming in with that level head
and then acknowledgement and.
932
00:43:46,119 --> 00:43:47,439
I almost didn't go.
933
00:43:47,539 --> 00:43:50,659
This property the Oscar property
is a little over an hour from us.
934
00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:57,799
And I had to go to the facility to get my
van, which is a half hour from me before
935
00:43:57,799 --> 00:44:00,889
I rode up there, because I was like if
they're gonna need us to move animals,
936
00:44:00,889 --> 00:44:02,509
I don't wanna go up without the van.
937
00:44:02,779 --> 00:44:04,519
So I immediately ran to my facility.
938
00:44:04,519 --> 00:44:07,159
I threw a whole bunch of stuff
in the truck that was emergency,
939
00:44:07,159 --> 00:44:08,599
like things that they might need.
940
00:44:09,109 --> 00:44:13,569
And then I started going up with
the van and I had four people
941
00:44:13,569 --> 00:44:15,429
that called me and said, don't go.
942
00:44:15,639 --> 00:44:18,489
They're putting out on the internet
that they don't need any more help.
943
00:44:18,939 --> 00:44:20,049
Please don't go.
944
00:44:20,049 --> 00:44:21,039
It's a mob scene.
945
00:44:21,039 --> 00:44:22,179
Nobody wants you there.
946
00:44:22,419 --> 00:44:23,919
And everybody kept saying that to me.
947
00:44:23,919 --> 00:44:26,679
Even the head, even my chief
of my cart team was like,
948
00:44:26,679 --> 00:44:28,149
Ashley, we don't self deploy.
949
00:44:28,149 --> 00:44:30,819
And I was like, Carol,
I'm not going as cart.
950
00:44:30,819 --> 00:44:31,959
I'm going to Southern Paws.
951
00:44:31,959 --> 00:44:32,769
I'll see you later.
952
00:44:32,919 --> 00:44:34,659
Worst case scenario, they don't need me.
953
00:44:34,929 --> 00:44:36,249
I'm 15 minutes from there.
954
00:44:36,249 --> 00:44:38,289
I've been in the car now
for almost two hours.
955
00:44:38,289 --> 00:44:40,779
I'm like, I'm gonna at least
give them my card because if
956
00:44:40,779 --> 00:44:41,979
they don't need me tonight.
957
00:44:42,534 --> 00:44:45,984
Over the next couple of days,
they are going to need me.
958
00:44:46,084 --> 00:44:50,284
I have a very certain set of
skills that are not, yes, they
959
00:44:50,314 --> 00:44:52,504
don't need average person's help.
960
00:44:52,864 --> 00:44:56,394
And that's I think, one of the things
that gets lost in the sauce, ? In this
961
00:44:56,394 --> 00:45:00,684
scenario, this is what I'm good at, this
is one of the things that I specialize in.
962
00:45:00,684 --> 00:45:03,384
So I can come in and
help you get organized.
963
00:45:03,384 --> 00:45:07,314
I can help you navigate the outpouring
of support that's gonna come in.
964
00:45:07,374 --> 00:45:13,264
I can help you with phone lines and emails
and all these different things, but.
965
00:45:14,099 --> 00:45:15,029
I even doubted myself.
966
00:45:15,029 --> 00:45:16,349
I was like, maybe I shouldn't go.
967
00:45:16,349 --> 00:45:18,719
And I was like, you know what
I've almost driven two hours.
968
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:19,949
Just go give 'em your card.
969
00:45:20,279 --> 00:45:22,819
And when I walked in, I was
like, Hey, listen, I'm not
970
00:45:22,819 --> 00:45:24,769
here to move dogs, take dogs.
971
00:45:24,769 --> 00:45:25,519
I don't wanna do this.
972
00:45:25,549 --> 00:45:27,439
These are the things I can help you with.
973
00:45:27,829 --> 00:45:31,129
If you want me to leave, I can leave and
I'll just give you my card and then if
974
00:45:31,129 --> 00:45:32,599
you need anything, please just reach out.
975
00:45:32,839 --> 00:45:34,064
And they were like no, please stay.
976
00:45:34,304 --> 00:45:37,964
And I ended up working with them
for a week to get them organized.
977
00:45:38,014 --> 00:45:38,734
It was huge.
978
00:45:38,734 --> 00:45:39,394
It was great.
979
00:45:39,394 --> 00:45:40,654
It was a wonderful success.
980
00:45:40,694 --> 00:45:45,704
They actually raised over $600,000
that from a GoFundMe that my
981
00:45:45,704 --> 00:45:47,504
social media person put together.
982
00:45:47,554 --> 00:45:48,064
Oh my God.
983
00:45:48,064 --> 00:45:49,954
Yeah, you have to go online
and you have to look it out.
984
00:45:49,954 --> 00:45:51,574
It's called Oscar Animal Rescue.
985
00:45:51,574 --> 00:45:53,964
It's located in Andover, New Jersey.
986
00:45:54,304 --> 00:45:57,844
They're resilient and they're beautiful
and they're wonderful, and they now
987
00:45:57,844 --> 00:45:59,884
officially are getting shelter software.
988
00:45:59,954 --> 00:46:04,104
We laugh about this and we do and I
say this, don't criticize them because
989
00:46:04,104 --> 00:46:07,749
you have no idea how many shelters
I've worked in , all over this country
990
00:46:08,109 --> 00:46:09,779
and people are back in the times
991
00:46:09,889 --> 00:46:13,759
there are a lot of them, especially in
these more rural areas that are not.
992
00:46:14,804 --> 00:46:17,144
Technologically up with the times.
993
00:46:17,194 --> 00:46:18,064
And I was one of them.
994
00:46:18,104 --> 00:46:21,284
, My team had to pull me kicking
and screaming into this century.
995
00:46:21,364 --> 00:46:24,664
I was very much a paper and
pencil kind of person, and
996
00:46:24,664 --> 00:46:25,774
they were like, this is insane.
997
00:46:25,774 --> 00:46:26,944
We gotta get you digital.
998
00:46:27,214 --> 00:46:30,329
So I know what they were going
through, but we've developed
999
00:46:30,329 --> 00:46:31,919
some really great friendships.
1000
00:46:31,969 --> 00:46:36,789
I had them at my rescue this last weekend
because we had a transport and they came
1001
00:46:36,789 --> 00:46:38,829
in to see what our protocols looked like.
1002
00:46:39,189 --> 00:46:41,879
And then, we also teamed up with them.
1003
00:46:42,049 --> 00:46:45,339
They're really giving us a whole
bunch of stuff for a tricky tray
1004
00:46:45,339 --> 00:46:47,109
event that we're doing in June.
1005
00:46:47,479 --> 00:46:48,199
And it was really cute.
1006
00:46:48,199 --> 00:46:51,349
Cassie actually said to me today,
she's you supported us so much.
1007
00:46:51,659 --> 00:46:52,469
'Cause I was like, stop.
1008
00:46:52,469 --> 00:46:53,369
I was like, this is too much.
1009
00:46:53,369 --> 00:46:54,749
You don't need to give us all this stuff.
1010
00:46:54,749 --> 00:46:55,259
Stop it.
1011
00:46:55,739 --> 00:46:57,119
And she was like, no.
1012
00:46:57,119 --> 00:47:00,269
She's you supported us so much
through this such a difficult time.
1013
00:47:00,319 --> 00:47:01,579
Let us help you now.
1014
00:47:01,639 --> 00:47:02,899
I can help you with this.
1015
00:47:03,259 --> 00:47:06,979
And so it's really beautiful,
these relationships we build too.
1016
00:47:07,059 --> 00:47:11,729
But yeah, I would absolutely say that
having a plan is half the battle.
1017
00:47:12,179 --> 00:47:16,889
Even if everything goes sideways, at
least you have that plan to bring it back
1018
00:47:16,889 --> 00:47:20,529
to, you might lose out on a couple of
steps, but the that saying the best laid
1019
00:47:20,529 --> 00:47:24,369
plans, but you might lose out on some
of it, but it's a way to keep yourself
1020
00:47:24,369 --> 00:47:26,489
calm when everything is going haywire.
1021
00:47:27,959 --> 00:47:28,979
Dixie: Yeah, absolutely.
1022
00:47:28,979 --> 00:47:29,969
I couldn't agree more.
1023
00:47:31,169 --> 00:47:32,129
. Ashley: It's springtime.
1024
00:47:32,129 --> 00:47:33,869
We're going into disaster season.
1025
00:47:33,999 --> 00:47:34,279
Dixie: Yeah.
1026
00:47:34,364 --> 00:47:36,074
Hurricane season fun,
1027
00:47:36,124 --> 00:47:36,994
? Ashley: So fun.
1028
00:47:37,214 --> 00:47:38,684
We got off real easy.
1029
00:47:38,684 --> 00:47:41,934
Last year I didn't have to
deploy out at all last year.
1030
00:47:41,934 --> 00:47:45,204
So I'm a little scared about this year
because usually if there's a year that
1031
00:47:45,204 --> 00:47:49,194
I don't have to deploy out, it means
the following year is gonna be bad.
1032
00:47:49,384 --> 00:47:51,514
This last year we didn't
really go anywhere.
1033
00:47:51,564 --> 00:47:55,074
I don't have the appropriate
certifications to do fire work.
1034
00:47:55,264 --> 00:47:59,524
And honestly, fires for
me are really awful.
1035
00:47:59,714 --> 00:48:01,544
For some reason I don't
like to work fires.
1036
00:48:01,824 --> 00:48:06,134
So it was really nice to be
able to, support paws of war in
1037
00:48:06,134 --> 00:48:07,304
what they were doing out there.
1038
00:48:07,304 --> 00:48:07,724
But.
1039
00:48:08,144 --> 00:48:10,174
Yeah, , that was the only
thing that we had last year.
1040
00:48:10,174 --> 00:48:11,044
It was awful.
1041
00:48:11,044 --> 00:48:14,254
I'm just a little nervous about
this year because this last
1042
00:48:14,284 --> 00:48:15,814
hurricane season was quiet.
1043
00:48:17,044 --> 00:48:17,194
Dixie: Yeah.
1044
00:48:17,194 --> 00:48:23,194
I know we had some, but it hit areas
that were very low populated areas.
1045
00:48:24,064 --> 00:48:24,514
Ashley: Yeah.
1046
00:48:24,724 --> 00:48:25,024
Yeah.
1047
00:48:25,024 --> 00:48:29,044
So we had those weird curves, ? On
the East Coast, everything would come
1048
00:48:29,044 --> 00:48:32,164
in like it was gonna hit, and then it
would immediately bounce back out to
1049
00:48:32,164 --> 00:48:34,024
sea and then just end up in nowhere.
1050
00:48:35,189 --> 00:48:38,549
Dixie: Fingers crossed we
don't have a busy season, so
1051
00:48:38,759 --> 00:48:40,109
Ashley: No, I hope we don't.
1052
00:48:40,109 --> 00:48:40,949
I really don't.
1053
00:48:41,039 --> 00:48:45,179
But yeah, and if anybody out there
listening to this podcast wants help on
1054
00:48:45,179 --> 00:48:50,279
this or needs help coming up with a plan
or wants to talk or, needs some direction
1055
00:48:50,339 --> 00:48:54,329
or wants to make friends, so that next
hurricane you have a team that you can
1056
00:48:54,329 --> 00:48:57,879
call that will come in and help you,
if you need it, please don't hesitate.
1057
00:48:57,879 --> 00:48:58,989
It's Southern paws Inc.
1058
00:48:58,989 --> 00:49:01,149
You can go right on our website,
which is southernpawsinc.org.
1059
00:49:02,229 --> 00:49:05,469
Send us an email just put
attention, Ashley on it.
1060
00:49:05,499 --> 00:49:12,299
Or you could put attention, disaster
preparedness team, and that way,
1061
00:49:12,299 --> 00:49:13,829
let's build some more relationships.
1062
00:49:13,829 --> 00:49:16,289
So if you guys do need us,
you have relationships already
1063
00:49:16,289 --> 00:49:17,699
established for us to come out.
1064
00:49:18,569 --> 00:49:21,209
Dixie: Yeah, and I'll drop that
in the show notes too, so that way
1065
00:49:21,209 --> 00:49:22,919
people can access your page too.
1066
00:49:24,104 --> 00:49:24,824
Ashley: Awesome.
1067
00:49:24,824 --> 00:49:25,274
Awesome.
1068
00:49:25,274 --> 00:49:26,504
Dixie, thanks so much.
1069
00:49:26,504 --> 00:49:27,854
I love coming on this show.
1070
00:49:27,854 --> 00:49:29,114
I love talking to you.
1071
00:49:29,304 --> 00:49:29,724
Dixie: Good.
1072
00:49:29,724 --> 00:49:31,074
I'll have you back another time.
1073
00:49:31,824 --> 00:49:34,374
And hopefully I won't be seeing
you for hurricane season,
1074
00:49:34,424 --> 00:49:34,934
Ashley: No.
1075
00:49:35,119 --> 00:49:35,409
Nope.
1076
00:49:35,409 --> 00:49:36,049
Hopefully not.
1077
00:49:36,629 --> 00:49:37,409
So nope.
1078
00:49:37,829 --> 00:49:38,669
Any other time.
1079
00:49:39,069 --> 00:49:40,539
Dixie: That's it for today's episode.
1080
00:49:40,539 --> 00:49:44,439
I wanna thank everybody for
listening and supporting us.
1081
00:49:44,529 --> 00:49:48,639
If you wanna take that an extra
step, consider becoming a member.
1082
00:49:48,879 --> 00:49:53,079
We just added this to our
website, animalposse.com,
1083
00:49:53,319 --> 00:49:55,389
scroll down, look for the support tab.
1084
00:49:55,439 --> 00:50:01,769
Our membership program is going to
help us directly support animals
1085
00:50:01,799 --> 00:50:08,999
in need, whether that be through
vaccinations, food or spay neuter efforts.
