Press release from International K9 Search and Rescue Services
05-26-2013.
Imagine if you will, your dog or cat is trapped in the rubble after a disaster. They are alive, but trapped under debris left behind from an earthquake, tornado, fire, flood, or hurricane.
You’ve lost your home. All you have left is the clothes on your back and now you are searching for your four legged loved ones. And unknown to you, no one is allowed to be brought in to help you bring your pet out alive from under the rubble.
I’m going to ask you to put yourself in your pet’s body for a moment. Your owners are at work.
You hear a rumble, the walls shake, and then everything comes down around you. Now all you see is darkness. You feel scared; you’re cold, tired, thirsty, and hungry. You hear human’s walking around on top of the rubble above you. You cry out but no one comes to help you. You lay there in the void slowly dying because our government doesn’t care enough to allow those trained to come rescue you.
You hear a rumble, the walls shake, and then everything comes down around you. Now all you see is darkness. You feel scared; you’re cold, tired, thirsty, and hungry. You hear human’s walking around on top of the rubble above you. You cry out but no one comes to help you. You lay there in the void slowly dying because our government doesn’t care enough to allow those trained to come rescue you.
Harsh statement but a very true one. Let’s change this now. We need your help. Let’s pass a law called NO PET LEFT BEHND.
It’s May 26, 2013. 6 days after the E-5 Tornado touchdown in Oklahoma destroying hundreds of homes, killing dozens of humans. Displacing thousands of home owners and their pets.
We’ve all watched on TV, read the articles on line, in the newspapers of the survivor’s stories, the brave rescuers, K9’s and the dozens of volunteer groups that came to help those in need.
But no one, not one single person, newspaper, TV, Radio station is addressing the issue of the PETS still buried in the rubble. Why not? To most of us, our pets are just as important to us as our human children. And if our home is gone, often all we have left is our pets.
FEMA, USDA, nor any other agency addresses the issue of SAR for pets buried in the rubble except for International K9 SAR Services.
During Hurricane Katrina FEMA gave themselves a BLACK EYE when they refused to rescue or allow anyone else to rescue the stranded pets until a week later after the human searches were completed.
Thousands died from dehydrations, starvation, and exposure to the elements. These were needless deaths as thousands of volunteers around American stood ready to go in and rescue the pets but were not allowed in by FEMA.
Thousands died from dehydrations, starvation, and exposure to the elements. These were needless deaths as thousands of volunteers around American stood ready to go in and rescue the pets but were not allowed in by FEMA.
During the 911 disaster in NY City, FEMA teams didn’t address the animals, pets, trapped in the “RESTRICTED Zone” around the twin towers area. This area was roped off by NYPD. Hundreds of pets died as their owners weren’t allowed into the restricted zone areas to rescue their own pets. Their condo’s and apartments were not hit by the terrorists. It was simply a control issue.
In the recent Moore, OK tornados again FEMA, and the USDA, left hundreds’ of pets trapped and buried in the disaster rubble to die. They did allow the USDA to come in and other groups to rescue the pets found on the surface of the rubble but again USDA didn’t address the hundreds of pets still buried alive in the rubble.
IK9SARS offices received dozens of calls and emails requesting our assistance to come in by private pet owners. However when we tried to go through government channels to obtain permission to respond, we were ignored.
We are one of the few search dog teams in the world trained to not only find live and dead missing persons in rubble sites, but to locate live and dead pets trapped under the surface of the rubble as well.
Hi my name is Mr. Harry Oakes. I’m the search and rescue coordinator for International K9 Search and Rescue Services in Longview, Washington.
Our search dog teams have been used successfully during the Northridge Ca Earthquake, S.F. earthquake, Oklahoma City Bombing, the 1990 Philippine Earthquake, Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, both of the 1999 Turkey earthquakes, the Pacific NW Floods and Fires. We’ve also offered our assistance in Kobi, Japan, Haiti, and numerous other disasters around the world.
For the last 27 years, we’ve been used to search for missing persons and trapped pets inside disaster zones. We are a private team and do not in any way want to be a part of FEMA.
During Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Oakes was contacted by representatives from LSU and helped coordinate the rescue of thousands of pets through the LSU campus.
During 911 Mr. Harry E. Oakes was used as a consultant and assisted Mayor Giuliani’s office in getting the remaining 162 pets trapped in the restricted zones rescued. He coordinated the Police, Dept of Agriculture, Humane society law enforcement, and pet owners to get their pets recovered.
During the Moore Tornado disaster in 2013, Mr. Oakes’ emails and telephone calls to FEMA, USDA, Dept of Emergency Management in Oklahoma, and Email to the Moore City Police Chief all went ignored in his offer to bring in K9 resources for FREE to help find missing pets.
On 05-25-2013 a cat was rescued alive under the rubble by his owners. 5 days after the initial event. Why did this poor cat have to wait 5 days to be rescued? This shows hundred’s of pets could still be alive waiting for rescue.
Fact: During a press interview on 05-23-2013, a news crew was interviewing a woman who survived the tornado. During the interview, a little snauzer was heard crying by a news crew and the film crew and nearby folks helped dig the poor little trapped dog out and saved his life. This was all caught on camera. (See video attachment at the end of this statement).
Mr. Oakes is now asking City, County, State representatives as well as Congress and the US Senate to help pass a federal mandate to force FEMA, the USDA, and the States affected by disasters to develop a law that LEAVES NO PET BEHIND.
This law will be given to those who make our laws such as our senator’s and the members of congress to mandate FEMA, USDA, and office of Emergency management, that after a disaster, FEMA, USDA, and the office of emergency management, to allow trained search dog teams, trained to find pets under the rubble so that they may be rescued in a timely manner instead of lay trapped under the rubble for days after everyone else has been rescued or recovered.
In a recent interview Mr. Harry Oakes was quoted saying this.”There’s absolutely no excuse with today’s resources why a home owner’s pet can’t be rescued in a timely manner”. FEMA has repeatedly showed they don’t address this issue. USDA only addresses the pets, animals on the surface of the disaster, not under the surface. It’s all about training the search dog’s and their handlers.
When a trained search dog works the rubble site, he or she will show three types of alerts, live, dead, or stress. The search dog handler will mark the site, then ask for diggers to come in a recover, rescue, who or whatever it is that’s alive, dead under the rubble. We’ve been doing this with the same search dogs (One dog, one handler team) for 27 years.
Our main focus in the first week of the event is to find and rescue as many people and pets that are alive and trapped.”
I’m asking the members of CONGRESS and the SENATE to pass the “NO PET LEFT BEHIND” law to force FEMA, USDA, and other agencies to allow trained State, Federal, and PRIVATE SAR teams in within 72 hours of an event to work independently of FEMA, coordinated by the State office of emergency Management and USDA to help in the search and rescue of pets.
I need everyone’s help to pass this on to the media, to the Humane Society of the USA, to every single state office of emergency management, and to every humane society in the USA and pet owners themselves.
This way when the next disaster happens, NO PETS LEFT BEHIND will become a law and will become a reality instead of the nightmare for the pets and their owners as it is today.
During a disaster, I.K.9.S.A.R.S. Donates their own money, time, and services to help search and rescue/recover victims of the disaster to include both human and animals.
We are NOT asking for money. We are asking the laws to be changed to force FEMA, USDA, and OES, DEM’s to allow trained SAR dog teams to find missing pet’s trapped in the rubble piles.
Pass this on to everyone you know who owns a pet. Write letters to your congress and senate representatives as well as your own state governor’s office. With your help we can protect the ones we love. And, give them the chance they deserve to live after an event instead of being buried alive and left to die a slow agonizing death.
Please feel free to contact Mr. Harry Oakes at
International K9 Search and Rescue Services
PO Box# 1472 Longview, Washington 98632
Office: 360-414-8903 Mobile: 503-705-0258
Email: sardogk91@aol.com
Thank You.
Respectfully
Mr. Harry E. Oakes Jr.
Thank You.
Respectfully
Mr. Harry E. Oakes Jr.
View this link ref dog rescue.
