$25K grant helps Lee County save pets in future hurricanes

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—Lee County Domestic Animal Services received a $25,000 grant for disaster response equipment and training to help rescue pets during future storms.

The funding came after Hurricane Ian exposed gaps in animal rescue capabilities. Animal control officers who responded to Fort Myers Beach after the storm lacked proper equipment to enter damaged homes safely.

"We had a group of about five or six that had to respond to Fort Myers Beach to do rescue after Ian," said Karen Hoel, public information specialist. "They didn't have the equipment at the time that they needed to go into the houses."

The grant funded new lifejackets, helmets, rope, boots and other specialized gear. It also paid for a four-day training seminar bringing together animal control officers, police, fire crews, the Florida State Guard and other agencies to practice boat operations and flood rescues.

Eric Thompson, executive director of Animal Incident Management & ASAR Training and Response, led the training. He said the biggest challenge in evacuating pets is communication.

"The biggest challenge for evacuating pets is trying to communicate to them, you're here to help," Thompson said. "As we're rescuing people, we can tell them, hey, we're here to help."

The training covers all types of animals, not just dogs and cats.

"We are an all animal, all hazard teams," Thompson said. "So we're going to be talking about exotics today. We're going to be talking about horses and other large animals."

He said teams prepare to rescue snakes, birds and even unusual cases. "I have actually rescued sharks out of a flood," Thompson said. "I've rescued koi fish out of a wildland fire. We've had ducks that think they're dogs, so we are going to equip them with knowledge and a toolkit to go forward to deal with multi species."

Pete Santana, animal services field supervisor, helped push for the grant after leading a team of five animal control officers during Ian. His team rescued roughly 60 cats and dogs from the beach.

"There were some unfortunate situations, but for the most part, I think we rescued roughly close to 60 animals from the beach, cats and dogs," Santana said.

Returning animals to owners who thought their pets were gone made the difficult work worthwhile. "It was rewarding for us to return those animals, people that didn't think that their animals were still alive," Santana said.

The training follows FEMA's federal ASAR standard and uses stuffed animal mannequins instead of live animals for drills. Teams practice with throw bags, which can be used for both animals and people during rescues.

Santana said his team's mission remains clear. "Complete the mission and be safe and make sure everybody's okay, the animals okay, and we're able to provide a, you know, happy ending for the owner and return that animal," Santana said.

The new equipment will help teams serve communities more effectively during future disasters. "We've all worked hard to reach to this point, and to be able to get the equipment that we actually need is really going to help us and help the communities," Santana said.

Lee County Domestic Animal Services is hosting a hurricane preparedness seminar Saturday, June 20. The agency will distribute hurricane preparedness kits to help pet owners keep their animals safe before the next storm.

Participating agencies include:

• Lee County Animal Services Technical Rescue Team
• Lee County Sheriff’s Office Agricultural Unit
• Lee County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit
• Fort Myers Police Department
• Florida State Guard Maritime Response Squadron
• DeSoto Fire & Rescue
• Pinellas Park Police Department
• Sumter County Fire
• Volusia County Fire
• Fort Myers Shores Fire Department