How to use FaceBook to Help People and Animals in a Disaster by Marilyn Knapp Litt After a disaster, people turn to the social media to help.  This is a way for people who are not in the area to lend aid to their “neighbors.” (read more) The Use of Social Media for Disaster Recovery by Rebecca and Genevieve Williams (Joplin Tornado Info) and David Burton (MU Extension) 30-page publication that gives best practices and suggestions for using social media in a community following a disaster. Information and guidelines in this publication grew from the first-hand experience volunteers had building a Facebook community following the Joplin (2011) tornado and the Branson (2012) tornado. During disasters, the Stealth Volunteers do what we can online to assist in reuniting animals with their families. We also help to get the word out about where you can evacuate with your animals and we put rescuers together with supplies and those in need. IF you are an animal control shelter or a rescue that is full up and needs volunteers, why not think outside the box and let us be your online volunteers! We can trace chips and tags, even when the information seems to be a dead end, and send animals home right away. We can really increase your "Return to Owner" rate if you give us a chance. We are able to take phone numbers, chip info, or partial address information, even when out of date, and find the family of a rescued animal. Anyone needing these services is welcome to our volunteer help. Stealth is a great group of volunteers and we would particularly like to find an animal control or rescue that would like to put us to work on a daily basis finding people. We operate with strictest confidentiality and do not disclose personal information. When we are looking for someone, that information is never posted online - even to our private discussion group. We are happy to work under your supervision, by your rules and within your time frame. See www.TagTrace.com to do searches yourself. List of official State Animal Response Teams (SART) - Is your state listed? Very few states have SARTS! Make sure your state is ready for a disaster. Here is a blog I did on one of the very few Ike reunions: Swimming for his life, he endured the horror of being hit by bodies of the drowned. LostPetHelp.com - free tips on what to do if you lose (or find) an animal as well .
	Read what it was like to rescue animals after Katrina in the destroyed city of New Orleans. Buy the Book from Amazon This review is from: Orphans of Katrina: Inside the World's Biggest Animal Rescue- What Really Happened on the Gulf and How You Can Help Save America's Pets Today (Paperback) O'Toole takes you with her through the surreal world that was post-Katrina, New Orleans. It was a decimated city peopled with first responders, closed to residents, and full of houses that could contain animals waiting for rescue or past rescue. Heartache and horror waited behind many doors and the author does not flinch in sharing what she finds inside when she breaks open doors and puts crowbars through windows. The author at first seems to be a most unlikely animal rescuer. Comfortable in LA in a residential hotel where the staff knows her preferences and she is taking daily yoga and dance classes, she throws it all over to go by herself to New Orleans where she sleeps in a grocery parking lot at night and coaxes frightened animals to come to her during the day. Orphans of Katrina is particularly well-written by someone who elected not to watch the post-Katrina debacle on television, but go herself and sort things out. Many animals perished after Katrina. Those who did not owe their lives to people like O'Toole who braved privation, danger and all manner of unpleasantness to bring animals to safety. We are privileged to accompany her on this journey as she unflinchingly shows us what she saw. The book is also a primer on how to do rescues and offers suggestions on how people can help "rescue" the animals in their home town. I recommend it to those who enjoy memoirs, or books about animals, or who want to know more about Katrina.

OUR FRIENDS

"Saul credits the hard work of 500 Stealth Volunteers for half of the reunions. These volunteers collect clues and then comb search engines and databases to try to track down owners."

~Betsy Saul, PetFinder

"Thank you to all the dedicated Stealth and other wonderful volunteers from around the world that have helped our residents find their lost pets"

~Ceily Trogg, St. Bernard Parish Animal Control

ARNO loves Stealth and Stealth loves ARNO!

To Our Great Sorrow, Stealth has Lost Two of Their Own

We will always Remember our Dear Friends Beth Petronis and Shannon Moore

OUR PRESS

BARK MAGAZINE: "Petfinder.com Founder Betsy Saul Making lifelong love of animals an international success" by Laura Bergerol

When I asked her for some final thoughts on the rescue efforts after both hurricanes, her response was clear: “With the help of shelter staff, the rescuers who responded and Stealth Volunteers [a grassroots group who worked tirelessly on reuniting animals]… what a dream! I couldn’t have conceived of a more inspirational response. I’m so proud of everyone. I think tragedies like Katrina might shake the foundation of one’s faith in some things ... but my faith in people after that response is huge.”

PETS IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: HURRICANE KATRINA FLOODS THE COURTS WITH PET CUSTODY DISPUTES

This article provides a summary of those custody disputes while examining the question of whether those who left their pets behind during Hurricane Katrina have the right to reclaim them from the animals’ new adoptive family. The animals of Hurricane Katrina became trapped in the middle of an unfortunate and complicated situation largely because of defects in our national policies and laws regarding animals and disasters. Therefore, this article also reviews legislative changes that have and should occur concerning pets and disasters, pet adoption, and animals as property.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: "Lost in Katrina and in new homes – whose pet now?" by Patrik Jackson

"There's a spot on Army Lt. Jay Johnson's bed that is heavy with emptiness, he says, and it can only be filled with his beloved Missy. He was in Iraq when his family broke the news to him that volunteer rescuers who scoured New Orleans after hurricane Katrina had taken away his furry Shih Tzu. An ID chip implanted in Missy should have ensured her return to him, he says, but instead she was allowed to be adopted by another family. " --Jay's dog was never returned FOR SHAME SPCA of Texas!

KAT 5 ANIMAL RESCUE

"As the days wore on, Litt used her 20 years of computer experience, along with those of a small cadre of friends, to reconnect families by searching Katrina databases. Eventually, evacuees requested her help in locating pets. Her postings on the NOLA.com forum caught the attention of Petfinder's founder Betsy Saul, who recruited Knapp to find the owners of found pets with identification or rabies tags."

Katrina kitty rescued off the streets Feb. 12 reuniting in Atlanta

"Stealth Volunteers helped make the match on the rabies tags."

Jump(er) into mommy's arms

'I wish it had been as easy as her phone being reactivated, as the story said. In fact, we started with a non-published number and no family name...but the tag did say "Jumper." Hours on the computer and dozens of calls to everyone in the State of Louisiana with the same last name (thank you Stealth volunteers), and we finally made the connection. There were perhaps a dozen Best Friends and Stealth volunteers who made this reunion possible. We dubbed ourselves "Jumper's aunties."'

BARK MAGAZINE: "Treading Water" by Julia Kamysz Lane

“He’s very happy!” says Cavalier, a few days after the long-awaited reunion. “He was so glad to see me. Anytime I’d go to the supermarket or church, when I’d get back, he’d run up and down the house, jump up, stand up, do a little dance. He’s back at his clowning. He had a habit of lying flat on his stomach and he’d put his face right on top of my slipper and just sleep right there. He did that before Katrina and he’s doing it now.

"Angel in Training" by Toni Drugmand

"Two very tired guys, a decorated, combat veteran and a little pit bull arrived in Phoenix on New Year’s Eve and that is how Hurricane came to DOG-ON-IT in Arizona." This story does not include the very happy ending that the "vicious" little dog who came so close to losing his life, ended up in Search & Rescue!

MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS: Local Residents Open Their Homes and Wallets to Reunite New Orleans Family and Their Dog (page 11)

Within 24 hours, Stealthers Marilyn, Susan and Mariko, all L.A. area residents, had come up with a plan to get Mitzy home.

AP REPORT: New Orleans woman who lost dog during Katrina sues family to get pet returned

A member of Stealth Volunteers, an organization that reunites owners with lost pets, saw the report and had a flier posted at the ruins of Combs' demolished home about Rocket's recovery.

DOGSTER.COM: Reunited after 8 months!!!!!

Sometimes all it takes is a whistle blower, a sherrif with a scanner and a Stealth Volunteer!

 

Updated June 5, 2012