Local Vet Tech volunteers in Texas after Hurricane Harvey

As the southern states were pounded by hurricanes earlier this month, buildings were destroyed, people were displaced and pets were lost. Despite not being personally affected by the devastating storms, people from around the country traveled to cities impacted by the hurricanes to lend a helping hand in the recovery effort.

One of those volunteers was Emily Dodd, a resident of the unincorporated area near Issaquah and Sammamish. Dodd has been working as a veterinary technician for two years in Seattle and jumped at the chance to help in Houston after Hurricane Harvey struck the area.

Dodd made the decision to go to Houston after speaking with her friends, a firefighter and veterinary technician living in Texas. She flew to Houston on Friday, Sept. 1 to lend a hand over the Labor Day weekend.

When she arrived, Dodd joined her friend in Katy, a city just west of Houston, where they began their work with lost, injured and sick animals at a site in an empty parking lot operated by local pet adoption group Austin Pets Alive.

“The whole thing was run with just volunteers, hundreds every day, we had a food tent, we had a trailer full of dog food, we had medical staff,” she said. “Austin Pets Alive, they were running the show, and we had people doing intake and owner surrenders; other shelters were flooded so animals were coming to us constantly, we were in-taking and then sending them out.”

If an animal needed serious medical attention right away, the group would send them to Austin, where more medical resources were available. Some pet owners were not able to look after their pets while dealing with the after effects of the flooding, and the group would take them in and get the animals to safe local shelters for adoption.

As a technician, Dodd was paired with a veterinarian physician and would see dogs, sometimes 10 at a time, and address any medical issues they had. The work consisted of addressing any pressing needs before more serious medical attention was necessary.

“We would pick a kennel and go down the line, triage if they needed it, if a dog has a broken leg, splint it, give medication and ship it; we had other dogs coming in visibly okay for the most part — those we would take into consideration and then vaccinate,” she said.

Dodd returned to Washington on Labor Day, but stayed in touch with a few of the people she had met during the weekend. After talking with the people still in Katy almost daily, Dodd was motivated to go back.

The group had moved into an abandoned grocery store after it was hit by the floods and had been working from there when Dodd returned on Wednesday, Sept. 13. At this second location the group had less personnel to work with, which was sometimes difficult to deal with, Dodd said.

“It was way more stressful, you never really knew if you were going to have a vet and it was going to be whoever they could get,” Dodd said. “Austin Pets Alive, they also started a Houston Pets group, the two groups were working together to run this location.”

The group of volunteers also worked with the California-based non-profit MAD Dog Rescue, which provides disaster relief for domestic animals.

After four days of additional volunteer work, Dodd flew back home on Monday, Sept. 18. As a veterinary technician, Dodd feels that her volunteer work in Katy was an invaluable experience for her growth in the profession. She also sees herself getting involved in more volunteer work for natural disaster relief.

“I would do it again in a heartbeat, I’m glad I was a part of it, I got some amazing experience, life experience,” she said. “As a tech I grew from that; you have minimal options and learn to function with them. I grew as a tech and also grew as a person, which is amazing… I will probably end up going and doing more disaster work, it’s a matter of looking and seeing who is willing to take in some help.”