Former firefighter rescues pets in disasters - Alix Kast

Hazel Donnelly was on her way to the doctor with her husband when she received a call that their apartment building was on fire. She immediately thought of her cat, Kramer, who is seventeen years old. She has no children, so her pet is basically like a child to her. When they got back to their apartments she asked firefighters to look for her cat, but they were too busy trying to control the fire. Then Red Paw Emergency Relief arrived on the scene. This is a nonprofit organization that helps pets and their owners during disasters. Jen Leary (who is a former firefighter, and the founder of this organization) talked to the building's residents and retrieved the animals when the fire was out. No one was hurt, but since the apartment was damaged badly Donnelly needed somewhere for her pet to stay. Luckily, Red Paw also offers free temporary care for pets. Since 2011, Leary and her group have helped almost 1,000 animals and their families in southeastern Pennsylvania. Leary started the organization because during her work with Red Cross, she saw many people struggling to care for their pets after disasters. Now, whenever the Red Cross encounters an incident in which an animal might be involved, they call her organization. Because of her experience as a firefighter, she is often allowed into areas where regular citizens would not be. Emergency transportation, pet supplies, shelter, and medical care are also provided, for free.

This is nice to hear about, and I'm very glad that everyone's pets were okay. I wonder if there is an organization like this in Texas? This is such a great group. Everyone automatically thinks about helping people during a disaster, but we often forget about people's pets. It's comforting to know that someone out there is helping animals and their families when they really need it. Because people can't usually care for their pets after a disaster, they are sometimes forced to abandon their pets or to take them to a shelter. It is great that there is a group trying to make sure that things like that don't happen. What is even better is that they do all of this for free, which means that everyone can receive help from them.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/10/us/cnnheroes-leary/index.html?hpt=us_t4