Press Release
Daisy’s Animal Rescue League Director and Founder, Melissa Prescott and their team, provided needed manpower for the effort. ” It was DARL’s pleasure to collaborate with such an organized and experienced group of people. We all worked very hard to get donations to help the people and pets in need during such a tragic time.”
Locally, CMDART team members also helped at local Central Mass shelters like Second Chance of Brookfield, when dogs and cats were shipped up from hurricane- ravaged states. “This is one of the blessings that came from the hurricanes. Thousands of sheltered animals got rescued from a long-term sheltering in the South, some that were scheduled for euthanasia. They were given an option for new life as a result of the hurricanes”, Griffin said. She said animal shelters located in the devastated areas find resources to ship animals out of their local shelters. They do this both to rescue them from the disasters devastation and to make room for owned animals that have to be temporarily sheltered or missing animals that will hopefully be re-united with owners.
“At Second Chance we took in an overwhelming 99 pets from Hurricane Irma in just 48 hours. This meant that our need for care of these pets increased dramatically. We reached out to CMDART and they sent several amazing volunteers to help with all the tasks of caring for these pets”, said Sheryl Blancato, Executive Director of Second Chance Animal Services with headquarters in East/North Brookfields. “It helped to get these pets the care they needed during this emergency. We sincerely appreciated the volunteer help of CMDART to help with these pets. These were pets that were already in shelters in FL that had to be evacuated to make room for pets coming in from the community. Therefore it was urgent to move as many of these pets as possible during this critical time. The help of CMDART was extremely important in the accomplishment of this mission. “
While the team heeded the call to help out of state, duties and training needed to continue here at home in Central Mass. Fifty –three (53) new volunteers were trained and added to the team in 2016, 2017. Together with local emergency management and animal control, volunteers participated in local trainings, practice exercises, and continued their mission to educate the public on their personal responsibility for preparedness.
January 3, 2018, will start the 15th year of service for CMDART. The Board of Directors is currently seeking additional Board members to aid the administration of our non-profit . These directors will help to support our forward progress , assist a manageable distribution of tasks, and assist the establishment of strategic short and long-range goals. Central Mass residency preferred. For more information, contact [email protected], go to our website www.cmdart.org or call 508-476-2873.