Recently in disaster relief Category

AP photo

Here's some rare good news out of that tragic earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.

A dog was spotted from the air last week, walking around on some floating debris of a house in the ocean about a mile from the coastline. The dog, a female named Ban, was rescued and reunited with her owner this morning. She had been out there for 3 weeks. Video below.

In a separate story out of Japan this week:

A pet dog is screened for radiation contamination after being reunited with its owner in Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, April 4, 2011. Tamura city lies partly within the zone around the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where officials have told residents to stay indoors. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Kenji Shimizu) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (Kenji Shimizu)


 

MSNBC carried this report Wednesday about a puppy that was rescued from a collapsed house in Chile where workers are clearing away rubble from last weekend's devastating 8.8 earthquake.

Rescue worker Cristian Velasquez found and comforted this puppy found alive Monday. Velasquez gave him bits of food and water after rescuing him from inside a collapsed house in Constitucion. (AP Photos/Roberto Candia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just wanted to let you know the Animal Emergency Referral Center at 3511 Pacific Coast Hwy in south Torrance did take in 2 fire evacuee dogs on Thursday night. No injuries, thank goodness.

We contacted Channel 9, the Torrance PD and Torrance Animal Control to get the word out. AERC is the city and Disaster Team veterinary hospital for the city of Torrance and the South Bay. We are always open - 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. Disasters inevitably happen at the worst possible time with minimal resources available and I just want to let you know we are always there to help. 

Let's hear it for all those animal lovers out there who jumped in last night and made sure the area's dogs, cats and horses had safe shelter. (That's Norman, left, who spent the night at Ernie Howlett Park after being evacuated.) 

As soon as word began to spread about the fire on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Pedro Realtor Rebecca Chamblis fired up her computer, using Twitter, Facebook and emails to offer services to area residents. She called the Terranea resort to make sure they'd accept animals as part of their overnight shelter package. She gives special credit to the American Kennel Club, a group she says is always ready to provide food, crates and other help during a natural disaster.

Meanwhile, horse trainer Callie Bell, also a San Pedro resident, hitched up her trailer and began ferrying horses out of the Portguguese Bend neighborhoods over to Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates. Owners were picking their horses up today.

Rebecca says someday she'd like to see a formal animal rescue group "on paper." But for now, the loose-knit, self-motivated band of volunteers -- some of whom don't even know each other -- is doing a pretty good job.

I've posted some more photos on the jump that I took this morning of the 15 horses who were taken to the Ernie Howlett park by Callie and others. Owners were picking them up by midday to return home.

Got this email from Redondo Shores Veterinary Center this morning:

Dr. Dirk Yelinek of Redondo Shores Veterinary Center will be open to receive and treat animals affected by the fires at the clinic today at 701 S Pacific Coast Hwy in Redondo Beach.

This is a private, local EOC for animals( Emergency Operations Center). Dr. Yelinek is Deputy Team Commander of the National Veterinary Response Team-4, under the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security and has been in private practice in the south bay for over 20 years. 

For information call: 310-540-5588

Nancy Backes of Rolling Hills and her dog Mozart take a respite from the fire outside the Red Cross shelter set up a Palos Verdes High School. (Sean Hiller/Daily Breeze Staff Photographer)

According to Rebecca Chamblis on Twitter: