News
Mar 07 2011
Under Water
Last Monday morning, a flash flood hit SART’s property. We walked through waist-high water for 4 hours rescuing all 297 cats and kittens that reside at SART. The volunteers were then evacuated from the property by boat! Since that day, the waters subsided as fast as they came, and work has been endless in cleaning up our buildings and making them safe and healthy for our cats. Many of our residents went to “camp” at several of our volunteers’ homes this week since our facilities needed such deep cleaning before the cats could return to them. We have filled dumpsters, scrubbed with bleach, carried river water drenched condos, rugs and blankets, painted and re-organized each and every day. Hopefully this coming week we will be able to get everyone back to their homes.
We are so grateful that our cats are so healthy and strong, trust us to the end, and are enduring all of the stress and strange conditions. It makes it easier doing what we need to do knowing that our cats are okay. It has been difficult, to say the least, and as often as we see flood disasters on TV, living through one is entirely different.
There’s a long road ahead to get SART back to where it was before the flood. Much of our supplies and equipment are a total loss, and many repairs need to be made to our facilities. We’ve created an emergency relief and donation section on our website and desperately need your help in any way you can provide. If you’re interested in lending a hand in Operation Dry Paws, please visit sartohio.org/drypaws to find out how you can help.
