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NEW YORK CITY — In all the rush, did everyone forget
about the dogs?
The losses resulting from last
Tuesday's terrorist attack on New York City can hardly be expressed in
words. Even now, the tremendous rescue efforts persist in the
hopes that even a single human survivor may be salvaged from the rubble
and razed areas where thousands of lives were claimed in the World Trade
Center collapse.
But even while these valiant efforts are
underway, reports indicate that there remain scores of dogs and companion animals in
cordoned-off sections of lower Manhattan, without food or water, and
without any immediate hope of retrieval. Although reports are
filtering in that some Lower-Manhattan residents are being allowed under
escort to retrieve their pets from their homes, it is believed that most
animals remain stranded.
The animal-rights group People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has issued a
statement containing the following passage:
"...animals are trapped in
buildings that have been evacuated and to which people have learned
they are unable to return. PETA's headquarters is receiving
calls from desperate New York City residents whose companion animals
are trapped inside now vacated apartments, some so close to the World
Trade Center that the animals inside can only be highly traumatized by
the explosions, the sirens, the noise, the shaking ground, the smoke,
and now the unexplained absence of their families."
Estimates have not been confirmed as to
the number of animals trapped, as well as the immediate exigency of
their conditions, but PETA adds:
"We know of at least one
13-floor building, 120 Greenwich Street [a residential building with
103 apartment units], practically across the street from the World
Trade Center, where more than 20 dogs and an undetermined number of
other companion animals are locked inside apartments without food or
water or comfort."
In the same statement, PETA asks all
concerned individuals to
contact Mayor Guiliani and urge him to recognize the situation and
possibly organize a task force for the release of the animals. |
A very confused but fortunate
Spaniel is escorted out of the blast area in downtown Manhattan.
(Photo:
Amy Sancetta / AP)
Realizing that Mayor Guiliani of New
York City and his administration have their hands full in this crisis,
the organization United
Animal Nations / Emergency Animal Rescue Service (UAN / EARS) has offered to assist by mobilizing
volunteers to rescue and care for abandoned animals. The EARS was
recently honored for its life-saving efforts in rescuing hundreds
of companion animals during Hurricane Floyd off the coast of North
Carolina (click here for more).
"We are still having difficulty
getting through on the phone to New York City," says a spokesperson
for UAN / EARS. "At this point we are not aware of any animal
organization that has been allowed into the evacuated area."
Meanwhile, EARS indicates that they
shall remain on standby with supplies, accommodations and volunteers from all
over the country.
More information:
UAN
Action Report
PETA
New York City Update
UPDATE September 15,
2001: The Scoop has received official word that the New York ASPCA and the Center
for Animal Care and Control have begun sending teams into the
evacuated areas to release trapped animals.
If you know of any
animals requiring assistance or retrieval in the New York City area,
please telephone the ASPCA at (212) 876-7700 or the Center for Animal
Care and Control at (718) 649-8600.
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