As Irene recedes into memory and we all breathe a sigh of relief, it’s a good opportunity to let everyone know how SMART responded in this emergency situation.

As of last Saturday evening, we had animal shelters set up and staffed in Salem, Attleboro and Bridgewater.  These were co-sheltering situations with the American Red Cross, where the humans were sheltered in one part of the facility and their animal companions were sheltered in another.  Because the storm downgraded before hitting our state, the extent of the emergency and the number of people seeking shelter was minimal.  Even still, we provided safe haven for a number of cats, dogs and a chinchilla.

In addition, the state activated the large shelter at MMR (the Mass Military Reservation) on the Cape.  This was also a co-sheltering situation with a team of 8 people in place to insure that the animal needs were met.

In Weymouth, we did not have a shelter but were an onsite presence to help direct anyone may have arrived at the human shelter with their pets to an offsite location.

CMDART provided the shelter support for the Central part of the state and SMART provided additional support to the local Emergency Manager in Greenfield as well.

At this point, all of the animal shelters that were set up in Eastern Mass in response to Irene have been demobilized.

This was the largest, most extensive response that SMART has yet experienced. The fact that we had such an active presence in so many locations is indicative of all of our hard work over the last few years and, in particular, the goodwill and reputation generated by our volunteers in the field during previous responses.

Thanks to all of you who volunteered to be available this past weekend and special thanks to IFAW for helping to supplement our resource needs!!