Veterinary Teams Respond to Hurricane Helene

Hello 👋 

It’s a special Monday edition of Weekend Rounds!

This week, our thoughts are with everyone dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. At least 215 people are known to have died as a result of the destruction brought by the storm since it hit Florida a week ago. The impact has been felt most in North Carolina, where several feet of fast-moving water destroyed entire communities, and account for at least half the fatalities.

Of course, the response of emergency personnel to evacuate as many people as possible, preserve communities when possible, and treat the ill and injured have been the focus of relief efforts since the storm made landfall.

But the veterinary and animal-focused response deserves recognition as well. The Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team, the ASPCA, and the Humane Society of the United States have all dispatched emergency relief workers to Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina. Teams are on-site providing emergency care, and helping to relocate thousands of displaced animals to neighbouring states and nearby shelters.

Corporation and individuals are also leaning in to help:

• Purina Pet Foods has donated $25,000 to Greater Good Charities to support relief efforts, providing food, medical supplies and safe transport of shelter animals.

• Hill’s Pet Nutrition is providing 100,000 pounds of pet food to local shelters and clinics who have welcomed displaced animals

• Miranda Lambert donated $100,000 via her Muttnation Foundation

But more help is still needed. If you are able, consider donating to the Humane Society. To help with their critical emergency rescue and response work, all gifts will be matched up to $20,000 by Fetch Pet Insurance. Or, our friends at DEGA Mobile Veterinary Care have been sharing updates from the ground just outside Asheville, North Carolina, consider donating to their work.

Unfortunately we know the hurricane season has more in store and we are hoping for good things for those preparing for Hurricane Milton.

In the mean time, we are aggregating the best stories from around veterinary medicine for you to pick and choose from:

🩺 In the clinic
👍️ Some good news
🩻 Radiology case of the week
💼 Business round up