You Learn Something New Every Day, Screwworm Edition

I'm not familiar with screwworms but apparently they are as nasty as they sound (pdf):

Screwworms are fly larvae (maggots) that feed on living flesh. These parasites infest all mammals and, rarely, birds.
[...]
Female flies lay their eggs at the edges of wounds or on mucous membranes. When they hatch, the larvae enter the body, grow and feed, progressively enlarging the wound. Eventually, they drop to the ground to pupate and develop into adults. Screwworms can enter wounds as small as a tick bite. Left untreated, infestations can be fatal. Screwworms have been eradicated from some parts of the world, including the southern United States, but infested animals are occasionally imported into screwworm-free countries. These infestations must be recognized and treated promptly; if the larvae are allowed to leave the wound, they can introduce these parasites into the area.

Haiti is one of the countries where screwworms have not been eradicated. There is some concern that refugees coming to the U.S. from Haiti might bring pets infested with screwworms. The state of WA addressed this concern (veterinary inspections required for dogs coming from Haiti) but I could not find anything for South Carolina. I did come across a mention of the subject regarding FL but no specific policies or protocols are provided.

Bonus: Humans can host the larvae too! The pdf linked above has lots more gory details, if you are so inclined.

Rescued Rescue Dog in Haiti

A Border Collie rescue, now trained for SAR, finds 3 girls in the rubble in Haiti.

Sidenote: I was watching a sad story from Anderson Cooper on CNN this weekend where a Mother was pleading for days for a team to look for her daughter in a toppled daycare center. The Mother had heard the girl apparently but by the time a SAR team arrived on site, there was only light tapping. Cooper reported that despite the high tech equipment and listening devices, SAR dogs were "the gold standard" when it came to looking for definite signs of life. Apparently ambient noise can cause false positives on surveillance equipment so the dogs' noses are the definitive determining factor in whether to continue rescue efforts at a site. In this case, multiple SAR dogs failed to alert so the team left in order to head to a site where dogs had alerted. Cooper reported the Mother stayed behind, hoping for a miracle.

Before You Donate

HSUS has already begun rattling the disaster relief donation pan. Now HSUS can spend their money any way they like - although I take issue with their tax-exempt status - and that's their right. But in the interest of full disclosure, which HSUS seems to have a hard time with in general, anyone considering donating to HSUS to help animals in Haiti (or to help pets here at home even) should research exactly how the organization spends its cash. For example, direct mail services and lobbying. And it's a good time to review how HSUS performed with the last boatload of cash it received from donors during a natural disaster - Hurricane Katrina. Add to these their more recent deceptive fundraising ploys such as asking for money to care for Michael Vick's dogs when they didn't have the dogs and were actually lobbying for their deaths as well as the Fay debacle, then decide for yourself if you trust your donation will be used how you wish it to be used.

I always research before making a donation to any group - animal related or otherwise. There are unfortunately more than a few "charities" out there who exist to help only themselves.

Help for Haiti

I will be updating this post with new info as I come across it. I haven't yet found any search and rescue dog teams indicating they are heading to Haiti so if you hear something, please post in the comments.

How to donate:

Text message:

• Text "YELE" to 501501 - Charges $5 to your phone and sends that $5 to earthquake relief in Haiti via Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti org
  
• Text “HAITI” to 90999 - Charges $10 to your phone and sends that $10 to Red Cross for Haiti aid

Mail:

• American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013
  
• US Fund for UNICEF, 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038
• Doctors Without Borders USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030
• Partners In Health, P.O. Box 845578, Boston, MA 02284-5578
  

Phone:

• Donations to the International Response Fund - 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish)
• Unicef - 1.800.FOR.KIDS (1.800.367.5437)
• Doctors Without Borders - 1-888-392-0392
  

Web:

• Red Cross
• Red Cross donation form
• Yele Haiti
• Yele donation form
• Unicef
• Unicef donation form
• Doctors Without Borders
• Doctors Without Borders donation form
• Partners in Health
• Partners in Health donation form

You can evaluate a charity by using Charity Navigator. There is a list of highly rated groups involved with Haiti relief at Charity Watch.

The WSPA says it's heading to Haiti to treat injured animals.

USAID is responding to the disaster with personnel and 6 SAR dogs.

Discovery News has a piece on SAR dogs and handlers heading to Haiti from around the globe

SC Red Cross Shelters Won't Allow Pets of Fire Evacuees

Thousands of people have been evacuated due to wildfires in the Myrtle Beach area of SC. The Red Cross has set up shelters but, apparently learning nothing from Katrina, they don't take pets:

Pets are not allowed in the Red Cross shelters, however, arrangements are being made with Horry County Humane Society to bring in a mobile trailer with individual cages to house pets.

It's only April but already too hot to leave pets in the car:

Several residents headed to the North Myrtle Beach Fitness and Aquatic Center with their pets in tow, but left that shelter after learning they couldn't keep their pets there.

``There wasn't anyone left when they told us we couldn't have animals,'' said Sharon Slater of North Myrtle Beach.

Many residents are keeping their pets in their vehicle or walking them outside The House of Blues.

I am in the midlands (not near the fires) of SC but if you have been evacuated and need assistance with your pets, please contact me. I will try to help in any way I can.

This post will be updated if I come across additional news on the shelter situation.

UPDATE: Various messages on Twitter about places to stay that accept pets. Also, Google maps on affected areas.