July 7, 2008

Kirkwood CC in Cedar Rapids has taken in 1,200 animal flood victims. (Photo Courtesy of Kirkwood CC)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Since Iowa was devastated by last month’s flooding, Kirkwood Community College has taken in about 1,200 animals victimized by the disaster, also helping save the lives of many of their owners.

“We’re glad we can help with this animal rescue project. But in a very real way, the animal rescue project saved human lives,” Kirkwood spokesperson Steve Carpenter told Pet Pulse.

“Because in a fire department life boat, we were able to tell people on the second story of their homes, ‘It’s OK, you come with us, your pets come with us, you’ll all get shelter.’”

Located on one of the highest ground levels in the Cedar Rapids area, Kirkwood is using much of its more than 600-acre campus to house some 650 animals at last count. The rest of the animals have since been reunited with owners, while those unclaimed have been sent to humane organizations around the country.

Cedar Rapids’ animal shelter was destroyed by the flooding, but Kirkwood’s makeshift shelter has given animals temporary homes, and provided their owners with peace of mind, many of whom went to the Red Cross.

“And in the midst of panic and worry, they were able to get into the boat, they were able to hand their dog, or cat, or both to the rescuers,” Carpenter said.

As luck would have it, Kirkwood offers its students a pre-veterinary program, and teaches animal health technology and horse science, with facilities to match.

Anne Duffy is coordinator of the animal health technology program, and has been a professor of veterinary courses for 32 years. After the flood waters impacted one in five people in the Cedar Rapids area, Duffy immediately began supervising the college’s animal triage.

“It’s kind of an education,” Duffy said of the experience, laughing loudly, no pun intended. “It’s wonderful to see that the things that I’ve been teaching for years are absolutely the skills that people need in order to go and do this.

“It’s wonderful to see that if you do it the way that it’s supposed to work in theory, it pretty much turns out pretty well in fact. That’s nice, you know? You don’t always get that.”

The animals housed by Kirkwood have been mainly dogs and cats, along with some birds and ferrets, a turtle, an iguana, one horse and one mare.

The building that houses Kirkwood’s veterinary technician program is equipped with medical facilities, and is being used to house elderly dogs and those with special needs. Cedar Rapids’ animal shelter has now moved into over the Tippie Beef Education Center, normally used to teach the raising of livestock. The city’s animal control is being headquartered in the school’s Iowa Equestrian Center, which has a 210-stall show barn.

Asked if she has been overwhelmed by the sudden influx of so many animals, laughing again, Duffy said, “I can’t really say that I had time to think about having a reaction. It was much more of, ‘OK, what needs to be done next?’”

On the day of our interview last week, Duffy said she was working her 19th straight day since the flooding. At first that meant 20-hour days, which then leveled off -- to 14 and 16-hour shifts.

“But yesterday I was able to work a nine-hour day,” she said. “It’s not a state of constant, controlled chaos like it was initially. Now we’re just, I guess kind of in the maintenance phase of the whole thing, trying to get animals reunited with their owners, taking care of the ones we have.

“Still doing some intake for people who now have found that their houses are not going to be able to ever be used again. Some who maybe thought it was going to be rather short term, and now are seeing that this is going to be a long-term displacement for them.”

A more concentrated effort is being made this week to place animals elsewhere, Duffy says. Pet owners are being contacted with a list of possible foster homes for their animals.

“We can’t keep them here forever,” Duffy said, laughing. “This is a community college and school’s going to start.”

Meanwhile, Kirkwood’s students are learning about animal care the hard way.

Or is it the easy way?

“Well they’re getting some up close and personal shelter management training, that’s for sure.” Duffy said, chuckling. She said Kirkwood has also received great support from the community and from volunteers. Representatives from the Humane Society of the United States and United Animal Nations are also on-site.

“The biggest challenge is making sure that every animal is comfortable and healthy, and that every owner is comfortable with the care that we’re giving the animals,” Duffy said. “We don’t want people to have to worry about their animal in a time when they’re worrying about just basic shelter for themselves.”

Pets being housed in the equestrian center are living in luxury under the circumstances, Duffy says.

“People’s dogs have eight by eight-foot box stalls that are designed to house horses,” she said. “So they’re very nice.”

The floods hit during Kirkwood’s summer session, when only about 40 percent of the usual student population of some 15,000 is on campus. That has eased the transition of providing temporary space to the county court system and other local government offices on campus – not to mention all the animals.

“It’s utterly gratifying,” Carpenter said. “I mean, we have a functioning city and county government. We have functioning offices.

“That’s a sign of, ‘We’re going to do what we can to come back.’ We’re getting those kinds of efforts just all over the town. They’re saying, ‘OK, what do we do now?’”

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