Guest Post: Guardians of Rescue Use Boat to Help Save Stranded Animals in Texas

The following is a guest post.  This post does not necessarily reflect the views of Suzanne and David E. McClendon, Sr. or Manian Debil Productions.

Guardians of Rescue Use Boat to Help Save Stranded Animals in Texas

Animal rescuers risk their own lives to save animals in need

SMITHTOWN, New York – (September 2, 2017) There’s no mistaking the fact that the people in Southeast Texas need help, and in a big way. One look at what has happened in places like Beaumont, Texas, and it’s easy to see that there is devastation on a grand scale, as people have lost their lives, homes, and the city is largely under water. In fact, it’s estimated that since the beginning of the Hurricane Harvey storm, the city of Beaumont got over 45 inches of rain, leaving thousands of people underwater. This has created a situation that is also leaving thousands of animals stranded and in critical need of being rescued. The animal rescue group Guardians of Rescue has deployed to the city to help rescue as many of the pets as they possibly can.

Image from Pixabay

“Guardians of Rescue members are in Beaumont and Houston where animal rescues are overwhelming — from dogs, cats, birds, horses, and livestock, the animals needing help are insurmountable,” explains Robert Misseri, founder and president of Guardians of Rescue, an animal rescue organization. “Some animals are frightened, some are half alive and many are barely holding on, fighting the exhaustion of trying to survive.”

While being able to reach the stranded animals is an enormous challenge, the Guardians of Rescue are taking it on and have brought a dedicated team for the effort. Their rescue team consists of former military personnel, along with several experienced members to help, all of whom will be rescuing animals using flat-bottomed boats, as well as wading in over 5 feet of water to reach animals in need.

Beaumont was one of the cities hit the hardest by the hurricane, leaving many people in shelters. With a population of over 118,000 people, they also lost their main and secondary water sources. Much of the city remains underwater, with boats being used to make rescues of people and animals. As people flee to go to shelters, any pets are often left behind. Being stranded, they end up lost, scared, hungry, and many are clinging to life if they have made it this far.

Guardians of Rescue also helped with the animal rescue effort last year during the Louisiana floods. Many people don’t realize that pets are also left behind and in need of being rescued following hurricanes and floods. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it is estimated that around 250,000 animals were displaced or had died.

Rescue groups currently in Texas are helping to rescue displaced animals will find temporary shelter for them, and work to try and reunite as many as possible with their owners, and provide them with the care and medical attention they need along the way.

“Guardian members are working through the night —everything is minute by minute, but rescue doesn’t stop at sundown — the animals won’t survive,” added Misseri. “We are hopeful that our efforts will save many animals and that we will be able to reunite them with their families. This is a devastating situation that calls for the assistance of people around the country.”

Guardians of Rescue are in need of financial donations to help cover costs of the operation. To learn more and make a donation, visit their site at: https://guardiansofrescue.org/donate.

About Guardians of Rescue

Based in New York, Guardians of Rescue is an organization whose mission is to protect the well-being of all animals. They provide aid to animals in distress, including rehabilitation, assisting other rescue groups, and providing support to families, both military and not, who need assistance due to economic factors. To learn more about Guardians of Rescue, visit the site at www.guardiansofrescue.org.

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Emergency Call 911

Video posted with permission from the victim's family

Emergency Call 911

Tonight my family and I witnessed a vehicle that was in the last seconds of a wreck.  I placed two calls to 911.  The first call was placed at 3:57 AM to report the wreck. 

The second at 4:02 AM to report that there was a man trapped inside the vehicle.  During that second call, which lasted one minute and 24 seconds, the first Wharton County Sheriff’s deputy  arrived on the scene.

Obviously, time is bent by an emergency when someone is trapped inside a vehicle.  It seemed very much like it took twenty minutes or longer for the police officer to arrive.

I set up the video camera to record the rescue attempt.  There really would have been very little to post had it not been for one police deputy giving me the order to stay in one spot.

As a vlogger, I have all the rights associated with any other legitimate media. In short, as long as I am not interfering with the rescue or anything connected with it, I can record whatever I wish. According to federal law, as interpreted by numerous federal judges, I am covered by the First Amendment[i]. 

What we witnessed this morning was a waste of manpower and resources. With all the law enforcement and other personnel on the scene, not one person bothered to direct traffic even though both northbound lanes of traffic were blocked. What is normally a four-lane highway was reduced to two lanes.

The county deputies seemed to feel that merely blocking the northbound lanes with a car was adequate to control traffic.

You cannot hear it on the video due to traffic noise, but there was a great deal of joking and small talk going on while a man sat trapped inside his vehicle. This seemed unprofessional and callous.

After I put the video camera up, an off-duty deputy rolled up in his pickup truck.  He and another deputy exchanged jokes about the incident.  This exchange ended with the on-duty cop telling the off-duty cop he was going to arrest him for impersonating an officer.  The off-duty deputy drove off at high speed while the deputies on the scene laughed.

The Wharton County Sheriff is elected to office.  It would seem in a year with an upcoming election that all department personnel would attempt to put their best foot forward to improve the impression they make in the community.

We see often where the public has disdain for law enforcement.  This often comes from situations like this where a little decorum could be used.  Most people will go out of their way to comply with the wishes of someone else when the request comes politely.

I am very aware of the need for maintaining the dignity and privacy of others.  Law enforcement officers, EMS, and fire department personnel (whether paid or volunteer) give up their expectation of privacy when they sign up.

We would not have posted video of the man, we do know his name. In fact, we actually were able to video the stretcher as it passed by and get a view of the victim on video. 

In the case of volunteer organizations, the perception they create in the community very much affects their donations.  Would someone really wish to donate to an organization when its members crack jokes within earshot of a victim?  Should the general public think to donate to an organization that is supposed to put out fires when their members smoke cigarettes in the area of an accident where fuel has potentially been spilled?

I often say it takes a higher level of stupid to smoke while pumping fuel.  How much higher level of stupid is involved in smoking at the scene of an automobile accident where fuel could have been spilled?

Regardless of whether or not the presence of fuel is detected, it is wise to treat all accident scenes as if fuel fires are a potential. Or did that change since the 1970s and 1980s when I was an EMT and volunteer fireman? Does fuel now pose less of a threat than it did back then?

To all law enforcement officers out there: The general public’s opinion of you is deteriorating.  As this happens, your safety is put in jeopardy.  It would be wise to keep public sentiment on your side.  Remember, juries are made up from the general public.  If you were put on trial, it is not likely that you would draw a jury of all brothers in blue.

Whenever you come face-to-face with the public, remember that your job and safety is dependent on the general public.  Listen to their story as if you have never heard it before and not like you have heard it all before.  You may feel like you have heard it all before, but the person telling you this has probably never told it before. Each person deserves to be heard.

You may feel like asserting your authority over a situation is a way to maintain order.  In some circumstances, this is true.  In most circumstances, what is needed is someone to listen and to respond politely and properly.

As more and more people feel less like law enforcement cares, crime will go up and violence against law enforcement will increase.  It is just inevitable.

The only true professional on the scene was one Texas State Trooper.  We did not catch his last name, but his first name was Michael.  He came out of Bay City, Texas, to cover the accident.

City of Wharton, Texas

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[i]  First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 98S. Ct. 1407, 55 L. Ed. 2d 707 (1978). As reported by http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Freedom+of+the+Press

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