Northern Michigan woman recounts animal rescue & recovery efforts in North Carolina

A Northern Michigan woman is back home, resting from a week-long trip to an area of North Carolina. devastated by Hurricane Helene.

Sarah Schertel, the Director of Operations for the Little Traverse Bay Human Society in Harbor Springs, was there to help in search and recovery efforts for animals.

Schertel said helping people was also at the heart of their mission.

“We can all say, ‘oh, my gosh, I would never leave without my pet.’ Right? But in that situation, you might not have an opportunity. You really might not have another alternative. And for some, they chose not to leave,” said Schertel.

Schertel said she hears that all too often in disasters.

“A family had been evacuated, that weren’t able to take their animals in the heat of the moment, and they were somewhat stranded, without the necessary equipment and teams to be able to get to them,” said Schertel.

She said part of her mission was to help reunite pets like that with their owners, feeding animals they encountered, and finding shelter for animals whose owners they could not find.

Schertel said one of the more memorable experiences was corraling six horses that had gotten out because the owners’ fencing was competely ripped down by the storm.

“These horses were running around in an area that isn’t really even safe for driving, let alone, you know, a horse that could trip, fall, get hurt. could potentially collide with an emergency vehicle that might be trying to drive down that space,” said Schertel.

Schertel said there was lots of livestock down there.

“All sorts of different types of cows and horses and things everywhere. We’ve got lots of goats and chickens,” said Schertel.

She said a big part of what they do isn’t just supporting pets but people too. Schertel recalled the story of one woman who lived alone, who had been impacted by a nearby landslide, making the roads impassable.

“She had no cell phone service. She had no electricity, no running water. and we were one of the first people that she had seen since the storm. And this was two weeks after. She has two of the most beautiful little cats ever,” said Schertel

She said they made sure she and her cats were taken care of.

In some instances, they were the first, people living there had seen since the storm rolled through.

“Unfortunately, our human search and rescue teams are oftentimes, rooted to the situations that are confirmed to be urgent. so we have the ability to coming in as search and rescue teams,” said Schertel.

Schertel said she has assisted with Hurricane Ida and wouldn’t hesitate if she got the call again.

“And I do it a million times over if it was needed. If they need me, I’ll go. Let’s go save some animals,” said Schertel.