American Humane Association Conducting Animal Rescues in Camilla, Georgia

American Humane Association
Wednesday, 16 February 2000

The American Humane Association (AHA), along with Animal Planet Rescue, an 82-foot long rescue vehicle, are in Camilla, Georgia today helping to rescue animals caught in Monday's deadly tornadoes. Teams of trained rescuers are working throughout the damaged areas of southern Georgia to help rescue livestock, pets, and other animals affected by the tornadoes.

Yesterday, during a search and rescue operation in a heavily damaged part of Camilla, AHA rescuers and volunteers pulled out ten dogs, including a mother and puppies. AHA will head back into this area today to conduct more rescues, as well as work in other areas around Camilla. Volunteers from the Humane Association of Georgia, the Albany Humane Society, the Thomasville Humane Society, and AT&T Cable Services have joined AHA to assist in rescue efforts.

For assistance in media coverage of AHA's animal rescue efforts in Georgia, please contact Jack Sparks at (303) 925-9453.

For the third year, AHA has joined forces with the cable channel Animal Planet to send the relief vehicle and a team of rescuers into areas hit by natural disasters. The vehicle is equipped with a mobile vet clinic, specialized animal rescue equipment, rescue rafts and boats, as well as water tanks, animal feed, kennels and corrals to house rescued animals.

The American Humane Association has been helping animals in disasters since World War I when asked by the US government to form a rescue and ambulance service for injured cavalry horses. The past five years have been among the busiest ever for AHA's emergency animal relief. AHA has rescued animals after every major recent disaster including earthquakes, hurricanes and floods

Launched in October 1996, and now available in 54.4 million homes, Animal Planet offers a wide range of television entertainment including dramatic reality-based series, talk shows, original fictional programming, high-quality children's shows, documentaries, and more. Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery People, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Science Channel, Discovery Home & Leisure Channel, Discovery Civilization Channel, Discovery Wings Channel, and Discovery en Español. The unit also markets and distributes BBC America. Animal Planet's Web site address is www.discovery.com.

For more information, or to contact American Humane Association, see their website at: www.americanhumane.org