By Nicole Falco
Charastro, a licensed veterinary technician who has worked at Central Veterinary Associates on Merrick Road for 10 years, spent two weeks in Louisiana after the storm, providing medical attention to the thousands of animals affected by it and aiding in rescue and recovery efforts with one of the National Disaster Management Service's four Veterinary Assistance Teams deployed to the Gulf region.
Once in Texas, Charastro and other emergency personnel traveled caravan-style for 15 hours to Louisiana. He encountered thousands of displaced residents and their pets who were temporarily living in makeshift shelters at airports, schools and other facilities.
"These people were living in unspeakable conditions," Charastro said. "There was no power, no lights of any kind, no running water ... the line of people was endless.
"These people were beyond appreciative for the care we gave to their pets," he continued. "That was their concern. They wanted their animals taken care of even though a lot of them hadn't showered in days, had no clean clothes to change into and hadn't eaten much themselves."
Working in those conditions was a far cry from what Charastro is used to at the Valley Stream clinic. "You would think, coming from a facility like [Central Veterinary], which is state-of-the-art -- you would think it would be unimaginable, but it just happens," he said. "You deal with the constraints of the environment and focus on the goal."
Charastro said that many of the animals affected fared better than their owners. Most of the animals were treated for dehydration, malnutrition and lacerations. He recalled one memorable encounter with a Boxer mix named Crimson and her owner, Jason, 24:
"There was this one boy, he had nothing except one shoe, a pair of shorts and no shirt. He was filthy. He had six puppies in his arms. I don't know how he carried them. And he had a leash around one of his arms, and the [puppies'] mother was still delivering as [Jason] was getting off the [rescue] helicopter."
Charastro said he and other emergency personnel worked around the clock, often getting no more than a couple hours of downtime each day. Besides attending to the pets in shelters, he also participated in rescue and recovery missions, accompanied by armed escorts. "There were so many animals just roaming free," he said. "Many homes that people had to abandon had animals locked inside."
Charastro said that more than 3,000 animals were rescued in the two weeks he was there, including dogs, livestock and an alpaca. Each animal had to be photographed, logged and placed in a temporary shelter. Pets and their owners were kept together, but animals without owners will eventually be sent to shelters across the country until they can be reunited with their owners or adopted, if their owners aren't located.
Charastro returned to New York on Sept. 13, exhausted. "It takes an enormous amount of mental energy to continue it after awhile," he said. "You really have to know what you can and cannot do."
The manager of Central Veterinary's Valley Stream location, Charastro credits his bosses' example for inspiring him to get involved in disaster relief. Besides Katrina, he also volunteered his time and skills to help animals affected by 9/11 and the plane crash in Belle Harbor, Queens, that same year, following his employer's lead. And Central Veterinary is the contact for local police, fire departments and shelters for emergencies. The clinic's staff treats all wildlife and orphaned animals free of charge.
"It is really just incredible learning from them," Charastro said of his bosses. "They're the ones who inspired me to go further and join a federally funded agency that's involved in disaster medicine. They're behind me 100 percent."
Dr. Steven Fox, managing partner of the clinic, said Central Veterinary is donating $10,000 on behalf of its six locations in Nassau and Queens to the nonprofit animal association of Charastro's choice to aid the continued rescue and recovery efforts in the Gulf region. Fox said that each of Central Veterinary's clinics is also donating cage space for animals displaced by the hurricane that are in need of temporary shelter until they are reunited with their owners or are adopted.
Fox encourages pet owners to consider having Home Again chips implanted in their pets. The chip makes it easy to recover a missing animal. Fox said his staff will perform the simple procedure for a reduced price -- $25, down from $75 -- for customers who bring in a copy of this article. For more information, call (516) 825-3066 or visit www.centralvets.com.
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
