SHELTER DIRECTOR DEPLOYED TO HELP IN HURRICANE AFTERMATH
Chavarria to respond to Irma’s pet victims
Franklin, TN – Williamson County Animal Center director, Laura Chavarria, has been deployed by Code 3 Associates to respond to pets affected by incoming Hurricane Irma. Starting September 9, Chavarria will travel aboard the Code 3 Big Animal Rescue Truck (BART), an 82-foot tractor trailer truck that carries animal rescue and disaster response equipment and acts as a Mobile Command Center. Chavarria plans to serve for one week aboard the command center truck, which will travel to distressed areas impacted by Hurricane Irma.
Code 3 Associates is a not-for-profit professional animal rescue and recovery organization. Members of Code 3’s ‘Riders on the Storm’ team are required to have advanced training, superior animal handling skills and expertise in search and rescue. Chavarria received Code 3 training in June 2017, and she is one of 100 people to hold the Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) credential, the highest level professional designation for animal welfare professionals. She was named director of Williamson County Animal Center in June 2013.
Hurricane Irma is expected to bring heavy rain, high winds and possible flooding to Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. During storms and flooding, many pets are lost or displaced. Local shelters quickly become overwhelmed or suffer storm damage, so shelter pets must be relocated. Code 3 provides assistance and response to these severely challenged local agencies and authorities.
The Williamson County Animal Center is located at 106 Claude Yates Dr. in Franklin. The shelter is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4:00 p.m. Adoptable animals can be viewed at www.adoptwcac.org. For more information, call (615) 790-5590 or like Williamson County Animal Center on Facebook.
