Wilson County Disaster Animal Response Team

Do You Have a GO-KIT? Do you have a Disaster Plan in Place for YOU and Your Animals? Could you evacuate in a moments notice?  If you answered No to any of these questions- take a look around at the WC DART website for helpful tips!

The Wilson Co DART Team met this past Sunday Afternoon at The WEMA Training Center, to Prepare and Organize the WC DART Trailers and move excess equipment to Storage!

The Team is Prepared for the next Deployment ! Equipment is organized for the next Disaster Response,  when the call comes in….

Thank you to all the Volunteers : Claudia, Julie, Larry. Julie, Breanna, Lora, Adrienne, Warren and Allen!

The WC DART Team was deployed by WEMA, requested by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), to assist with Sheltering Operations of dogs being evacuated inland, avoiding the impact of Hurricane Laura. The dogs were being transported to placement partners,  freeing up a Shelter from Gulfport, MS. The Team did a GREAT job, Sheltering, Walking, Feeding and loading/unloading for transport to safety moving onto North Carolina!

Thank you to WEMA, the Humane Society of the United States and the Wilson Co Disaster Animal Response Team!

The Wilson Co DART Association Board of Directors and the WC DART Team Leaders have been holding VIRTUAL Meetings on the free ZOOM App. The Board of Directors have been working hard at keeping Fundraising going during the Pandemic as the Team has not been able to host the usual Tractor Supply Dog Washes and participate in social activities as they have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Check out Kroger and Amazon Smile and choose Wilson Co DART Association as your favorite charity and every time you make a purchase proceeds go to Team!!! Follow Us On Facebook- there is a Link you can sign up for at the Top of the Page. From NOW until the END of the Year every FRIDAY is $5 Friday!!! You donate $5 to the WC DART Association and SHARE the Post with 5 of your friends!!! These activities can fund the Team in the absence of ” in person” community fundraising!!!!
Last evening, the Team Leaders met on the Zoom App for a Virtual Meeting and put into place a plan for Future Training Meetings, Deployment and Implementation of Personal Protective Equipment- PPE’s! Thank you to all who keep WC DART the outstanding Disaster Respose Team that it is!

WC DART went out Saturday March 21st to assist with Tornado Clean Up in Hay Fields and Cow Pastures at a Farm in the Tucker’s CrossRoads Area, per request. The fields were littered with Insulation, Metal pieces,  Roof shingles, etc. from the March 3 tornadoes which touched down in Middle TN.  Mail discovered in the pasture had a zip code marked 37211 !  The Team was happy to get to help a Farmer and his Cows in need.

Alisha and Sabrina traveled from north of the Columbus area to Middle TN to help And support WC DART with supplies for Disaster Response from the March 3 rd Tornadoes !!! Rebecca, Julie and Allen, WC DART Volunteers assisted with unloading and organizing all the Donations!!!  Thank you VERY Much!!!

The Wilson Co DART Team has been doing an outstanding job keeping Wilson County Safe and caring for the People and their Pets since the Tornado made landfall on Tuesday March 3, 2020.

Tuesday 3/3/2020 the Team went out to Peyton Rd to assist 4 horses trapped in a collapsed Barn. When Teresa Fuller arrived onsite the owners already had the horses out and safe, until transported to a friends house. Paula and I went to all the RedCross Shelters making sure the Animals had what they needed. There were 2 Beagles we provided crates for. 2 Bearded dragons were at a tornado Victims home – they were unsure of their status when we spoke- Jay was on standby to assist.

Wednesday, WC DART had a Planning Meeting at Ruby Tuesday…Adrienne and Matthew, equipped with Muscle and Chain saw started on the Cedar Grove Cemetery Clean up.

Thursday, WCDART assisted with Cedar Grove Cemetery Clean Up. Made friends with Lowe’s manager Stephen- and had a hot BBQ FREE lunch! Lowe’s provided graspers for trash pick up- sure made our job easier!!! Thank you Lowe’s!

Friday, Myla and Allen Snyder checked on the Red Cross Shelters evaluating animal needs, taking a census- No new admissions No animal needs and the Beagles went home from the Mount Juliet ARC Shelter

Saturday- The Team participated in New Leash on Life’s 5K to collect donations for the Disaster Victims. The Team collected Dog Food, Cat Food, leashes, bowls and some crates , Gift Cards and $50 cash. The team had lunch at Rehab 23, where Cris Teal, WC DART and Rehab 23 volunteer,  was working providing meals and a place to chill and charge cell phones.
AS the Team took donations back to the New DART Storage space- The Call came in from Captain Cowan- WC DART has permission to Canvass Wilson County on Saturday and the Cities of Lebanon and Mt Juliet assessing animal needs of the communities.
I touched base Saturday night with Stephanie Cox, Director of Mt Juliet Animal Control and WC DART Team member. She called me back Sunday morning reporting that Mt Juliet’s 2 neighborhoods hit are not having animal issues. The neighborhoods are affluent and do not need assistance. The animals running at large had been contained by animal control and reunited with owners within hours! Give a shout out to Mt Juliet Animal Control doing a fabulous job keeping their City safe!

Sunday-3/9/2020  The Team canvassed the City of Lebanon and found a Cat Lady in need of food, litter, pee pads for her 15 cats which the WC DART Team provided a generous supply of each. While the Team was stopped assisting the Cat Lady, a Veteran approached us requesting assistance at a Veterans home in the City of Lebanon….the Team went by and assessed- they lost all their food supplies when they lost power….WC DART provided Gift Cards (collected at the 5K) to Publix, Kroger, Sonic and VISA Cash Cards totaling $575.00 . Dog food for the Seeing Eye Dog and 2 cats and personal care and cleaning items also collected at the 5k.
Some of The Team concluded the search of the city at O’Charley’s on HWY 231 who charged us 1/2 price for our lunch! Thank you to OCharley’s!
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Thank you to WC DART for your support and love for Wilson Co !

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Tractor Supply in Lebanon hosted the Dog Wash fundraiser for the WC DART Team once again! The Team appreciates TSC’s continued support over the years with Annual Dog Washes and Photo’s with Santa!!!

Thank you to all the WC DART volunteers who made the DOG WASH a success! Lora, Breanna, Teresa, Cris, Paula, LeAnn, Claudia, Laurie, Kim and Julie!

Thank you to all the Dogs and their Humans who brought them out to WC DART’s Dog Wash

We couldn’t have done it without you ALL!

The Wilson Co DART Team participated in a 20 hour Civilian Emergency Response Team Certification Class this past weekend, Friday July 19 through Sunday July 21, 2019.  With CERT Training, the Team can assist with the Human component in Disaster Response and assist the Emergency Management Agency in a larger capacity when Disaster strikes.

Thank you to all who participated in this fun and informative Training! John Partridge, WEMA Fire Fighter, Instructor and Windy Willette, Instructor and WC DART Volunteer, and Her Victims of the Earthquake Exercise did a fabulous simulation ! Thank you to Claudia Richardson for the great photos!

A BIG THANK YOU to the dedicated members of WC DART: Windy Willette, Adrienne Molteni, Kim Bradley, Myla and Al Snyder, Teresa Fuller, Dee Earnhardt, Pam Shemwell, Claudia Richardson, Julie Hutchison, Jo Jarvis, Lora Holcomb, Julie Grace, Paula Applegate and Karla Clark.