The tornadoes that recently ripped through the area destroying many people’s homes also left some animals without a place to live. Dr. John Mullins in Ooltewah is caring for eight cats with nowhere to call home anymore.
Dr. John Mullins of Animal Care Center of Ooltewah is caring for eight cats displaced by the recent storms. Once nursed back to health, they will need a new place to live.“Since they were living underneath a home that was no longer there, we couldn’t leave them to their own defenses,” said Sabrina Novak, assistant leader for Hamilton County Disaster Animal Response Team.
She, Mullins and the rest of the 18-member team were called in just after the storms to assess needs. They delivered cat and dog food, helped catch and corral loose livestock, found shelter for animals displaced by the events and buried those who didn’t weather the storm from their vulnerable position outdoors.
“A lot of houses we went to weren’t there,” said Mullins, adding that the local devastation is worse than what he saw as a responder after Hurricane Charlie. “There’s a whole range of socio-economic situations out there – people with unlimited resources and their houses are demolished; then there’s people that started out with nothing and now they really have nothing.”
Mullins said the man who gave up the cats was sleeping on a mattress on an exposed concrete slab.