ISU veterinarians and veterinary students were called to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on Friday to help animals that had been flown in from areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

When the animals arrived, Tom Johnson, executive director of the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association contacted Mary Ann Nieves, associate professor in veterinary clinical studies, who immediately began looking for faculty and student volunteers.

Kim Langholz, a clinician in veterinary clinical sciences, was one of the faculty members who provided aid to animals. She was accompanied by two clinicians and three senior veterinary students.

Belinda Comito, senior in veterinary medicine, went to help check the general health of the animals and make sure they were up to date on their vaccines.

“We all felt we were doing our part to help out in the best way we could,” Comito said.

Langholz said there were three animals brought in; two dogs named Trouble and Miss Preddy and a cat named No-No.

“The only injury identified was Miss Preddy’s left front foot,” Langholz said. “Her owner said the dog may have stepped in concentrated bleach; the skin between the pads was very red and painful.”

The foot was gently cleaned and rinsed with water and the dog was put on an antibiotic because of a potential bacterial infection, Langholz said.

Although the job got done, Langholz said it was not without minor problems.

“Participating in this effort gave me an appreciation for how difficult coordination of large operation is … our group was fairly small and yet there were some miscommunications,” Langholz said.

The group sat down to evaluate the process in order to identify problems and clarify procedures for the future, Langholz said.

The future could be soon, said Ann Garvey, an agricultural specialist for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management. She said everyone is on standby in case any more evacuees are flown in from the affected areas.

Garvey said she thought everyone had a sense that the operation went well and everything was done to help the evacuees and their animals. She also praised the cooperation from the fairgrounds staff.