UPDATE ON HORSES INJURED IN OKLAHOMA TORNADOES!! Anyone who would like to help

United Animal Nations
Donations Needed to Help Pay for Life-Saving Veterinary Care

May 28, 1999- Many of the horses injured in the Oklahoma tornadoes earlier this month are still struggling to overcome the injuries they sustained when their barns and stables blew away and they were struck by flying debris. Some suffered severe eye injuries; others received major elacerations and foot and hoof injuries that are slowly healing.

Twenty-five of these horses have been cared for by Dr. Michael J. Wiley at the Equi-Center in Oklahoma City. Because many of the families who own these horses -- from Oklahoma City, Moore, Tinker AFB and the surrounding area -- lost everything in the tornadoes, Dr. Wiley has provided nearly $30,000 worth of life-saving veterinary care for these equine disaster victims with little or no reimbursement from the families. Some of these horses have now returned home but seven remain at the Equi-Center, including one who is still in danger of losing an eye as a result of its tornado injury.

United Animal Nations has sent a $1,000 donation to the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Foundation to help Dr. Wiley defray the cost of providing care for these horses, a cost which has left him struggling to cover expenses at his facility. UAN’s Emergency Animal Rescue Service volunteers helped feed and walk the horses at the Equi-Center -- and also cleaned blood-soaked straw from the stalls -- and know that Dr. Wiley’s immediate response and ongoing care helped save the lives of many of these equine disaster victims.

UAN also has sent donations to veterinarians who helped care for the dogs and cats at the Moore Animal Control shelter in the aftermath of the disaster. EARS volunteers worked at the shelter in Moore for 10 days following the tornadoes, trapping cats, grooming dogs, reuniting animals with their families, answering phones, and cleaning kennels.

To view photos of the horses injured in the Oklahoma tornadoes, go to www.uan.org/programs/ears/expand.cfm?ID=132.

Anyone who would like to help pay for the veterinary costs incurred in caring for the injured horses or any other of the animal disaster victims in Oklahoma can send contributions to the:
 Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Foundation
 P.O. Box 14521
Oklahoma City, OK 73113

IMPORTANT: A note on the donation (ie. in the memo line of the check) should indicate which type of animals and/or which veterinary practice the donation should be directed to. For example, a donation for the horses cared for by Dr. Wiley should include the notation: Tornado Relief for Horses/Dr. Wiley.

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