In the news you find cases of animal neglect, puppy mill busts, abuse, and even the rescue of puppies and kittens that have found themselves in precarious places. But who do you call if your horse gets stuck up to its neck in a muddy pond? Or what if you find a bull that has fallen into a swollen waterway?
If you live in Missouri or the surrounding area, you call MERS.
MERS stands for Missouri Emergency Response and they are located in Wildwood, Missouri. They are a non-profit animal rescue group that specializes in large animal rescue. Their motto: "People don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care."
The MERS team is made up of 16 highly trained professionals from the Wildwood community, each of which brings their own area of expertise to the group. Their members list includes two Firefighter/EMT'S, four Certified Swift Water Rescue Technicians, and four Certified Scuba Dive Technicians. Several members have training and certification with FEMA which includes NIMS Incident Command IS-00100, IS-00200, National Incident Management IS-00700, and National Response Plan IS-00800.
All MERS members are volunteers which mean that no one gets paid for their involvement. Each one is involved out of their kindness of their heart and love and appreciation for animals.
There is a board of four directors, all of which are also volunteers.
Once per month they train on rescue techniques and animal first aid. And they are on call for emergencies 24 hours per day 7 days per week.
In 2008 MERS answered 24 calls. In 2009, 43 calls. In 2010, 31 calls. Since 2006 they have totaled 177 emergency responses.
MERS responds to a wide variety of situations. Anything from a horse down in a stall, to a one stuck in a muddy pond, or even a bull that’s fallen into a river. They are there to help when called.
Since MERS is a non-profit organization, they do not receive any tax dollars to keep their organization going. Nor do they charge for their services. All organizational funding comes from members, fundraisers, and private donations.
Contact information on the group is:
Emergency # (636) 574-1700
Missouri Emergency Response Service
Roger Vincent - President
4420 Allenton Road
Wildwood, MO 63069
Telephone: (314) 973-4921
FAX: (314) 652-1739
E-mail: vnbigbear@aol.com
You can find MERS on the web by visiting their website at http://www.mersteam.org/home.html and even on Facebook.
Through these avenues you can keep up with the group’s movements, be informed of their upcoming events, donate to their organization, or perhaps become involved in their efforts.
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