After The Storm | VOLVet Vision

Equine Field Services from the UTCVM helping after the hurricane.

Teamwork Matters

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene tore through Southern Appalachia, turning green pastures into fields of debris and washing away barns that had stood for generations. Homes were destroyed, families displaced, and countless animals were left without shelter or care.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture requested UTCVM to lead the animal feed collection for pets, horses, livestock, and other farm animals. The community responded, donating nearly 30,000 pounds of food and supplies that were distributed to ravaged areas such as Gray, Chuckey, and Newport, Tennessee. Veterinary students collected about 5,000 items for small animals and their owners, which the Knox County Sheriff’s department transported to affected areas.

One of the college’s ambulatory trucks and its mobile veterinary clinic were deployed to Elizabethton, where faculty, staff, and students treated almost 200 animals over seven days. Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee (HABIT) teams with specialized Red Cross training went to several locations to visit with people who had lost everything, including family members.

A UTCVM student holding a pony after the storm.

Student holding a black and white paint.

The ongoing recovery has been a long and difficult journey, but help continues. This spring, UTCVM partnered with The Foundation for the Horse, the charitable arm of the American Association for Equine Practitioners, to provide a low-cost vaccination and Coggins clinic in Cocke County to help provide disaster relief to those affected by the hurricane.

“The hurricane and its aftermath disrupted so many lives,” says Eric Martin, an equine field service clinical assistant professor at the college. “We wanted to try to provide a sense of normalcy. Horseback riding, for many of these folks, is one of their main hobbies, an escape. But for them to be able to do that, their Coggins test needs to be up to date.” A Coggins test detects equine infectious anemia, a potentially fatal disease transmitted by deer flies, horseflies, and mosquitoes. In Tennessee, all horses that are co-mingled (shows, trail rides, stables, etc.) are required to have an annual negative Coggins test. “So these horse owners were able to get herd-health procedures performed that would allow them to take their horses off their property.”

At the Cocke County clinic, over 130 horses received vaccinations and Coggins tests. It was a win for the horse owners and horses and an invaluable experience for the veterinary students. Kady Powell, a clinical field services instructor at UTCVM, says, “Third and fourth-year students performed procedures, administered vaccines, and gained practical skills under supervision.” Fourth-year veterinary student Lydia Hall learned that, in a time of crisis, community matters and so does compassion for all creatures. “It just makes me feel so good to be able to do stuff like this for the community.”