PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. — Human beings are feeling the effects of that tornado. So are the animals that live around them. Many of which are now separated from their owners.
Kathy Plant is never far from a furry friend and can’t imagine being separated.
Six days per week, Plant takes her mobile animal care service — Kathy’s Klippery — to customers around Platte County, but her next group of customers might need her help more than others do.
Plant says she’s been asked by as many as five charities, including the Northshore Animal Rescue League, to help out in Moore, Okla. That community was wrecked by a tornado earlier this week, leaving animals and their owners searching for one another.
SEE ALSO: Moore, Okla., tornado coverage
“Your pets are like your family,” Plant said. “When you’re separated from them, it’s like being away from your children.”
It won’t be the first time Kathy has helped with critter care of this kind. Her farm outside Platte City is home to as many as 25 animals she’s rescued. Plant and her co-worker could spend as much five days in Oklahoma, helping reunite furry families.
After working during disasters in Louisiana and Joplin, Missouri, they expect the unexpected.
“You’ll see trees that have cars in them,” Debbi Mitchell. “Animals buried under rubble. People who are devastated and don’t know what they need.”
“I’ve worked with animals since I was a wee child,” Plant said. “I’ve been blessed with this van do go down and help others.”
Plant says she won’t profit a red cent from making this humanitarian mission. In fact, similar trips in the past have cost her thousands of dollars she’ll never recoup.
“She always wants to help,” Donald Grimm, who is one of Plant’s clients, said. “She’ll do just about anything for anybody. She’s just a wonderful person.”
“When we get there, and see the people’s joy when we reunited them with their pet, or help them with some basic need, it’s worth it,” Plant said.
Kathy plans to take her animal rescue van to Oklahoma this Friday.
Click here for her company’s Facebook page.
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