The arrest of a North Carolina woman who took in pets during Hurricane Florence has gone viral. Her story is being told around the world!
According to a report September 22 by USA Today, the arrest and subsequent charges against a North Carolina woman who took in pets to save them from the flood waters of Hurricane Florence began when a couple asked her to care for their 18 animals. Some of the animals were sick.
Tammie Hedges of Crazys Claws N Paws has gone from being a typical rescuer out of North Carolina to the heroine of a nation filled with animals lovers. She put the word out and did what she had to do to save 17 cat and 10 dogs. In an interview with USA Today, Tammie stated:
“Our mission was to save as many animals from the flood that we could. We went through Hurricane Matthew and it was horrible. There were many preventable deaths. The owners got to evacuate. They got to save themselves. But who’s going to save those animals? That’s what we did. We saved them.”
We are told that Wayne County Animal Control officers had “serious concerns regarding the practice of veterinary medicine without a license and the presence of controlled substances.”
Tammie was called in for questioning and a few days later she was placed under arrest and charged with 1 count of administering amoxicillin to Big Momma, 1 count of administering Tramadol to Big Momma, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering a topical antibiotic ointment (triple antibiotic from Dollar Tree) to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a cat known as Sweet Pea, 1 count of administering amoxicillin to an unnamed black kitten, and 1 count of solicitation to commit a crime.
It was impossible for Tammie to get the sick animals to a vet because the vets were all closed. This all started with a Facebook post made by Tammie offering to help in exchange for help.
“Please share this for anyone in the Wayne County or nearby areas that may need a place to stay or be able to help. If they have a pet and need some place to go, or just like animals, and are in need of a place to stay, we’d love to help them, in exchange for their overnight help.”
More than $13,000 of a $20,000 goal has already been raised via a GoFundMe webpage to help with legal fees. A petition has also been started asking for charges to be dropped.
Message to Tammie: Cats and dogs are alive today because you reached out to help. You have an army of animal advocates on your side.
Previous articles on this story:
- Disturbing situation in Wayne County
- Michael’s interview with Wayne County Animal Control
- Wayne County woman arrested
It’s a sad day when someone is arrested for helping animals during a disaster. What does this say about our society? It’s a shame that it may make people think twice in the future about trying to rescue animals in a situation like that again. We cannot let helpless animals die.
Good point. I may make people think twice about helping in a future disaster. Thanks for commenting.
Your efforts have not gone unnoticed Tammie Hedges. It appears that millions of people agree with your actions. Time for Wayne County, North Carolina officials to reevaluate their position.😠😶
Your comments appear to be published immediately at last. Perhaps I have fixed the problem. Thanks for commenting Frances.
Well let this get taken care of now. She can sue the pants off the departments of law enforcement involved later. Triple antibiotic ointment you buy at the dollar store. Seems every parent in the US and the UK should be before a judge if they’ve put a band aid on their kid knee. This is really a joke.
Yes, something is wrong. Someone said law enforcement may have something against Tammie. Not sure if there is any truth to that but this is mad.
I’m rather surprised it made it past the judge for a warrant. Looking at it I believe she may have treated pets with medication that was not labeled for that pet. In order to use some classes of drugs there must be a valid VCPR between a DVM and pet owner/guardian and the medication Rx listing the pet it’s intended for. If this is the situation they are truly splitting hairs in a disaster situation. Soliciting for drugs seems to refer to the pain killer for the pet(s). Again the VCPR comes into play through the AVMA and a controlled substance. Again splitting hairs where asking via social media or text may have been the only resource available. A DVM cannot usually prescribe for a pet they have not seen or have not seen in over a year. As to the amoxicillin it’s not a controlled drug even though you usually need an Rx to purchase it and the ointment bought OTC is just pure nonsense. Mook gets a cold in her eye about once a year. I go to the farm store and buy the eye ointment the vet sells you OTC and treat her myself. I hope they don’t come breaking my door down and hauling me off to jail now.
The police have picked a bad fight here. The world and common sense is for Tammie. She’s giving painkillers and antibiotics to these animals under dire conditions. If that’s a crime I’m the king of Siam.