Local volunteer cadaver dog helps recovery effort in North Carolina following Helene

BASEHOR, Kan. (KCTV) – A local volunteer certified cadaver dog and his owner spent a portion of their Thanksgiving helping recovery efforts in western North Carolina, an area devastated by Hurricane Helene in September.

Cassidy Woodard says a search and rescue group from that area reached out to her for assistance, so she, her friend, and her dog Charlie drove 13 hours to Asheville, North Carolina.

“I was kind of overwhelmed at first, and then I realized this is what we have been training for,” said Woodard. “This is what Charlie has been trained for. I was very grateful to have my dear friend Kandi, who also works here with me at the clinic, offer to take her Thanksgiving weekend away from her family to go out and help us.”

Woodard said they got to their hotel in the middle of the night, unable to see the damage. When they headed out the next day, she says it was a scene difficult to describe.

“We got half a block from out hotel where it seemed perfectly normal, and then the town is just gone,” said Woodard. “Just piles of rubble and devastation. People were still just wandering around just trying to piece their lives together. It was shocking. It was almost like it happened yesterday.”

They went to the Green Mountain, North Carolina, area, a rural area around an hour outside of Asheville. Woodard and Charlie cleared around three miles of debris piles along the river as they helped with search and recovery efforts.

Families typically have to wait seven years before they can legally obtain a death certificate for a person that went missing in a natural disaster and their body is never recovered.

“They are using the dogs for search and rescue to hopefully help expedite that process for these families,” said Woodard. “Charlie was able to help at least one family reclaim their right to their loved one’s final resting place. It’s really all we want to do. That’s what our whole foundation is centered around: helping these families have an answer and knowing where their loved one is. It is so important.”

With questions surrounding Charlie’s health and safety while his nose and paws were on the ground, Dr. Kelly Lightfoot, with Basehor Veterinary Clinic, says she reached out to fellow veterinarians in and around the Asheville area to ask for their expertise and advice.

“His health was a bit concerning,” said Lightfoot. “We wanted to make sure he stayed healthy. Cassidy was giving Charlie daily decontamination baths, and we did a full physical exam when he got back. We checked his hydration. We did find a very mild bacterial skin infection that is responding well to treatment.”

Now back in Kansas, Woodard says while they couldn’t stay long in North Carolina, the thing she will remember the most is the people she met.

“The locals are still full of hope, so resilient, and tough,” said Woodard. “They want to rebuild, and it was so inspiring getting to meet those people. Beyond the locals, there were people that we met from all over the country who said they just wanted to come and help. People from all over are just loading up their trucks with supplies and just trying to help in whatever way they can. It was very moving.”

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