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Animals sick, dying following derailment are ‘suspect’

Humane society fielding calls from worried owners

EAST PALESTINE — The Columbiana County Humane Society is working on compiling a list of animals who have gotten sick or have died, possibly from exposure to toxic chemicals after a train derailed Feb. 3 in East Palestine.

Executive Director Teresa McGuire said the humane society as of Monday afternoon has received reports from more than 20 families, but that number is constantly climbing, and some of those families have multiple animals. She didn’t have an exact number.

“My phone is just going off all day,” she said.

The humane society started collecting these stories two days ago, McGuire said, so it can go to officials from Norfolk Southern, the railroad company involved, and others to try to get something done for these animal owners. She said these entities are more likely to listen to the humane society than individual owners, so the organization is doing what it can to be a voice for these people.

She said while a majority of reports are sick or lethargic animals, some people have called to report deaths.

It is “suspect” that all these problems are popping up at once, McGuire added. She noted that East Palestine is a rural area, so it is not uncommon for animals to get into things they shouldn’t, but this is an abundance of cases.

She said the entities involved in the derailment “have to pay attention to that.”

Several of the animals, McGuire said, were diagnosed by their veterinarian with vinyl chloride poisoning — one of the toxic chemicals released by the controlled burn of a train car on Feb. 6.

McGuire said the humane society has gotten reports of sick animals as far as seven miles outside of the evacuation zone. People within a one-mile radius of the derailment were ordered to evacuate last week and have since been allowed to return.

The humane society got one report of a small dog whose hind legs became paralyzed shortly after the controlled burn. The dog lives close to the evacuation zone and its veterinarian said it has poisoning of some kind. The dog has regained some movement in its hind legs, but is still not back to full strength.

McGuire described another report the humane society received from someone who has several chickens who appear to have chemical burns and are losing feathers.

Another dog that was diagnosed with vinyl chloride poisoning has been having eye problems.

“These families have already been through enough,” McGuire said. “We’re in a scrappy, blue-collar community. Some people already had to pay for food and hotels while they were displaced. Now they have to pay for vet bills.”

At this point, McGuire said there is really nothing for pet owners to do to protect their animals, other than trying to ensure they do not get into anything they shouldn’t and don’t drink from outdoor water sources.

If an animal does die, McGuire encourages pet owners to get testing done.

“I would ask people to please go to their vets to get a necropsy. It’s the same as having an autopsy for humans,” she said.

This is the only way to determine an exact cause of death, McGuire noted. So, even if a pet owner thinks the animal died from something linked to the derailment, the only way to know for sure is to get a necropsy done.

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