By Rachel H. Goldman 

Staff Writer

Megan Arsenault saw a city in ruins last week as she looked out an airplane window over Joplin, Mo.

 “It was unbelievable,” said the 24-year-old Sanford native. “After we landed and traveled through town there was just complete and total destruction. Houses were collapsed and buildings and stores and everything were gone.”

Arsenault and fellow West Kennebunk Animal Welfare Society staff member Ben Prevatt, 19, of Kennebunk, were slated to return home Wednesday from a nine-day assignment in Joplin, Mo. The two flew to Joplin June 15 to assist American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals with disaster recovery efforts following last month’s tornado. 

Arsenault on Monday said their work in Joplin began immediately and from the get-go was “very, very busy, very, very hot and incredibly wonderful.”

Arsenault and Prevatt stayed in trailers behind temporary animal shelters and worked 10- to 12-hour days. After breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and a daily morning meeting, Arsenault said she and Prevatt worked “as long as they needed us.”

Arsenault worked in the temporary cat shelter, a warehouse beside Joplin’s Humane Society that was emptied and filled with crates to house stray cats. A temporary dog shelter and a logistics facility with supplies also were created in nearby warehouses.

Arsenault cleaned cages, medicated, bathed and nurtured the 374 stray cats that remain unclaimed in the temporary shelter.

“We’ve been doing everything you can think of for them but one of the big things is cooling them down because it’s been 98 degrees here,” she said.

Arsenault said similar work occurred at the temporary dog shelter that was housing about 250 stray dogs.

“I was told we were caring for between 700 and 800 animals right now that were tornado victims,” she said. 

Many pet owners lost their homes during the tornado and became separated from their pets, she said.

Arsenault said while a few animals needed to have amputations from injuries sustained in the tornado and others were sick, most of the strays were in good health.

“They are actually pretty healthy,” she said. “I was really surprised at their condition and their very friendly temperament. They must have had very good owners so we’re just hoping they get reunited.”  

Arsenault said reunification of pet and owner is the society’s goal. More than 500 animals have been reunified with their owners since the tornado.

“The numbers of incoming strays are going down now,” Arsenault said. 

Any animals that are found now are considered to be general strays as opposed to tornado victims, she said.

Prevatt has spent his time in the logistics warehouse moving donations that include animal food and cat litter and distributing them to temporary shelters and families in need of animal supplies. 

While Arsenault spent much of her time with the animals, Prevatt mostly dealt with the public.

“They are awesome people down here,” he said Monday. “They are very grateful and very appreciative. Every person greeted me with a smile.”

Arsenault and Prevatt are conspicuous around town in their bright red T-shirts with “AWS Disaster Response”  written in white lettering across the front.

“We stand out for sure and if we go around town or to restaurants people’s heads turn but you can tell they are truly grateful,” Arsenault said.

“They’ve been through a lot,” she added. “And they appreciate us even if we’re just able to help in a small way for a week.” 

Both Arsenault and Prevatt said the most compelling work they’ve assisted in is reuniting strays with owners. 

“You see dogs eyes completely light up and their tails wag as they focus in on the people they miss. They are so happy to see them and it makes you know that that’s why we are here: To reunite,” Prevatt said.

Arsenault said there’s one reunion that she won’t forget. A woman in her 80s had walked in with ASPCA staff and looked into cages Arsenault had just finished cleaning.

“She walked in and she saw her cat and she just started crying,” Arsenault said. “She was so thankful that we had cared for her animal like it was our own.”

Arsenault said American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals continues to host adoption events to help owners find pets. The society is waiting until the beginning of July to put unclaimed and unidentified pets up for general adoption, she said.

The national society is also boarding pets for free that have been identified by owners whose living situations remain unstable.  

Arsenault said she would take home to West Kennebunk the opportunity she’s been given in Joplin to “make happy endings.”

Arsenault said the trip home on Wednesday would be a challenge.

“I e-mailed Steve Jacobsen, our executive director, and said can I stay here forever? I guess the answer was no, they want us back in Maine,” she said.

“But in all honestly,” she added. “I can’t even really explain it, Ben and I both, our lives are changed forever from this trip.”

“This trip has definitely changed me,” Prevatt said. 

Prevatt graduated from Kennebunk High School in 2010 and has worked at the Animal Welfare Society at West Kennebunk for nearly five months. 

Prevatt plans to go to school to become a veterinary technician and said the trip “helped me open my wings and fly to help people and animals.”

Arsenault said the work led her to a greater appreciation for the work she does every day.

“Even just the simple things. For example, we haven’t used litter box scoops since we got here because we don’t have them and we have to make do. We just use our gloved hands which makes me feel lucky for what the animals have back home,” she said.

“And what the people have too,” she added.

The trip also highlighted the fabric of people throughout the country who care for animals and for disaster relief efforts, she said.

Arsenault said she’s met people across the nation from more than 70 different organizations who flew to Joplin to help.

“Oh, yes I’d do this again,” she said. “Not that I’m wishing for something else bad to happen, but I’d definitely like to help out again in the future. It’s just life changing, that’s what I can say.”

Staff Writer Rachel H. Goldman can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.