Julie Kent tends to one of her nine horses at her Taggart Road, Darlington, Pa., home. She and her husband, Jonathan Kent, were forced to evacuate after the train derailment Feb. 3 in East Palestine. Since back home, the couple has taken precautionary measures to ensure their safety and that of their nine horses, four dogs and three cats......Photo by Chris McBride

EAST PALESTINE — The Columbiana County Humane Society is working on compiling a list of animals that 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 had 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.

That information is conflicting, however, with information released Tuesday by state officials who said they have seen no evidence that the massive derailment caused pets to become ill or die, according to Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

“We don’t have any evidence of any nonaquatic species” in Ohio or nearby Pennsylvania dying as a result, said Mertz during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

The local humane society started collecting the information so it can go to officials from Norfolk Southern, the railroad company involved, and others to try to get something done for the animal owners, McGuire said. She said the 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.

Those who would like to share their story with the humane society can call 234-575-7177, email columbianacountyhumanesociety@gmail.com or message the organization on Facebook.

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

It’s “suspect” that the problems are popping up at once, McGuire said. She said 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. Vinyl chloride was 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 1-mile radius of the derailment were ordered to evacuate last week but 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 right outside of 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 said another report the humane society received was from someone who has several chickens that 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 dies, McGuire encourages pet owners to get testing done.

ANIMALS EVACUATED

Julie Kent, 33, lives about a mile away from the derailment site in Darlington, Pa. There, she cares for nine rescue horses along with multiple cats and dogs that also needed to be moved.

“Fortunately, I have an awesome network of friends. We had four horse trailers. We were able to evacuate four dogs, three cats and nine horses in about two hours,” Kent said.

Kent said she was able to shelter the horses with friends while she and her husband, Jonathan, sought refuge for their house pets at her father’s home.

Kent said when she spoke to Salem, Sebring and Darlington police on Sunday, she was told leaving was a suggestion. Now, looking back, Kent said she wishes there was more information about the severity of the accident.

“I would’ve evacuated sooner, but they kept saying you don’t have to leave or you can leave your horses. I wasn’t evacuating without my horses to leave them in a dangerous scenario,” she said.

The experience evacuating had been traumatizing Kent said, not just for her, but one of her horses.

“She came to us in October, and we give them six months of a downtime period to adjust because she had been living in a bad situation. She (the horse) is afraid of trailers, we had to manhandle her inside,” Kent said.

For this, Kent places the blame directly on Norfolk Southern.

“Because of Norfolk Southern having an understaffed train, all of the negligence, I have a horse that was abused that I had to then abuse more to get her off the property,” Kent said.

She and her husband returned Thursday, and Kent said they moved their smaller animals back Friday. Kent said their cats and dogs have been fine since the return but they’re weary of long-term risks.

As a precaution, the couple opened every window in their house for six hours. They also burned two sets of hay that they felt could have been exposed to chemicals. Her husband, who is a horticulturist, said since the grass is dormant it would be OK; otherwise, Kent said they wouldn’t have come back.

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