Oregon Humane Society’s Technical Animal Rescue Team (OHSTAR) is an all-volunteer group who can rappel down cliffs, climb trees and crawl into the tightest spaces to rescue animals in distress. Team members are compassionate, driven and highly skilled. A news crew from KOIN recently accompanied OHSTAR during a training exercise. See how they hone their […]
Tag: OHSTAR
Hitting the Trails….and Staying Safe
Advice from the OHS Behavior and Training team for keeping your pet safe while hiking. The Oregon Humane Society Technical Animal Rescue Team (OHSTAR) was called out this past weekend to help with a recovery effort at Cape Horn in Washougal. What started as a day of hiking in the Columbia River Gorge, ended in […]
Oregon Humane Society Rescues Stranded Dog in Canby
OHS Technical Animal Rescue Team, OHSTAR, rescues dog stranded for over a week from dangerous cliff in Canby On Monday afternoon, the Oregon Humane Society’s Technical Animal Rescue Team (OHSTAR) rescued a dog who had been stranded on a steep hillside in Canby for approximately six to eight days. Concerned neighbors in the area contacted […]
OHS Travels to Texas to Help Pets Stranded by Hurricane Harvey
A disaster response team from OHS is deploying to help pets stranded by Hurricane Harvey. The team, consisting of four people—two staff members and two volunteers—is set to deploy to Texas this Wednesday. This is expected to be the first of multiple OHS teams traveling to Texas to provide assistance. Team members, who are certified by the […]
OHSTAR Helps Red-Tailed Hawk
Editor’s Note: This past weekend, on June 24, members of the all-volunteer OHS Technical Animal Rescue team (OHSTAR) responded to a call to help save a red-tailed hawk. The hawk had been observed stuck high up a tall tree in Vancouver. The Audubon Society of Portland was contacted first about this hawk, which is the correct […]
SMART: Animal Rescue Documentary Screening
Contributed by Cecil Reniche-Smith, OHS Volunteer There are all sorts of volunteer opportunities at OHS: volunteers work with the animals, assist in the Medical Center and with the Behavioral Department, help with office work, spread wood chips on the dog paths, and more. One of the more unusual volunteer opportunities at OHS is the Technical […]
Practicing to Save Lives
Contributed by Cecil Reniche-Smith, OHS Volunteer & OHSTAR team member It’s an old joke: a tourist in New York City asks a passerby, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” and is told “Practice, practice, practice.” For the OHS Technical Animal Rescue Team (OHSTAR), however, “practice” is no joke. When a life is literally on the […]
Training with the OHS Technical Animal Rescue Team
On a recent Saturday, I show up at Rocky Butte at 9 am, coffee in hand. I’m there with my OHS Technical Animal Rescue teammates to practice high-angle rescue. We do this so we’re ready in case a dog falls off a cliff while they are hiking with their families—a situation we have encountered more […]
OHS Rescues Injured Dog in Santiam Forest
Dog Survives 200-foot Fall A dog who fell more than 200 feet from a cliff in the Santiam State Forest outside of Silverton was brought to safety this evening by an OHS rescue team. The dog, an 80-lb. Great Dane-Mastiff mix, suffered at least one broken limb but was alert and appeared to be in otherwise good […]
Christmas Rescue in Columbia Gorge
“It never occurred to me that I would see her alive again,” said David Schelske of West Linn, whose dog plunged 150 feet down a cliff during a Christmas afternoon hike in the Columbia Gorge. The three-year-old yellow Lab, Sandy, was trapped on a narrow ledge as OHS Technical Animal Rescue team (OHSTAR) deployed to […]
