According to a July 20 article in the Mt. Airy Messenger, Allan Schwartz, vice president and co-founder of Days End Farm Horse Rescue (DEFHR), has been accepted as a member of a Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT).

Veterinary Medical Assistant Teams are “established by the American Veterinary Medical Association and trained to respond to natural and man-made disasters,” the article said. “VMAT-2 is based in Maryland, with members residing around the country. Two of VMAT-2’s most notable deployments were the Pentagon and World Trade Center on 9/11. They also responded to the Avian Influenza outbreak in Virginia in 2002.

“Veterinarians, technicians, veterinarian biomedical scientists, and support personnel,” are among the members of the VMAT teams, the article stated. Schwartz became a logistics coordinator for VMAT-2 in May.

Days End Farm Horse Rescue is based in Lisbon, Md., and is dedicated to rehabilitating abused and neglected horses. Days End hosted a three-day large animal rescue course attended by 40 VMAT-2 members in 2004. For more on DEFHR, visit www.defhr.org