Farmer, clinic offering services to victims affected by Kentucky tornado: How to get help

KNOX COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — Life on the farm is something Tyler Crawford has known his whole life, so when tornadoes hit southern Kentucky, one of his first thoughts was about the animals.

He has extended a hand to any victims who may need help with their livestock, offering a temporary home for them on his farm in the Knox County town of Girdler as people work to rebuild following the storms.

“I would think that somebody would go through the same matter if it would happen to me,” Crawford said.

With lots of land and feed ready, he said he can give a free temporary home to cows, horses, goats, and other livestock, as they might need shelter while barns and fences are being rebuilt.

He also knows many farmers may not have time to tend to livestock because they have so many other things to deal with. He is even offering to help get the animals to his farm in Girdler.

“They can be there with me when I pick it up; they can follow me home with it so they know where it’s going. That way, if they want to come and see it every day, that’s fine,” Crawford said.

He is not the only one offering this level of kindness; employees of the Corbin Animal Clinic were at the Corbin-London Airport earlier this week, providing vet care and distributing resources, and are continuing this work.

“We were already going to do like X-rays, exams, things like that for free, but now we’re able to do any kind of other vetting for free. So we have a lot of broken legs coming in, so we’re able to do everything that they need, from pain meds to get the leg splinted, antibiotics, things like that,” Ashley Osborne, a vet tech at the clinic, said.

Both say they are here for folks as long as they need it.

“So we’re going to see that through as much as we can, and it’s obviously still going to be free for the owners at that point,” Osborne said.

Crawford said, “If it’s something that’s going to be a while, I’ll pick up the extra hay fields and cut the extra hay and put out the extra corn until they are able to get back on their feet.”

For more information on dog and cat care, visit the Corbin Animal Clinic Facebook page.

For livestock information, contact Tyler Crawford or call (606) 304-8444.