ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Hundreds of Alaskans and their furry friends flocked to Mountain View on Saturday for free pet vaccinations and food.

The organization, Friends of Pets, teamed up with Anchorage Animal Care and Control to sponsor a vaccination clinic for cats and dogs. The Normandy Project also provided free pet food at the clinic and AACA was handing out spay and neuter coupons. In addition to pet services, several groups were providing food and water to those who are low-income and homeless.

“Last spring, we heard that there were a number of dogs that died in camps because they weren’t vaccinated for parvovirus,” said Michele Girault, board president for Friends of Pets. “We wanted to do something to outreach to our community. We had a clinic in May, and then we thought we’d do another one in the fall, and obviously word got out and lots of people are here.”

The clinic opened at 11 a.m. and went until vaccines ran out, which was scheduled for 3 p.m. Organizers had to order 150 vaccines during the event because of the demand. Friends of Pets and AACA held a similar clinic in May and after such a large turnout for Saturday’s clinic, organizers said they plan on holding the vaccination events more often, possibly four times per year.

“It’s super important to make sure your pets are vaccinated,” said Joel Jorgensen, AACA community outreach manager. “If they get outside and they end up at the shelter, I mean, they’re going to be in an environment that has a lot of animals, and environment like that does have disease, especially when animals come in that aren’t vaccinated, so events like this is to help prevent it from even entering our shelter, and then just on the total hole, making sure Anchorage is covered and safe.”

Several churches and homeless outreach organizations provided food and hygiene supplies to people in line. Some had waited as long as two hours for pet vaccines. Duke Russell, who says he’s been providing food for unhoused individuals for several years, says he was invited to join the event and was happy to serve the community.

“We coordinated with the Friends of pets and APD to kind of show our support to the community today,” said Russell. “Basically it’s just some citizens get together and cooperate in mutual aid for those who are unsheltered.”

Some people traveled from as far as Seward to get their pet vaccinated.

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Updated: 2 hours ago Published: 2 hours ago

PALMER — One person was killed Friday evening after a floatplane crashed into a lake about 10 miles west of Big Lake, authorities say.

The pilot’s wife was a passenger in the plane and was injured but able to swim to shore and get help after the plane went down in Butterfly Lake, Alaska State Troopers said in an online report posted Saturday morning. Emergency dispatchers received the report of the crash at about 7 p.m. Friday.

The woman “reported that her husband was the pilot and was believed to be deceased as he was still in the submerged cockpit long after the crash,” troopers said. No one else was in the plane, which couldn’t be immediately located, they said. Search efforts were halted overnight due to darkness.

Troopers said the woman was transported by LifeMed helicopter to the hospital for treatment of her injuries, which were described as not life-threatening. The search resumed at 6 a.m. Saturday and the partially submerged plane was discovered by a local on East Butterfly Lake, adjacent to Butterfly Lake, troopers said.

An Alaska Wildlife Troopers aircraft was assisting with recovery efforts and a troopers helicopter was en route to the area with dive team members to recover the pilot’s body, troopers said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Ten people have now died in six plane or helicopter crashes in Alaska since the beginning of September, including two separate crashes in mid-September that killed six people.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Recent counts put the death toll from Hurricane Helene and its aftermath at more than 220 people, according to authorities, while hundreds more remain unaccounted for after the storm made landfall on Sept. 26.

A week later, many residents and communities remain isolated, stuck without food, water, power, or communication abilities.

In response, people from across the country – including Alaskans – have deployed to assist those in need in the Southeast region of the Lower 48. Watch the video above to hear from one group that’s working to help in North Carolina.

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