A New Jersey animal rescuer is one of hundreds of first responders from around the country who rushed to the battered and bruised Florida Panhandle to search for the countless victims missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.

Ashley Gardenier is the owner and operator of Southern Paws, an animal rescue group located in Ringwood.  She has been deployed to assist in the rescue efforts, and has done so for several natural disasters in the past, including Superstorm Sandy.

Gardenier says she has actually done very little animal rescues for the last couple of days.

"Animal rescue is very important,” she says. “But at the same time human life comes first. I mean there are areas in these locations that nobody has even gotten to them yet."

Gardenier says the long and emotional search and recovery efforts are far from over. Not just in Florida, but other areas that were impacted by the destructive storm.

"Please do not forget about these people.  Do not forget that they need help and they're going to need help for a very long time and that also goes for North Carolina,” she says.

Currently there's no infrastructure to house pets, so many of them will remain loose until the SPCA and others arrive on  Monday.  However, animal rescue groups are leaving food and water for the pets in the meantime. 

The rescue groups say they desperately need money to help buy food, water, fuel and other supplies.