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Hurricane Gustav Update from Our CEO – Ana Zorrilla
(09/06/08) Starting in the early hours of yesterday morning, we
worked all night (quite literally) to receive and unload
about 225 owned animals that were evacuated to Shreveport.
It was so nice to walk around and hear the sound of barking in
our building again!! After having worked all day to clean and
prepare the shelter for the animals, the first group of animals
arrived around midnight and our team finished unloading the last
group at 6AM just as the morning cleaning team was reporting
into work. I was expecting the smell in the kennels to be quite
intense given the number of animals, the heat (no A/C) and the
shortness of kennel staff (we have them split between Baton
Rouge and New Orleans), but I was just amazed to see how
efficiently and effectively they had the entire facility cleaned
this morning.
As evacuees have returned via the City Assisted Evacuation Plan,
they have been instructed to come to the LA/SPCA to claim their
pets. We anticipate the next couple of days being extremely busy
as more and more people return and pick up their pets.
 We
had an additional group of first responder animals that we
brought back today as well. The Louisiana SPCA was honored to
have sheltered pets of the First Responders who were unable to
care for their pets during the emergency response deployments
for Hurricane Gustav. Because our first responders are committed
to 24 hour-7 days a week servicing the community, they were not
able to personally evacuate with their pets. When first
responders came to us for assistance we jumped at the occasion
and sheltered any pets of first responders at our temporary
facility in Baton Rouge. Among the dogs and cats, we had a
rabbit, Macaw parrot, snake and even a horse. It’s the least we
could do to help those who are always there to help their
community.
This past week, I have been so incredibly impressed with
our entire staff. I've always know our team to work hard, but
this evacuation of our shelter and the city animals has proven
to be an incredible challenge that our team has handled
beautifully. I have never worked with a team that is as
dedicated, committed, hard working and skilled as our LA/SPCA
team is.
I cannot express how proud I am to be a part of this group.
Thank you to the various organizations that have come to our aid
as we continue to care for the animals during our Hurricane
Gustav evacuation and post recovery.
Thank you to:
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SPCA of Texas
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East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control
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The Humane Society of Missouri
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The Humane Society f the United States
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United Animal Nations
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The Krewes Kare from Florida
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The Pet Smart Charities
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The ASPCA
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The Humane Society of Gulfport
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The Greater Birmingham Humane Society
And
to all of our colleagues who have helped us, a BIG WOOF and LOUD
MEOW.
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!
Ana Zorrilla,
LA/SPCA CEO
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