In the 21/2 weeks that have passed since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and the New Orleans metro area on August 29, 2005 the Louisiana SPCA has been unable to communicate with our support base and those that have been visiting our website everyday looking for updates. We apologize for the delay.

Our efforts have been solely focused on rescuing as many animals as possible in the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina, and we continue to do so.

Thank you for all of your support. As we navigate this new landscape, much of it destroyed, we would not be able to do so with a sense of hope were it not for people like you who have reached out to us with words, gifts, donations, and other forms of encouragement.

As we move forward we strive to have our work serve as a testament to the lives of the companion animals who teach us everyday the true meaning of unconditional love.

FROM THE FIELD

One of the most emotional aspects of the animal rescue efforts has been receiving the hundreds of calls that have poured in from residents who evacuated, voluntary and mandatory, but were unable or did not leave with their pets. The broad circumstances are similar, and only the details vary.

Many callers believed that they would return home in a day or two – never imagining they would not be allowed back into the city. Others did what they had done in previous evacuations, leaving their pets boarded at a veterinary clinic, as if they were going on vacation, unaware that a devastating hurricane like Katrina would force people to be away from the city for weeks and maybe even months. In many hurtful cases, the vet clinics were forced to evacuate and were unequipped, unable or unwilling to take the animals housed in their care.

The most heart wrenching calls are those of rescued evacuees now living in shelters who were not allowed to bring their animals with them when rescue helicopters plucked them from their roof of their homes that were surrounded by water.

As the days went by the calls increased, doubled, tripled and multiplied. Calls from Uptown, New Orleans East, Lakeview, Mid-City, Gentilly, Metairie, Kenner, St. Bernard, Chalmette, Algiers, Arabi and all the other New Orleans neighborhoods that once defined a sense of home, now defined a skewered, shattered and flooded landscape.

We received calls from evacuees who were forced to leave their animals on the hot, baking cement of I-10 and Causeway, no longer a travel route but a graveyard of hope. Other calls were out of town and on business prior to Katrina’s rapid path toward New Orleans, and were not allowed to return to the city to rescue their pets.

One such caller’s scenario was extremely touching. She had been in California since April 2005 on a long term business project. Her Rottweiler mix was being cared for by her ex-husband. When residents fled the city to escape Hurricane Katrina, her ex-husband left behind the Rottweiler. Thousands of miles away the owner felt helpless. When she learned of our rescue efforts she began calling the Lamar Dixon center. She had first registered her animal on the various websites, putting in rescue requests, then calling to see if we had been able to rescue her Rottweiler.

Unfortunately, one of the most difficult parts of handling these calls is that we are unable to let callers know if we have been to that address and if their animal is now at the shelter. We are continuing efforts to complete the database that will answer these questions but the challenges are endless. We could not definitively tell the caller that we had rescued her Rottweiler. The calls are endless and many roll to voice mail, as we communicate on cell phones not intended for the heavy use that this disaster has demanded.

The caller made the decision to fly from California to Gonzales to look at each and every animal that we currently have housed. It was the only assurance we could give her. “Please look at the animals. Your dog may be here.” After flying to Gonzales, she came and was unable to find her beloved Rottweiler. It seemed evident that he did not survive the storm and may have drowned in his home. Or perhaps the dog was rescued by someone that was working independently of Lamar Dixon.

The story does not end there. She was so appreciative that a voice in the night from the Louisiana SPCA returned her calls, spoke to her, listened to her fears of her dog’s fate. She spent 3 days at Lamar Dixon volunteering to help the animals who had been rescued, even with the knowledge that she may have lost her Rottweiler who she had been separated from for months.

Many people have offered their assistance with rescue efforts. For this we are grateful. New Orleans is our home. These animals belong to friends, family, LA/SPCA volunteers and neighbors. We would have sorrow upon sorrow if not for the many wonderful humane organizations and individuals from around the country who have offered help. Many animals have been given refuge around the country. We are thankful that even if their owners can’t find them, they will be adopted out and given the stability and love they have lost.

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