There’s something about Lily that stole everyone’s heart. She was not unlike the other animals that are beginning to fill our new shelter in Algiers. The strays or the ones that have run away from home; or those that were found still wandering the streets, the lives they once knew disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. They all find a place in the hearts of the animal care attendants who care for them every day. They linger in the minds of the ACO’s who find them wandering the streets in need of shelter. But there is something about Lily.

Maybe it’s her big round eyes and her red nose. Maybe it’s the name on her collar – Lily – that tells you she once had a home and a family that gave her such a beautiful name. Maybe it’s the phone number that’s on a collar – a phone number that goes no where thanks to Hurricane Katrina. Maybe it’s how when she’s taken out of her kennel for a walk she continues to turn this way and that way, as if she’s looking for a familiar face, listening for a familiar voice. Or maybe it’s how she was found on a Friday morning in early December by one of our ACO’s, Kris Damon, responding to a dispatch report of a stray in the French Quarter. There they found Lily, very thin and in need of food and water; taking shelter in an abandoned oven behind an Irish pub in the French Quarter. Firemen at District 3, located next door to the closed Irish Pub alerted the LA/SPCA to the sweet dog who had carved out a shelter for herself in this abandoned oven. Whatever it is about Lily you know there has to be more. And she looks at you with eyes that beg you to listen.

Our new shelter is still finding its way to a place that we were before; where volunteers fill our building taking Lily and all the other animals under their wings. As we do, everyone pitches in, as did one of our board members, Susan Hess, on the day after Lily was brought into the shelter. Like many, Lily’s eyes seem to have sought out Susan. She jotted down the phone number and made it her mission to try to find Lily’s family. When simply dialing the number proved unsuccessful, Susan used the tools of cyberspace, and googled the phone number. The search found two email addresses, and Susan sent out a message asking anyone to call her if they were looking for a dog named Lily. Lily had been found.

When Kathryn Destreza steps into her new role as Director of Humane Law Enforcement for the Louisiana SPCA in February 2006, it will represent a significant move for both Destreza and the organization. Currently the LA/SPCA’s Chief Humane Officer, this new position will allow her to focus all of her time tackling the many facets of animal cruelty and addressing them on a statewide level head on. In turn, it will increase the Louisiana SPCA’s visibility, presence and impact on animal welfare issues.

It will mean more dog fighting investigations; addressing cockfighting and encouraging lawmakers to outlaw this cultural, but barbaric sport; helping law enforcement officials recognize signs of animal cruelty; supporting smaller municipalities in their efforts and creating more dialogue and awareness about what constitutes animal cruelty.

A shelter environment can be challenging for even the most confident of animals. Our rehab tent is designed to create a space where quiet and peace are at an optimum level.