LA/SPCA
one year
later
Katrina
one year
later:

by Gloria Dauphin, LA/SPCA

On August 29, 2005 a community and its animals were irrevocably and tragically altered. Katrina, one of the deadliest and strongest hurricanes ever recorded, exacted a devastating blow to the Gulf Coast leading to the loss of thousands of lives, both people and animals. The destructive storm and its aftermath were horrific and unprecedented. That it ravaged the physical landscape in a catastrophic blow was only one level of its strength. Its blow to the mental landscape was just as extreme. When people experience or witness a trauma on the scale of Katrina it strips away all the extraneous facets of life and brings us back to our core. Our connection to family and friends, our bonds of love and friendship become as essential as food and water. Amidst the chaos emerged one of the most enduring of bonds – the human-animal bond. During the hours, days, weeks and months following the storm that bond has only strengthened. In our relationship with animals, it became painfully clear that we needed them as much as they needed us.

As the Louisiana SPCA marks the one-year anniversary of Katrina it’s done so with sadness and reflection, but also with a sense of hope and urgency to provide a better future for the animals we protect. Most importantly though, when acknowledging Katrina one year later we do so as a testament to all of the
animals who’s lives were lost or dramatically altered following August 29, 2005.