Cross Posted with Permission from a friend on the Pembroke Welsh Corgi show list: Deare Friends, For the last couple of days, I've spent some time at the LSU Katrina Hotline on campus. Most call were from stressed, displaced New Orleans college students who are trying to get into LSU. Many were calling from faraway states where they'd evacuated to figure out what to do next. The University's doing everything it can to accommodate these students and help them with the transition. (I hope the housing can be worked out.) Our city of Baton Rouge has had a population exploitation as you know. Housing is quite a commodity. We also received many calls from concerned, stressed parents. They watched the tv coverage, heard the rumours, and could not get through to their kid's cell phones. One parent was under the impression feral dogs were running on the campus, gunmen were shooting looters, car jacks were occurring, and criminal elements were being housed in dorms. We assured them none of this was the case. And there the whiners-those upset that the football game was cancelled, or the traffic was too difficult, or that that their favorite yogurt was sold out. I wanted to tell them to take the first two fingers of their right hand and press them on the inside of their left wrist. If they feel a pulse, that means they are luckier than several thousand other people. Use your hands and your heart and help somebody. Confined in the answering room, we watched too much hurricane coverage and debated over who was responsible for the morally reprehensible failure to protect our fellow citizens. I wanted to throttle Hiraldo, shoot Michael "Brownie" Brown, show Michael Chertoff a map of Louisiana (with New Orleans highlighted of course), and fire ALL our so-called leaders. The only one worth anything is Lt. General Honore who is having to make-up for all the massive bureaucratic incompetence. But don't get me started. And then CNN went from the dead in the city, the dying in Baton Rouge, and the morgue somewhere in between. I had no word if animals were allowed yet to be rescued, or when all the people would be evacuated. I consumed a bag of chocolate chip cookies and went to the barn and my therapy horse. This evening totally lifted my spirits. A friend and I drove out to the Lamar-Dixon shelter loaded down with dog, cat, and horse supplies shipped to me by Sarah Spalding of Reno, Nevada; Debbie Marheineke of Rogers, Arkansas; and Harriett Jeannette of Weatherford, Texas. THANK YOU!!! We were completely overwhelmed by the operation at this shelter (really a big, open horse barn) which had transformed since my last visit Saturday. Lamar-Dixon had had a population explosion of its own. The rescue operation is technically run by the Louisiana SPCA but the Humane Society of the U.S. was there in full force. The two heads of these organizations, Laura Malanoy (LA SPCA) and Lou Guiton (HSUS) actually "co-chair" so that one can be away and share what is an extremely big job. Four search and rescue volunteers were there from the Oregon Humane Society working under HSUS. LA SPCA, and other state agencies were also participating. I spoke with Randy Covey (OHS) who explained how these highly trained teams work. Most had arrived Monday evening and began rescuing animals Tuesday. Volunteers like Scott Wilson (HSUS) from Iowa, serve as "traffic managers" directing pairs of rescuers to locations in the city where people have left their pets. New pet information is constantly coming in so Scott must "triage" rescues. How does one go to a foreign city and figure this out? He even had trouble even pronouncing our unique street names..."Where did you guys get a name like Tchopitoulas?" The entire crew works as quickly as possible covering roughly 8 square block sections per day. And the animals are being saved. Hundreds of them. Today alone the very exhausted and hoarse HSUS regional director, Lou Guiton, said about 300 dogs, cats, birds, iguanas, and hamsters were transported to the shelter. Lynn and Ginger Morvant, who I'm friends with in the "horse world," have remained in the disaster area, allowing their store, Jefferson Feeds, to be used as a staging area for the rescue work. This wonderful generosity allows the officers to remain in the Orleans Area longer before having to transport the found animals back to the temporary shelter in Gonzales. There are a few numbers and web sites out there for lost pets... If you or someone you know, has a pet that needs rescuing, call toll-free 888-773-6489 between 8:00 am and 6:00pm; or e-mail Katrina@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to leave information about the number of animals, species, and their confined location. Every single animal is carefully handled, checked in, "papered," washed, examined by a Veterinary Medical Assistance Team member (VMAT), before being crated and fed. I was so impressed with how well the system worked considering the intense noise and chaotic activity. Each person knew their job and did it thoroughly. Dawn (last name?), who had come over with 5 other members of the Humane Society of Broward County, Ft. Lauderdale, washed dogs continuously. My back hurt just watching her. She didn't complain. When I asked if an egg crate to sit on would help, she said, "yeah sure, that'd be good." Jenney Mitchel (LA SPCA) had been up and at it since the wee hours. I asked her how it was going. "Crazy. Really crazy. But we're getting the animals out." Over at the exotics area there was a little excitement going on. A colorful hamster cage had been brought in but they couldn't find the hamster. Richard Farinato, a HSUS wildlife rehabilitation specialist was looking all over, thinking the little creature had escaped. "Go look in the truck." Twenty minutes Farinato and others looked for the hamster until someone realized it was curled inside a cage toy, dead. Probably in panic and certainly with good intentions, a neighbor had put all the animals in the back yard. The hamster did not survive but the dogs did. Laura Malany, an LA SPCA worker, brought over the hamster's paperwork and all details were precisely noted on the form. It's owner, no doubt a child, would want to know. The VMAT team members were extremely efficient. As I understood it, they were brought in by FEMA to triage and treat incoming animals. Normally one VMAT team works a disaster. But Katrina is far from a normal disaster. All 4 VMAT teams were deployed...2 in Louisiana, 1 in Mississippi, and 1 in Alabama- completely unprecedented. I spoke with Dr. Laura Rand who had high praise for the rescue organization and especially for LSU and the hospitality she and her team have received. Like many other experienced rescuers, Dr. Rand believes this work is important, not only to save the lives of innocent animals, but to help victims of catastrophic events. "For so many, their animals are all they have left. It's a comfort when your world has unravelled." When an evacuee and his Husky became separated, Rand walked all over to reunite the dog with his owner. The owner cried and the big dog just wagged his tail. It mattered. Actually, rescuing people AND their pets makes sense as many will return to their home, no matter how dangerous, to retrieve an animal, often causing complications for the rescue crews. I was told off the record that Lt. General Honore, commander of the National Guard, was working with the animal rescue crews. I wondered what happens when the animal rescuers find a person to rescue. "We call the Guard and it all works out. We're not equipped to take the people just as perhaps the Guard is not equipped to take the animals." Typically VMAT comes equipped with a hospital tent where surgeries may be performed. But FEMA is late with the tent so animals needing this kind of medical attention are sent to the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. The "pharmacy" is set up in one of the metal horse stalls. Most of the animals coming in so far have been ok, especially if the owner left plenty of water and food-water being the most critical. One rescuer commented that the trees in New Orleans were filled with parrots...either released by their owners or escapees in the storm. My friend, a huge bird lover, began to cry. "Don't start! You're going make me cry too. Then we'll both be embarrassed." No one there was crying. They were working too hard for too many hours. They didn't have time. Like the New Orleans Police force, many of the city's SPCA workers had lost their homes and more. Their headquarters in New Orleans, including server, computers, and clinic supplies were all destroyed. (Thanks to the incredible generosity of the animal shelters in Houston, Baton Rouge, and Jackson, Mississippi, the animals in their care were able to be evacuated before the storm hit.) Like so many policeman, they continue to work. Since the beginning, Katrina, has made the clock a fearful thing, and no one knows this better than the rescuers. So what I want you all to know is that there are many remarkable, talented people, from all over the country, working together-under the most difficult conditions-to save animals. Finally! How many? By end of day Thursday, volunteers expect to house over a 1,000 rescued pets at the Lamar-Dixon center alone. Your generous contributions are helping. I still want to throttle bureaucrats but that's another email. veni * I will continue to follow the relief efforts and post info to the Katrina Animal Relief Yahoo list. To subscribe, send an email to: KatrinaAnimalReliefLA-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * I will also continue to post to the Katrina Animals photo album as time allows. Visit http://veni.smugmug.com/gallery/780837. Yes, I'm plugging these organizations today! Support and THANK them... They deserve it. LSU SVM http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu LA SPCA http://www.la-spca.org HSUS http://www.hsus.org VMAT http://www.vmat.org Oregon Humane Society http://www.oregonhumane.org Humane Society of Brovard County http://www.browardhumane.com LVMA http://www.lvma.org Joan Adams Llys Draig Corgis Downsville, Louisiana Posted by Betty Joanne Johnson Tintagel ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2005. 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