My Saddast Day -- Max Didn't Have a Chance.
Email from Celeste about Max. I am sorry Celeste and to all the volunteers who were looking around the clock for Max.
Previous Post about Max: http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16697301&postID=112837636818841593
From email to eric - 10/11/05
"today is not a good day like we all wanted. my sis in law went to her house and found max in her bed my little dog never had a chance.
thank you all so much for all the help and support that you have given me.keep up the great work."
celeste foley
From email to eric - 10/12/05
"good morning eric,
yes i do plan on adopting a pet, i'll probably wait till summer when my son comes home so he can be a part of the new member from the beginning plus i need time to grieve. max was the best. he was my sons 1st dog & he was the 1st dog i got so close to in all of my life.
i talked to my sister in law again last night & she said her house was awful the water line was up to the ceiling the water stayed in her neighborhood for almost 3 weeks. she said everything was moved in the house and that max looked like a stuffed animal laying on her bed. the house next door had an x with 2 dogs dead her x said nothing so whoever went in the house didn't see max.
we figure the mattress must of floated that's why he was still on the bed. i'm so sad he had to die like that all alone. i'm past my anger that she didn't take him with her. no one could have guessed katrina would do so much damage like she said she thought she would be back to her house in 2 or 3 days.at least we know now & all of my memories of max are good & i was smart enough to take a lot of pictures of max before i sent him to new orleans."
have a good day
celeste foley
She Cannot Say Good-bye
It is a comfortable little place -- their home
and it is paid for, cozy, and theirs alone
Just the two of them, therein, reside
... an older lady and the aging canine
Listening to the radio, as the storm grew
tears well in her eyes, upon hearing the news
She gazes at her friend, and he regards her, too
Reporters are saying everyone must now go...
she was to pack only what she needed from home.
She shakes her head and wonders, Didn't they know?
that folks like her had no means to get away
and no car of their own.
But officials called to say public transport would stop by;
they'd take her and her things, but her beloved friend could not ride
Tears fall as thunder and lightning rent the damp air
Her friend pads over, then leans against her, there in her chair
Sensing her sadness, the old dog wags his tail
As the wind past their porch swells to a wail
he reaches up and reassuringly licks her hand
And as he has always, by her side, he will stand!
She sobs at his sweet, loyal gesture, for he does not know
that on this journey, her dearest friend will not go
They had weathered life's storms and both had grown gray
She worries as they were never long, from the other, away
She rises slowly when she hears the knock on the door
a man takes her bags, saying, "I'm sorry, ma'am, it's
now or never -- we can wait no more."
When the old dog follows her, she says "No, go inside where it's safe."
his _expression is one of bewilderment and hurt, as rain pelts his face
When she steps into the bus, she hears him whimper and cry
She cannot turn around to him. She cannot say good-bye
She studies the man who holds her bags, then she steps off the bus
When she reaches her friend, she says, "No future is as important
as the gift that is us."
She bends down and, happily crying, embraces her furry soul mate
"The worst storm ever is near, but alone, you will not have to wait."
Later, as the night explodes 'round them,
and she draws him snug to her side,
he lifts his fuzzy head, stares lovingly at her
and she contentedly sighs.
For on this, their last journey,
the two would be together
always . . .
. . . now . . and forever
~~*~*~~
Dedicated to a future where, in a disaster,
we will not be torn apart from our furry kin!
Copyright 2005 by Kathy Pippig Harris
Max, we are so sorry. We were looking everywhere but you stayed right at home waiting patiently for us to get you. How did we miss you? We are sorry.
posted by EricsDogBlog.com @ Wednesday, October 12, 2005
50 comments
50 Comments:
officers were busy shooting licensed dogs, belonging to US citizens. Almost the same time frame as Minton. Act-AZ is compiling evidence for the Bowie shootings.
ANIMAL CONTROL: County-contracted USDA officer accused of killing pets
Carol Broeder/Range News
Bowie residents Tommy Cooke and Linda Ray at the town meeting Monday. By CAROL BROEDER/Arizona Range NewsBowie residents are shocked and saddened about an "animal control operation" led by the sheriff's department last week.
Wednesday, Aug. 24, at about 4 p.m., four dogs were (shot), six dogs were captured, and eight citations were issued, said Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Department.
"I can't believe that they brought guns into our town to chase dogs," said Bowie resident Christine Sprott, "Not drug murderers, drug dealers, or arsonists, but loose dogs. Things like this don't happen in Sierra Vista or Willcox, why is it okay in Bowie or Dos Cabezas or Pirtleville? And they did this without any warning."
"No one came to us and said, 'There is a problem and if you don't fix it, we will bring guns to your neighborhoods and fix it our way.' We should have been part of the decision-making process. For years, the dog catcher has come out, chased the dogs around, brought them to our houses, and told us to chain them up," Sprott said.
Sprott added that she is president and CEO of Rural ACCENT, Inc., a newly-formed non-profit organization, "working on increased food security, youth leadership development, and positive community change."
"The joy of living in a small town is the lack of strict incorporated rules. But now, all of a sudden, and in a violent, militant way, we are not even given a chance to make our own changes. (Wednesday) was a horrible, painful day in Bowie that only served to reinforce hatred and mistrust toward the authorities," she said.
Four animal-control officers, two sheriff's deputies, and one U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) animal-control officer carried out the detail, Capas said.
Long-time Bowie resident Mary "Mickey" Cooke gave the Range News a written account of last Wednesday's event.
She said that she was in the house watching TV and her husband was working with the computer, "when we heard a truck horn honking. My husband, Tommy, went outside."
Mary said that a female animal control officer "was standing outside her truck and said that our dogs had been outside that yard, and she was going to have to give us a ticket."
Tommy went into the house to get his driver's license, and Mary went outside to talk to the officer.
"She wrote out the tickets, and I asked her if she couldn't give use a warning. She said not in this case. I asked her what we could do. She said to tie up the dogs or put them in a cage. I told her I thought it was illegal to tie a dog up. She said use a 10-foot chain. Then they left," Cooke wrote.
"Not more than 10 or 15 minutes went by, we were still out in the yard wondering how to put the dogs up. They came back with two more officers in two different trucks. One man said he was the main control officer, and had a government man and then a deputy sheriff come up. The main officer said our dogs were in the street again and they were going to catch them," she wrote.
"Tommy said they could never catch them. They are very shy dogs and run from people. He said he was going to shoot them. Tommy started yelling and saying a few choice words at the animal control officer. Then the deputy sheriff came up and told Tommy that he wasn't the only one they were after, that they had already shot dogs across the tracks and down the road.
Mary said that she went back into the house at that time.
"The animal control officers chased the dogs all over the yard and up on the porch. By that time, Tommy was really cussing them and told them to get out of our yard. They could not shoot the dogs in our yard."
"One little dog was so scared, she ran out of the yard to get under a hay trailer that was parked outside our yard. I was on the phone with my daughter when I heard a shot, I knew they had shot the little dog," Cooke wrote.
"The other dog ran on the porch, where Tommy was, for him to save him. Tommy was still yelling at them when they picked up the dog and threw him in the truck. As the main control officer was driving away, he waved and said, 'Have a nice day,' smiling. He really seemed to enjoy his job," Cooke wrote.
Mary said that both dogs are spayed and had their shots
Words fail me - tears flow again.
Please everyone, make sure this can never, EVER be repeated.
Mandy
If you want to call about the dog shooting please --
Michael Evans Cochise County Emergency Services205 N. Judd Dr.Bisbee, AZ 85603 Phone:(520) 432-9550Fax:(520) 432-3517 mevans@co.cochise.az.us
I am so sorry for Max and her owner! I pray that she and the others that did not make it are up in pet heaven just waiting for us to join them one day.
Another heart broken by red tape. My sympathies go out to them in their time of loss, and my continued sympathies go to those who have no answers. Perhaps, this has changed future responses - I know it has forever changed my way of looking at the world. Rest in peace little Max and know that you were greatly loved by your person and are mourned by many who have never even met you.
Here's my advice if you know for SURE that the dog was at the emergency shelter in Gonzales and you can't find him (You've already searched the shelters at www.findkatrinapets.com, etc.).
If the dog was extremely strong and has destructive capabilities (for example, he's made a hole in drywall in the past, etc.), he might have escaped from his kennel. Most of the dogs that got out are either German shepherds and pitt bulls. We know this because we were able to catch the ones that came back. (These dogs were then labeled 'escape artist'). We did not see any small dogs like a Chihuahua running loose because they would also have to be capable of jumping over a 6 ft stall steel door or banging against it until it opened.
1. First find out if Gonzales has a local animal control center and call them. Gonzales is located in Acension Parish. This is the phone # I've found: Ascension Parish Animal Control Office at (225)675-6557. Their shelter is located on Airline Highway, about three tenths of a mile south of the LA 431 intersection.
Ascension Parish Animal & Litter Control
9894 Airline Hwy
Sorrento, LA 70778
ascensionparish.net/services/animctrl.asp
Phone: (225) 675-6557
Fax: (225) 675-5810
Shelter hours:
Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Viewing hours:
Monday -Friday 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
2. Put an ad in the local papers. Most will do this for free. Many people in Gonzales work in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge newspaper is called The Advocate. Their website: www.theadvocate.com
3. Post a lost dog ad on the Baton Rouge news channel's web site:
www.wafb.com
Look in the Community Section for the Lost/Found pets listing.
Here's a thought.....keep your dogs under your control and they won't get shot. Story seems to indicate dogs at large was an ongoing problem.
There is nothing that can be done to make this right. This shouldn't have happened! My heart aches for Max's owner. I can't stop crying.
I live in Baton Rouge and have been driving back and forth to Lamar-Dixon from October 9. I estimate I've spent at least two weeks of my time at Lamar. Here are some things that happened while I was there:
1. Dogs escaping from their kennels and running loose. Some were caught. Others got away. Mostly they were German shepherds and
the bigger pit bulls. I would have to go back by myself to put toys in the kennels. The other volunteers didn't understand why the dogs needed toys. There were plenty of toys to give them. Basically, they thought I was wasting time by giving them toys. If more of the dogs had something to chew, less of them would have escape. Anyway, I've already covered this in another post.
2. Because of the way Barn 2 is set up, there is usually only one
fan in a stall. It can't be pointed at all the dogs. I picked up my foster dog on October 1. A fan was pointed at two chihuahuas. The German sheperd, rotti, and my foster dog did not have access to a fan. The dogs
in Barn 5 had more fans because it is set up differently.
3. As far as how clean the crates are, the last two weeks had significantly fewer dogs. Therefore, it was cleaner. My foster dog came to Lamar-Dixon on Sept. 29. She had been walked approximately twice a day the three days she was there. She has bowel problems so her kennel was dirty, but the other dogs in her stall usually didn't have a problem.
However, the first month was simply awful. There were days when it was physically impossible for all the dogs to be walked. This had a lot to do with the weekend when the volunteers who were camping were told they had to leave the facility, etc. We all cried the next 7 days, and this is obviously the week when message boards got filled with notices about dogs sitting in their feces for two days. (There's no way it would be three).
4. Horror stories involving vets and vet techs. Everyone who worked with them for any length of time has them. Sure there is the extraodinary story of the vet tech who worked 36 hours straight. Unfortuantely, there it ends. Most volunteers call it "rough handing". One volunteer witnessed a vet who yanked a frightened dog out of its kennel. The dog lost its teeth because he was gripping the wire kennel for his dear life. The vet lost his temper and threw the dog out, thereby ripping multiple teeth out. The HSUS volunteer was completely traumatized by what she witnessed. She told EVERYONE!
Several vet techs I spoke to were convinced that this other dog was aggressive. The dog was not aggressive. It has to do with how you take a frighten dog out of the kennel. They were pulling them out instead of waiting a minute and letting them walk out of the kennel. The dog had no problems being walked by me and several other volunteers if you were patient. When the vet techs saw me walking the 15 lb dog, they were all asking "How did you do that?"
5. Several HSUS volunteers witnessed the rough handling of dogs being transported on semi-trucks. Usually this happened at night when most of the volunteers went home. For example, when the pits were transferred to the prisons the Thursday night before Rita, witnesses state that the dogs in kennels were THROWN into the trucks with no concern on how it would affect them. My friend said that she was tramautized by that scene. The dogs including a puppy were crying (with tears) out in fear. The dogs who were tranported by smaller groups in smaller air-conditioned vans were treated much more humanely.
6. Most suggestions made to barn managers were ignored including:
dogs that needed vet care, dogs that needed to be groomed, dogs that were in the wrong kennel, dogs that had no toys who ate their paperwork, etc. It usually took very PERSISTENT volunteers to say the same things over and over. I'm guessing three days. One dog received a 2nd microchip because his original paperwork could not be found at triage. So he had to go through the whole process of being checked in. Several people pointed out that having 2 microchips might screw up a scanner. Oh, well, he has two, and no one knows when or how he was rescued.
This is so terribly sad. I haven't cried since I was down there myself and saw all of it. But this is worse. I hate this whole situation.
The events I saw and the events that other volunteers WITNESSED are not rumors.
Everything was REPORTED. Why would any volunteer make up these things? I've been on the phone for the past couple of days with some of the volunteers who WITNESSED these events. They are TRAUMATIZED. I suspect that over the next few months as volunteers digest and reflect on what they have experienced more things will come out. It's important that the TRUTH comes out not only for the volunteers who must live with these pyschological wounds but also for the pet owners who will not find
their dogs. It's the only way for all of us to heal. Also we have to prevent something this horrible from happening again.
As far as euthanasia is concerned, no one ever made an announcement on which dogs will/have been euthanized. WHO would have the guts to tell a group of hardworking volunteers (most of whom are animal right activists and volunteers in no-kill shelters) that they (HSUS, ASPCA?) will euthanize OWNED pets without the owners' consent? Are they planning to contact these owners? Are these pets' pictures still on petfinder.com so that owners will find out what happened to them? Also why are the numbers of euthanized pets kept such a secret? I"ve seen two different
numbers on HSUS and ASPCA web sites. Why won't they publish the number of animals put down just for agression instead of including animals put down for illness w/ those numbers? Is it possible that they still don't know the exact numbers?
As far as the care of the dogs in Barn 2, most were safer there than in New Orleans. That is something I don't think anyone can argue. However, it's important that HSUS comes up with a better plan to run an emergency shelter than to write "See barn manager So&so" on a dry erase board. That was awful. Who came up with that? It never worked the whole time I was there. The people who came up with that PLAN should not ever be placed in upper management; at the very least they need to not work in emergency management.
As I wrote earlier in another post, the best manager was Brad from Boulder, CO. He deserves an award. If there's another disaster, he should be re-deployed. He replaced the fans in the aisles with mega-fans because so many volunteers were getting sick from the stench and heat. I actually saw him picking up trash on his last day there. He was willing to get dirty. Brad was also the one who implemented "let's all feed the dogs one type of dog food so they stop getting diarrhea" plan. It made a HUGE difference in clean up and the number of dogs needing to see a vet. But even Brad could not do everything by himself. The volunteers at the front tent and in charge of triage varied from being weird to being awful. Many dogs were missing their paperwork, usually because they ate them out of frustration. We wasted a whole day and a half trying to get these dogs their paperwork so that they could leave Lamar-Dixon. If intake/triage weren't going to help, they should have told us ahead of time instead of making everyone wait. We could have gotten other things done.
After Brad left, Alison became barn manager. She's a very nice person, but she was either not prepared or trained to run the entire barn by herself. I don't really blame her for what happened because it was a bad system. One person can't run a barn that big. When I was working on row D, I noticed that half the dogs had diarrhea again and their food was different. I notified her immediately. Alison left two days later. On Friday (the day before Rita) I saw three HSUS volunteers on row E feeding the dogs the wrong food. The majority of these dogs all had diarrhea. I asked them if they knew about the white bags of dog food. One of them said, "No, we've been here for 3 days. No one told us." They were very upset when they found out (especially since they were bossing other volunteers earlier).
One of them later said "I'm just a computer geek. No, I'm not an animal expert. I love dogs because they are better beings than most humans. I came for the animals" He almost looked like he was about to cry. I tried to comfort him. It's so hard when new volunteers show up and find a huge mess.
I have to write that on my 2nd day there, I and 2 other volunteers cleaned a stall that held three dead dogs. I was told two different things. The first (ASPCA volunteer) was that the dogs had been dead 3 days and that the barn manager forgot to move them. The other story, which I think is more reliable, is from an HSUS volunteer. She said that they were critically ill dogs that did not receive treatment on the night that the guards refused to let in any more rescuers. A vet tech was called to the front gates, but the guards/police made her stop her treatments by gun point. I wonder if those 3 dogs are posted on petfinder. It's unethical not to notify the pet owners of what happened to their dogs.
As far as fostering goes, this is a known topic in other posts. Amazingly, the people who worked to contact pet owners and who wanted to take the dogs to a safer place than Lamar-Dixon, are the ones who were told they could not foster a dog. Many HSUS volunteers have publicly stated that they do not want the dogs REUNITED with their owners. They said the owners do not deserve the dogs because they abandoned them, chained them up on porches, didn't neuter them, etc. The problem with this is that there's no way to know the FULL circumstances of the dogs without
contacting the owner.
For example, many who stayed in New Orleans were elderly and could not afford to evacuate. For example, many who stayed in New Orleans were elderly and could not afford to evacuate. One 80 year old woman's daughter from Georgia finally decided to show up as the hurricane was hitting. She was lucky. She got out. The ones who didn't were forced to leave their pets behind when they got on the helicopters. I know a Chalmette resident who had two Persian cats in a carrier when she got on a bus. Unfortunately, she was later forced to get on a helicopter and leave her babies behind. I'm now helping her to locate her babies.
After speaking to some volunteers on the phone who are now home, I realized how hard it is for us to speak to our families and friends because they were not there. A volunteer from Illinoise said that she realizes after begin home for a week that she had suppressed the horrible things she witnessed while volunteering. I think it's important for us former volunteers to come together and support each other. It's the only way for us to heal. We also need the support of pet owners whose pets we desperately tried to save. If we acknowledge the losses, perhaps we will be able to come to terms with our own individual grief.
Posted Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:29 am:
Before I forget, I want to thank the current barn manager and his wife Mary Ann. They are saints. Unfortunately, they were not placed in charge until most of the dogs had been transported out and the rescue operations hugely cut back. We laughed when a list of regulations was finally posted on the barn walls. "Better late than never," sang Mary Ann. A lot of good it does when most of the dogs are gone.
Good dog, Max. Good boy. Whatever is on the other side, we will not let you down again.
Could whoever wrote the long post about the experience at Lamar contact me ericrice3@comcast.net
Also, we worked right up to Rita and came in at about 10 am (we got the secret passcode for the gate from a volunteer at the gas station). Our 30 minutes in Lamar was bizarre that night as this lady went off the hook on us...anyway the entire time in this massive rain and wind this one guy (from LSU maybe?) was offering us everything under the sun...food, gatorade etc...This while several others were scolding us, asking us for credentials we had never heard of etc.. It was funny...This guy was telling us where to go near the LSU campus to ride out the storm so we would be safe because they were kicking us right back out...It was pretty funny..I wanted to know who he was. He was one cool and nice guy.
Eric ericrice3@comcast.net
Also while I'm complaining, I'll say that the petfinder.com hurricane pets database seems really poorly set up too, which surprised the heck out of me! I expected that some real experts on databases would volunteer to get that one running--there are so many people who do that for a living. I'm not talking about the data that's been entered, I'm talking about the design of the database itself, which does not seem to lend itself to detailed searches on the kind of info
Horse and Cattle in Desperate Need
I'm sorry I didn't get a nightly update out to everyone! I finally have collapsed from exhaustion...I fell asleep at 7 last night...but rest assured I am rejuvenated now and ready to go again for a few more weeks. Robin Cook from Sunset has been doing TV shots for us down south about the convoy and it hopefullly will be filmed this weekend at the OMNI building!!! Good job Robin!! Lisa is taking in supplies that are being dropped off there at the OMNI building. I am doing radio, tv and newspaper articles up here on the North end. Emails I am overloaded with. With 600 people on my email list, if I can't get back with you right away, be patient...i am diligently working. I try to be sure to send you all out one daily update so forgive me if I have to sleep once in awhile...I had a call from the USDA yesterday...evidently they don't like some of my comments...too bad..i call it like I see it...the items that were being thrown away at Gonzales, he told me were broken cages. I asked him what the excuse was for the three boxes of microchips. "oh, that was HSUS."...to me, I don't care who the hell threw them away, there is no excuse for supplies being thrown away. He also told me that the situation on the livestock at large was pretty well under control. Bull..I was there Sunday when we took 3 cows out of the marsh...HELLO????? Have you even been in there???? Yes, the majority of the livestock may be under control but there is still some in the marshes. And I am here to tell you I know the difference between a fried egg and a scrambled one...He told me they were pulling out of down south and there would be no long term federal assistance for these ranchers except small interest loans....LOANS!!! How the hell can they pay a loan???? They have no jobs ! ;or homes!!! But go to a shelter with your hand out and you get it all..God forbid that you stay and try to pick up the pieces...they will only help you in Louisiana if you go to a shelter and depend on them...I have one thing to say "BULLSHIT!" ...excuse my french...Well, we are going to do what we can to help our farmers and ranchers and they can stick it...I will organize these convoys as long as it takes to help them feed their animals. Please jump on the bandwagon with us!!! The bigger the convoy, the more animals we can help..No one is going to be there for these guys...When a rancher breaks down and cries, you know it has to be rough...so I am asking you all to please get on this convoy with me this weekend, I know a lot of you are wore out and have given til you can hardly give anymore, but if you can just reach into your hearts one more time, you will be surprised at what you can do. You can either do fundraisers and ! donate money to Hopefulhaven.com on the paypal link or you can send donations to P.O. Box 17763 Shreveport, La 71138 if you can't go on the convoy. Everyone can do a part of this!!!! As you look in the mirror tonight to take off your makeup ladies or you men are crawling your weary bones into bed, think about what you can do to help me make a difference for these ranchers and farmers. Think if you can do something to make the trip with me one more time. Every little bit helps. Please crosspost all my emails to all your friends and to organizations. Get your 4-H groups to do fundraisers! This effort is going to have to get these guys through the winter. They will be ok come spring. Let me know immediately who will be going this weekend! All trucks that are loaded with supplies need to have an inventory sheet to give me upon arrival. Your truck has to be inventoried so we know what to leave where. If people have contributed toward this effort, I need that to be broke down with their name and address so I can get thank you notes and tax donation papers out to them. Let's show the government that we WILL take care of our own.
Respectfully yours,
Debra Barlow
President &
Animal Cruelty Investigator
P.O. Box 17763
Shreveport, La 71138
Phone numbers:
318-925-4272 home
318-797-6043 fax
318-286-3116 cell
318-7977464 work mon-thur 8-4 fri 8-1
"If ever a horse needs a helping hand, Please God, Let it be ours"
HOW SAD !!! I am actually crying. I had MAX put on my website too, hoping he will be found and rescued, although my website is not designed to search for missing pets. There are just a few cases published, which I had picked out. I knew of 5 MAX missing. Now I shall partly copy/paste the message and refer to the link again, in order to read this blog. There was no need for so many pets to starve to death if they had been allowed to be taken along. The LAW MUST BE CHANGED!
I feel very badly for Max. That poor old dog waited for his person to come back and save him. But I feel even worse for his person in that she probably knows that Max waited there for her to return and it breaks her heart - just as it does mine.
I have never cried so hard for so long in my life. It started the day of the floods and it has not stopped.
This can NEVER happen again.
A message to Petfinder -- who can deliver?
I am sending pet owners to your site and they HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START. How hard would it be to have a big button that says "Katrina Area" Click here. What the hell is an Animal Emergecy Response Network? and then once they get in Pull out and make the two main things BIG and easy to SEE -- 1) I've Lost My Pet Report, this is so critical because volunteers are going to those reports and helping people almost like and advocate. 2) Seach Reports of Found, Rescued and Lost
Also, allow us to search for new animals daily (showing only those animals entered in the last 24 hours) We can scan those for animals quickly once a day.
Dear Max and DIxon: you remain loved as you were at the end. . .
Love, Kathryn.
p.s. I am crying so hard I can't even see, anymore.
you broke my heart
We HAVE to make sure this NEVER happens again. Once the crisis is over, can we organize to get laws changed that will allow people to take their pets with them when evacuating?
I know there are petitions circulating, but are there any other plans in the works?
I was at Lamar Dixon last weekend, I was on the search and rescue team on Sat. to make a long story short, I got to the trailor at 5:30 am and was not able to leave to help rescue animals until 11 am that day b/c of a broken down printer. They were unable to print out the address's we needed to go to b/c of their broken printer. Not to mention, that every single address they gave us, someone else had already been there. So if they are not keeping records of that, I doubt they are keeping records on anything else.
Don't they know there are hundreds of owners still searching and cannot locate their pets. How many posts have you all seen where someone was pleading to help them. How many stories have you heard about owners going to a rescue shelter that their pet was supposed to be at, only to find it wasn't?
Animals were moved all over the country without proper documentation. Dogs that had collars on at the time of rescue, were removed. The entire transport processing of these animals after rescue and medical care, was and still is, such a debacle. A contributing factor was Rita so animals had to be moved in haste. Understandable... But that still doesn't account for the unsystematic way in which these animals were dispensed out to other shelters. For many owners, it's going to take way too long to be reunited...perhaps for many, too late. Under these conditions, I don't know how anyone in their right mind would only allow 30 days to claim their pet.
I've attached below the Reunification draft that has been in place in case anyone has any questions regarding the holding, fostering, and adoption of pets
The state does NOT want these animals pts unless they are a danger. THey want them gone from Lamar Dixon. I don't know if they just didn't realize the scope of the disaster when they set the deadline or they just assumed the LaSpca would take what ever animals were not reclaimed.
The state of Lousiana with the State Vet of La. set the deadline. IMHO, as a citizen of this state and parish, it is because of pressure from the owners of LD that they won't extend it. The families and execs are big political donors and they want the shelter operation gone from LD - they have for weeks. They claim we are too dirty. I've been to several events at LD BEFORE the shelter and let me tell you - we aren't any dirtier or noiser than a bunch of drunken cajuns!!
In fairness, LD is supposed to be a for-profit business through the expo center and they have a right to want to resume bussiness as usual. Their goal is to attract annual events and when they have to cancel one & that event finds another venue, odds are they won't come back to LD. LD has been losing massive amounts of money every year and is trying to attract -or con- the parish into buying the facility.
However, these are extrodinary circumstances and you would think people could have a little compassion, but as usual $$ wins out over saving pets.
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:38 pm
Post subject: PUTTING ANIMALS DOWN > Lamar Dixon
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Just received a call from a volunteer at Lamar Dixon, who has the task of starting to select the animals that WILL BE PUT DOWN!!!! ……………………
I do not know this person, I know the pet. I was one of the rescuers that processed this dog. My mobile number was placed on the dog's collar, because I knew she would need to be connected back to her pet parents as she is older, her vision is impaired and her temperament is not perfect. Her owner's home was NOT inhabitable as of last this past week when I drove by, so I doubt they are back in the city. Funny thing is that TODAY is the 1st time I have received a call from Lamar Dixon. As I suspected, she will be one of the ones put down.
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I am NOT debating this subject and I don't care to hear anything about calling the HSUS/SPCA to verify this. I stopped to make this post while there was still workday hours left. I am getting back in my car to finish my drive home. I am sure there will be lots of concern about the validity of this post. It has been my experience, thus far, that most animal rumors, most post, most blogs have had some truth. I have worked along people who have shared their own personal stories. I have had my own experiences that give me a different perspective. The girl making the call was compassionate, she was not elaborating, she was the 1st to take the initiative to make contact. In one real quick statement, she said she hated it too and I could hear it in her voice that she did! We did not banter as the focus was saving this dog. I have made a number of phone calls and have someone going by this house to leave a note……on an empty house……I am in the works of trying to get her out…..it’s the others, that I am sharing this information and very frustrated feelings for.
>>>> It makes me ill to know that our countries noted animal societies, who freely accept our monies throughout the year, every year, are "eagerly" putting down pets of people who are still trying to find a place to live. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR CONTRIE’S COMMON SENSE???????? I am from the business world and understand cost vs income and the hard decisions that come along with managing the monies. BUT, there hasn’t been enough time yet to take this measure. This wound is still new and their have been toooooooooo many people giving 24 hours a day from every corner of the earth to save these babies.
I have been in New Orleans rescuing along side of animal lovers from all across THE WORLD who: have quite jobs, cleaned out their savings, put their own personal safety and health at risk, slept on concrete, continued to work with an IV in their own arms because of their own dehydration, went long periods of time w/o real food, flew to our country for the 1st time (and boy do they have a bad impression of how we take care of ourselves), all of this to save them so that our noted animal organizations CAN PUT THEM DOWN
Excuse me, today is my 1st day headed back to civilization. Did those of us who have access to communications know Lamar Dixon was moving into this next step already? If I am out of the loop, excuse my horro. As I hear this news, my daughter is still there on the ground, saving animals TODAY. She just rushed one to emergency health care night before last. Thank you GOD, that these animals this last week have not been sent to Lamar Dixon, but instead to other NO KILL shelters around the nation….. Just thinking out loud, but maybe it's time to find a new animal orginization that is in tune with the pulse of the american families, the american tax payers!?!
Bless all of those who made it there, who kept these concerns in the media, who kept this knowledge “bumped” and who cried along with those of us in the field through each tragedy. It took every single one of us…..please, for the sake of the 4 legged kind, let’s not stop here
ON A LAST NOTE, anyone out there that has already started some type of new animal campaign….please, please send me a private post. The last few weeks were my easy ones, the next few years WILL be the hard ones and I for one intend on fighting the injustices that I have witnessed with my own eyes!!!
my life will never be the same after this experience. i can not stop dreaming of all the animals that are still there in need of our help. i went twice and wish i could go back again. i wish the media would show the truth about what's going on. how the state is so screwed up and wants us out when there are still animals still being found locked in homes alive! just Monday one of the rescuers found a dog that was locked up in the attic still alive!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!! if this one dog was still alive then there are more out there like him.
i was told by Lauren Bond of HSUS not to go unless I was an animal control officer b/c rescuers were being arrested that were not certified by the LASPCA. she siad the state required these credentials. i am sure this is true but there are still groups out there doing rescue. one being David an HSUS volunteer who is awesome and Jane Garrison who is equally as awesome! for a split second i thought that maybe we shouldn't go. that thought didn't last long and i went anyway. everything she said was wrong and i was able to rescue animals and my credentials from the first time i was there were still good. the police did not arrest us they helped us! this whole thing is insane!!!! i am sick about this!
the guilt of leaving has been the hardest thing to deal with.
I urge more people to go and help. you don't need the big organizations to back you up. there are still many smaller groups doing rescue. PLEASE GO and help. we did not run into anyone that did not thank us or what we are doing. i know there are those few people out there but I have never been told "May God Bless you for your work" so many times in my life!
I will always remember the faces of the animals I saw/met. I can identify them as if they were my own. I just hope they will remember me when i see them in heaven.
Nagin and Blanco- good luck with these two morons. Nagin had 500 buses at his disposal days before the hurricane and used none.
Blano- she kissed his shoes at the press conference I was at. It was sick. Those two and the state vet don't have a lick of common sense among them. Dogs and cats sarving on the streets? FEED THEM. It is quite simple.
"Those that say a task is impossible shouldn't interrupt the ones who are doing it."
- Chinese Proverb
Eric,
You don't know me but I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the good that you have done for this cause. You stepped up to the plate and succeeded in ways that even those who were setup to do so couldn't have imagined.
My story:
One evening I was searching the web in ways that I could help. When I came across your site and saw what you were doing and then saw the pics of the beagle holding on for life...I couldn't concentrate on anything else in my life except for joining forces with your group. Immediately, I posted an email and asked if anyone from Dallas would like a ride to New Orleans the next day. A woman from Alaska replied and said that she was flying into Dallas that morninng and would like to go there together. Once we arrived in Gonzales, we went through the process and received our list the next morning. With pure adrenaline we worked for days finding pets in locked homes. Our intention was to meet your group but we knew at the time that the list was extremely time sensitive so we continued our rescuing. When we finally had a moment to find you at the YMCA, your group had already left.
After 10 days, I had returned to Dallas to check on my pets, work, etc. only to go back to New Orleans 1 1/5 days later. While preparing to leave I had extended a plea to a wonderful friend to come with me who has extensive experience in training and medical care. He gladly joined me and off we went to save a dozen or so more dogs during our short visit.
This email to you is to express the thanks I have for your ambition and dertermination to make a difference in an area that means so much to me. I am a proud owner of many dogs and a volunteer with the Italian Greyhound rescue in Dallas. When I am not fostering Italian Greyhounds, I remove any other breeds from the local shelter and find them good homes. This is my passion and my calling in life. Professionally I work in real esate in TX and CA.
If you need any help, please feel free to contact me at 214.235.xxxx. I am here to help with any thing that I can. I truly missed not meeting your group.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
P.S. A group that I work with in Los Angeles is putting all of their effort in changing legislation for animal rights. They have an extensive list of celebrity advocates to help with the cause. Please check out www.newleash.org, as they have put photos to video with music and have many events to help. They flew all of the animals left at Gonzales Monday to their facility in Los Angeles. A wonderful group of people!
Attached are photos from my trip to New Orleans
Here is an attached photo I took of rescuer Troy Bowers spray painting that we found 11 dead dogs, inside kennels, inside the Gentilly Veterinary Hospital. This was on or around Sunday September 25, 2005 - when our rescue group returned to New Orleans after evacuating 2 days for Hurricane Rita. I personally saw 9 animals on the 2nd floor. I believe Troy found two more on the first floor.
Each dog had a plastic bag attached to the kennel with their names, and while I can recall seeing Snowflake's name, I cannot be positive - I do remember remarking to Troy, who was with me, "how terrible it is that someone as innocent as a dog named 'Snowflake' had to suffer; he obviously had a family who loved him."
There was no evidence that any of the animals were left with extra water and food; each dog had one food bowl and one water bowl in their crates.
Obviously empty by the time we arrived. We were both stunned by this.
Another lost dog that was supposedly at Lamar-Dixon. Read about this wild goose chase:
http://forums.petfinder-network.com/viewtopic.php?t=78902
For Max, and all the other pets no one could get to in time. Their images remain and keep us from fitful sleep at night. The small brown dog waiting on a rooftop, whose owner was lifted in a Coast Guard basket; three beautiful German Shepherds on a rooftop in the Ninth Ward, spotted by a photographer who threw them some crackers. These images haunt but they motivate also!
Save the next animal you see in distress. If you come across a special needs animal and you can fit the bill, take the animal into your home. Rescue from your local animal shelter instead of buying a puppy. And if you have anything left after the Katrina pets, send some more cash to help the cattle and horses in LA. Who knew they were suffering? Their story has not been told either.
Do something in memory of Max and all of the others! That through an act of kidness they will never be forgotten.
Many different things could have changed the outcome of this disaster. Everyone support spray and neuter laws! Humane organizations should push hard for mandatory and enforced spray and neuter laws in high population areas prone to diasters-earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, blizzards etc. Secondly, everyone living in these areas should also microchip their pets. It should be mandatory. Thirdly organizations like HSUS need better communication systems. My spouse works at a major refinery. There is a wireless network which tracks workers (wearing pins). It makes sure that they aren't going into the wrong areas. Also if there is a fire or explosion, fire fighters will locate injured workers faster. A mobile wireless system could help track dogs, make sure they aren't being stolen or running away from the emergency shelter. Sure the cost would be a concern. You could tag every 1 in ten dogs and keep it a secret as to which ones had tracking on them.
Hi Eric,
Just got a call from the HSUS to tell me he is at Mckinney (he's not Mckinney has triple checked and I just spoke to the manager there again this mornning). Anyway, I explained he was not at Mckinney and is lost in the system and the HUS rep is going to try to get a response from the shelters that have not responded to my calls and emails about Pedie.
So we'll see where that leads. I am hopeful about the two at Operation Kindness as I know they came via Houston SPCA as I have been trailing them the whole time, by the time Houston called me back they were gone and they did not know where they sent them.
Will let you know if anything big comes up in the next few days. Please send me any suggestions or leads as I would rather look twice than miss him!
Thanks so much,
Cindy
I got a voicemail from a gentleman in NOLA who returned yesterday, and immediately went to check on his friend's cat on Esplanade. He had seen the note I left there on the day prior to Hurricane Rita saying that we had fed and watered, and that I had dumped the remaining clean litter I could find into the bath tub for the cat's use, and called to thank me/us. And I quote, "People like you mean everything to us in New Orleans". He left me his number (I haven't yet called), and said he was going to have his friend (who lives there) call me when he returned.
22508. Home - Hollyspots from Winn Dixie
by Hollyspots, 10/13/05 17:31 ET
Jonathan are home again from Winn Dixie. After I unloaded and took a *real* shower, I got to have a "doggie pile" with all my Dalmatians, Aussie, and Weim. I checked my horse & 2 cats on the way to dropping Jonathan off.
We are tired, bruised, and suntanned. Jonathan says give him a few days, and he will be ready to go again.
We never went back to Winn Dixie without several rescues. However, our largest total was only 6. Had 5 the last day. The animals are getting smarter.
The animals are learning to hunker down and freeze so you can't see them, hide under houses against the foundation blocks, some run straight down the street for many blocks and then veer or double back, some can jump fences like a deer (clear 4 ft fence w/o touching & climb a 6 ft fence). It is harder to track now in most areas, because the mud has dried. Then there are those so thin and dehydrated they fall when they walk or don't even bother to move.
Jonathan & I did a rescue with apartment numbers. Saw a cat in the window & spent 45 minutes looking for the cat. Never saw it but we know it was there so left lots of F/W. It was med size Tuxedo, thin. One cat was dead in the bathroom. It appears to be dead for 4-5 days. It had a partner. I noticed window screen torn. This was on 5th floor. Got one orange boy who hid between coats in the closet as I swept the clothes. He ran to the bathroom & someone had cut out a hole at the pipes. He got behide the wall at the toilet. Jonathan used hatchet and I had to pull insulation out w/my cat gloves and that wasn't long enough to save me from itching. Anyway, grabbed a very *psssssssd* cat and went to the next apartment. It was wide open & construction crew had done a little work.
We got down and was talking to Nat'l Guard. They said they saw a black cat go out on the ledge of 5th story and JUMP on to the pine tree about 3 foot away ! Has to be the tuxedo we were searching for. I can't but wonder, no food, no water, and the orange/white playmate dead & the smell.
I got on the phone with the lady who left a note on the front door for the Manager about Rescue Requests to tell her what we had done. She said she would organize a search team of cat people who understand how cats like to hide up inside of things, etc.
The Nat'l Guard called the Manager about all the animals. She said upon insistance of the Nat'l Guard, she had done an entire search. I said well you have a live one in Apt. 1XX, a dead one in 5XX. She said she had heard about the tuxedo but upon checking it was not found. I said well, it is still there but the apt. is in such a state, it will take a thorough combing. I asked if she saw the dead one in 5XX. No.
She got the numbers of the group I had and said she would cooperate. I understand there are other animals in the complex, including small dogs and birds. I called my contact and she & her group promised to follow-up..... waiting word.
Rescue workers hunting for people and/or bodies have let animals out through the broken doors & windows. Trees have fallen on fences.
In some areas, there is no water. In one hard hit area, I could not see how anything could survive. However, I was tracking a dog and ended up going under the house. Water was leaking in the middle, forming a puddle. The area also has plenty of food drops. I put foil roasting pans under many houses. This is because either there was no way to catch these guys, or we never got a visual and know they are there. Probably "giggling," too.
We caught one Pit Bull by leaving food at a doorway and smelly cat food about 2 ft & 4 ft in. We shut all doors in the house. I sat on the sidewalk and watched her. I signaled Jonathan to rush her when she went in the house. After she calmed down, we went it, played ring around the rosey and got her. This took over 1 hour !
Another dog we were able to "shoo" into a house was a "high mix" black shepherd. We blocked the front door & shut others. A 60-70 lb 27 inch high,(thin, remember) disappeared. Hmmmm. Did another search. I said well, Jonathan there's only one place and I'm letting you get this one. He looked at me. I had him crawl on top off the washing machine and shut the folding doors. This rather large Shep mix had folded himself between the wall and the washer ! This was 30 min. job.
The longest was me under the house for about 4 hours after a Golden mix (docked tail) an a Cocker/Golden or Lab mix. Being 2 girls, I am thinking these definitely need to be outta here! I put on white bio suit and my "nasty" shoes. It was a very tight fit, ladies, or Jonathan would have been under there, too. I got one girl after over 1 hour. We called for re-inforcement. After another 3 hours with 5 people, we had to give up. Darn. But, 2 days later, a group with 2 "skinny winny's" got her! Cute Cocker face. She went out to Best Friends. More in a few minutes.
I was in Hattiesburg and witnessed and experienced things that have kept me from sleeping since I returned.
I wrote extensively about my experiences and my post landed
on many sites. I was slammed with such violent respones and threats from (I can only assume) folks from HSUS that it was unbelievable. I had no reason to fabricate my experiences. Dont get me wrong, there were good and caring Barn managers there, but they never seemed to last long. The first 2 were on power trips, not only treating the hard working volunteers like crap, but worst of all treated the animals with such disdain, and utter disregard but also were cruel to them. Vet care was not given, very poor quality food was used, when there was stock piles of good quality food Most of the dogs had very bad diarrhea, vomiting, and needed quality food. One little angel
had BLOODY diarrhea for days and never ate a single bite. I came with a Veterinarian who brought her own supplies from her hospital and we had to "secretly" treat her diarrhea. There were dogs that were overheating daily and had no relief. Volunteers, including myself fainted from the heat. There were misting tents that were set up to cool off the "Big Wigs".
They sat there cool and relaxed.
Never once was one of the overheated dogs ever allowed to be brought there to cool off. There were gangs of men wondering through at night who stole some of the pit bulls. They also casually walked around during the day taking pictures of the pit bulls with the cell phones. There were so many rescue groups there ready to take many animals to foster homes. The HSUS required certain documentation from these groups and then after providing that and also providing proof that there were foster homes waiting for these animals to help get them
cleaned up, healthy, and were willing to sign any paperwork stating they would hold all animals for the required amount of time in order for owners to try to locate them, these groups never left with any animals. We left with the little baby I mentioned above. She survied the 17 hour trip back to VA. Upon arriving home she was immediately hooked up and given fluids. Turns out, her
little body was raging with Parvo.
Her tiny little 12 pounds of skin and bones, just was not strong enough to fight this. This little angel, who I named Katie died in my arms. I am only thankful that at least, in her final hours she was in the arms of someone who loved her. See you again, my sweet little baby.
If anyone wants to contact me,
my email is celeryhead@verizon.net
this is 100% true and I have come across it twice now:-- This is what happens when HSUS puts the responsibility into the hands of individual shelters with NO tracking so they can't be held accoutnable (this and of course pictuers of crates instead of dogs on Petfinder):
I had a situation exactly the same with a GSD. She somehow ended up in a kill shelter in GA, but originated at Lamar-Dixon. She was on the euth list b/c she's HW+. I pulled her last week and transported her here this past weekend. I don't understand why shelters are saving them from LA just to kill them?!?
If no other foster can be found, let me know. I'll work him in and maybe see if we can get some donations for HW tx.
Eric
I sincerely apologize if my long listing about Lamar-Dixon offended you in
any way. Please let me explain myself. Unfortunately, it will
take another long message.
What inspired me to write such long posts? It all started with this
beagle I helped rescue in Chalmette. I would periodically check on her; when
she was shipped out, I checked her on petfinder.com. To my horror,
she was listed but with no information as to where she came from.
There are many beagles on Petfinder! Other pets from
Chalmette were listed if you knew the shelter ID, but if you did a search
for "dog" and "Chalmette", they did not pop up; instead dog from New Orleans appeared.
(Recently more dogs from Chalmette have been entered into the system).
A week later, I decided to make a new listing for the beagle with a better
photo that I took. Wow! She now pops up if you do a search for beagle and Chalmette! I included the original petfinder ID (so that people can examine both listings) and the street she was found on but not her exact address.
I thought I was being helpful. A volunteer called and wanted to
know the address of where the beagle was found. I did not give
out that information because I don't know if she is one of those
volunteers looking for info so that she can pretend to be the pet
owner and steal her. I explained that she should call the shelter that
has the beagle and gave her the shelter's # or that she could e-mail the
volunteer that was working to reunite the pet with its owner. She got angry and sent me e-mails saying that she did not believe that I rescued the
dog and that I was lying, etc. I couldn't believe it.
The second time I tried to be helpful the same thing happened. I
was accused of lying. Someone was looking for their pit and
said she left on a Thursday night before Hurricane Rita. Because
I knew from another volunteer that the pits were loaded in
semi-trucks around 3 a.m. to be transferred to prison, I posted a
message as to the possibilities of the pit's location. I found detailed
info about the prison in a message on your blog and posted it.
http://forums.petfinder-network.com/viewtopic.php?t=78884
voila! The person found the pit in the Dixon correctional facility.
http://forums.petfinder-network.com/viewtopic.php?t=79423
Those postings along with a 3.5 hour phone call from the volunteer who
witnessed the pits being thrown into the semi-truck (she says she can't
get rid of that image from her mind) made me think about writing the
TRUTH. What if that was my dog? I would want to know the truth even if
it is painful.
I met many wonderful people at Lamar-Dixon, Gonzales, and
even Chalmette. I won't forget them. Also I do not blame the barn managers. It was a bad system. I understand that the Louisiana State Vet Office along with Hurricane Rita played a role in creating more problems for the rescue organizations.
I will always be thankful on the first day I came to Lamar-Dixon (Sept 9).
I saw all those HSUS, Connecticut Humane Society, and even Scientology volunteers. There were about 50 of us. It gave me a hope in my life that I've never experienced before. It changed my life. As many have stated, it restored my faith in humanity.
Ultimately though, the majority of dog owners will not get their dogs back.
It's too bad the food and water program was not implemented more rigorously. I remember when Melodie (from Texas) was in charge of Barn 2. It was on September 13 (before she was replaced by Brad). She posted these HUGE postal inspectors (from Philadelphia; they were volunteering
for a day) to stand guard outside the barn so that intake would stop
delivering dogs. She screamed at intake that there were too many
dogs and not enough volunteers. We could not walk all the dogs. It was noon, and we knew that at least half the dogs were not going to get out that day. Don't even ask if vets were able to look at all the sick and wounded.
Intake actually would sneak in and drop the dogs off in weird places. They
didn't care about cooperation. They didn't send their volunteers to help
care for the dogs. It was awful. Why they didn't call the rescuers to come back to help or why the LA State vet Office didn't get other shelters opened up sooner is totally beyond the pale. The worst thing for me is that a bunch of official organizations' websites told potential volunteers not to come to Gonzales. I'll never understand the rationale behind that. Rescue the dogs, but don't take care of them?
The date I helped clean out a stall with 3 dead dogs was Sept 11. The location of the stall was Barn 2, row A, the first stall nearest the direction of the bathrooms. I did not have to look at the dead dogs thankfully. A volunteer from Lafayette, LA, had a truck with a trailer. He was asked to haul them out to the morgue. Don't ask me which morgue. I didn't know pets had a morgue. I tried to avoid looking at the floor where bodies had made dark, moist imprints. The stench was of death. Hundreds of flies were in the stall. Before we could clean the stall, we were ordered to take out all the crates. There must have been 100 crates stacked in there. We sprayed the stall with bleach. We found mice under the crates, which was disgusting. We then scooped up the hay and replaced it. When I was home later that evening that's when the crying began. I couldn't stop. I fell asleep crying. I've never done that before. I swore that I wasn't going back. I got up the next morning and decided that the dogs needed me.
If you want to know the date of the incident with the dog who was roughly
handled by the vet, it happened on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The volunteer
who witnessed this incident told us about it the next day on Sept. 22. She
and another vet tech checked up on the dog that morning. They said that
the dog is not aggressive. It was frightened. They couldn't understand
why the vet yanked the dog so hard that its teeth would come out. That
day the volunteer was trying to rationalize the situation. She talked to
everyone. She thought maybe the vet was overworked and had lost touch with reality.
I understand that when you are in a hurry, maybe you have to pull hard the
leash of a dog or maybe you have to push him into a kennel. But to physically rip out his teeth is to be totally out of control. I have serious qualms that the owner of this dog will not be notified of this event.
I can imagine that some dogs with "behavioral issues" were
roughly handled by the vets, vet techs, people loading the dogs etc.
This will undoubtably shorten their life span unless they have patient
owners who know what their dogs have most likely experienced.
These dogs have been through a lot. It's sad that other events besides
the hurricane may have added to their stress.
I'm a writer. I will fight these injustices in my own way. Dialogue is a start.
See for yourself:
http://forums.petfinder-network.com/viewtopic.php?t=79032
The two people who have replied to my posts have revealed more in their
anger than they probably intended. Obviously, they dodged the harder
questions and ethical issues (the ones I wrote in red). But the truth will come out. I know others will also fight in their own way. It will take many years for changes to happen. But I will not ignore nor forget what I and other reliable people have seen. Perhaps, because you are a creative writer in a way, you will understand my position. It never surprises me that creative people are the first ones to come to terms with bad situations and to discover solutions that supposedly do
not exist.
Does anyone have a list of HI kill shelters that Katrina animals were sent to? I have started seeing postings warning that "left over" animals can be PTS after friday (10/15). Perhaps we can concentrate on Hi Kill shelters and get the animals out of there. Actually, it would be nice to get ALL of the animals out of those shelters.....
Susan FZ
HSUS vs Pasado
by wlfary, 10/14/05 8:16 ET
Both organizations are doing what they can do best. Pasado is smaller and more organized at rescuing.HSUS is very large and more controlled by politics...which in itself speaks as to why they are less organized. The HSUS did draw more monies in but they are also giving grants to shelters destroyed by these disasters so they can rebuild....which Pasado cannot do. Both organizations are equally beneficial in their own abilities.
I would think that tracking and intake and then export to other facilities would be a huge responsibility of anyone pushing themselves as a Massive Rescue operation like HSUS is doing now. One only has to work with these desperate owners whose animal was saved from a specific address to understand that the HSUS and the State failed miserably in this respect. Miserably. The goal is to reunite owners with pets. If a pet is saved and the owners knows it should it not be pretty easy for the OWNER to quickly find that pet? The HSUS needs to stop putting out press releases that all is well. It is not. Come on a journey with me on my daily quest to find the animals of owners.
1-800-save-a-pet.com's David Meier and Pia (I don't know what her last name is) emptied out the Lamar Dixon shelter AND took pets from the Dixon prison, too, and flew them out to Los Angeles on Monday!!!!! I don't know how David did it, but he got that transport flight organized in ONE DAY. New Leash on Life in Los Angeles helped process and distribute the pets when they landed in Los Angeles. Seriously, if any of you know David and Pia and Abby, you know that 1-800-Save-A-Pet.com should have been the site where the database of missing and rescued pets was housed. They would have done a kick-ass job. Petfinder has really dropped the ball here.
I've lost count of how many emails and phone calls I've made across the country to various shelters in seach of Candy and I've had exactly TWO responses, one of which wanted me to know the information on the internet was wrong and they did not have any Katrina pets! We really are seaching for a needle in a haystack. And I would certainly be willing to try to get a psychic on the phone. It couldn't hurt. Even if this psychic is fake, I would be no worse off than relying on the ASPCA. Even corporate HSUS called me, and just wanted to say "Good Luck". Boy, was that helpful!
For Max, Katie, Dixon and all the others I am so sorry humanity failed you.
Why politics and power have to color all of man's actions I'll never understand.
(sorry for the repeat post. I forgot to enclose my email addy)
To All Animal Rescue Volunteers that worked the Hurricane Katrina Distaster areas,
I am in the prosess on putting together YOUR pictures and stories of your rescue efforts to be publish in a book dedicated to only Katrina Animal Rescue efforts.
What I need right now is your email addresses and contact phone # and the time you were in these areas and what your title was a as a volunteer.
My goal is to not only include pictures and stories but also list every single person and their organization affiliation in this book. Of course a portion of the proceeds will go to animal welfare organizations. Lots of details have yet to be ironed out and we are just in the begining stages of this so please only send your personal contact info and I will be in touch very soon.
I am determined to do whatever I can so that these animals will never be forgotten. I know we will never be able to erase the things we saw and felt but the whole world must always remember with us.
Thank you
Monica Elkins
monicaelkins@gmail.com
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