Eric's Dog Blog

Sherrifs Murder 2 Dogs

2008-08-07T10:18:00.003-05:00

(Please Crosspost everywhere) See contacts at the end of this email!

UPDATE:
Latest information shows that murdered dogs owners WERE NOT INVOLVED IN DRUGS.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0808/541609.html

Statement from Dogs owners attorneys: http://static.wjla.com/documents/calvocounselstatement080608.pdf

""They bound me and forced me to kneel in the corner," he recalled. "My mother-in-law was bound on the kitchen floor. They killed our dogs; these dogs are loved throughout town."

***********************************************************************************

Sheriffs Shoot and Kill (Murder) Two Dogs, Conducts long Interrogation with owners as dog lie in pools of blood

Your voices and outrage needed as the sheriff department boohoos and defends what has happened here. See contacts at the end of this email!

The sheriff’s department playing Swat Team shot and killed two fully trained, kid friendly, midlife, never been in trouble Lab Retrievers in Price Georges County Maryland.

To see a picture of the dogs launch today’s edition of the BaltimoreExaminer.com
And then go to Page 10. Do this at this link:
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/digitaleditions.aspx?tab=0&pid=e3e50bc7-52a3-49f1-86d7-baa629b1605f

Article Here: (or just Google “Police Shoot Dogs Princes Georges County” for many articles.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/022222.html

“Berwyn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy said county police and the Sheriff's Office had not notified his department of the raid. He said town police could have conducted the search without a SWAT team.”
"You can't tell me the chief of police of a municipality wouldn't have been able to knock on the door of the mayor of that municipality, gain his confidence and enter the residence," Murphy said. "It would not have been a necessity to shoot and kill this man's dogs."

“Calvo (dogs owner) described a chaotic scene, in which he -- wearing only underwear and socks -- and his mother-in-law were handcuffed and interrogated for hours. They were surrounded by the dogs' carcasses and pools of the dogs' blood, Calvo said.

In the Baltimore Examiner Article:
The depuites first shot 7 year old Payton. (almost as soon as they entered I assume) then they “pursued and shot” 4 year old chase who “ran away”.

Eric’s Comments: www.ericsdogblog.com

Can I say what the hell is going on here? These are fully trained professionals? A kid and ball could have contained these dogs. Shot? Pursued and shot? Can we say trigger happy morons just waiting to bust of some rounds and choosing these dogs because they think, “hey they are just dogs, it isn’t like we shot some people you know.”

I went in over 500 homes in New Orleans and did't need to shoot a single dog in 3 weeks and nobody else did either.

This is an outrageous abuse and totally unnecessary. Even if the officers got a little bite it would have been reasonable vs shooting and killing two otherwise friendly dogs in their own house. As much as I see them tasering and beating people with clubs I am quite sure they could have found another way to disable two dogs. Not to mention that these “wanna be” swat players went in with all kinds of protective gear on I am sure.

As animal people we understand the dogs were probably acting up loudly as a group of men busted the door down and proceeded to attack its owner. One of which was shot in the back as it ran away.

To interrogate these people who were not even arrested in the presence of their own killed dogs is simply one of the most despicable things I have ever heard of by the police.

The police and everyone else need to understand that for many people this was no less traumatic than if the people’s kids had been shot and killed right in front of them. Yea that’s right. Research has shown that loss of a pet is in the top 5 of all major depressive events for people.

____________________________________________________________________

Complain and show your outrage to:

phone works best as they are not saying "send comments to the email address, and I am sure deleting them as fast as they come in"
Be sure to complain to each person you speak with along the way. Call all the numbers, email, and fax if possible.

TO BE CLEAR, I HAVE NOT HAD A SINGLE CALL RETURNED OUT OF 30 CALLS, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE BEEN PROMISED A CALL BACK A DOZEN TIMES. THEY ARE TOTALLY THUMBING NOSES AT THIS. I finally got direct to Sargeant Ellis an assistant and he was rude, abrupt and annoyed and said “we are not talking about this.” Mrs. Ridgely also picked up her phone finally and said “everyone is entitled to their opinion.’ In a very gruff voice, and acting as if it is ok to break into private homes and shoot dogs when you have other options at your disposal.

Main Line: 301-883-7000, ask to speak to sheriff Michael Jackson (he is never around)
Then ask to speak to Lt. Ridgley in the PIO (Public information) office. (they may not put you through but be firm)
If they do not put you through: Lt. Ridgeley Direct: 240-508-7710 (warning she is not the face of nice)
Fax to Sheriffs attention: 301-883-6962

Email: sheriffinfo@co.pg.md.us

Look for updates on: www.ericsdogblog.com

The dog

2008-01-08T08:48:00.000-06:00

Meredith Emerson is dead. Her dog Ella is not. Ella was found 50 miles away in a parking lot.

I was just getting ready to write a blog post about the missing dog and email our list of 30,000 to help find the dog. I have to inquire as to why the dog was not being vigorously searched for so that her family might have some living breathing memory of Meredith. Anyone that understands the bond with your dog knows that Ella the dog has kept part of Meredith alive.

I am reminded of this story from Katrina and hope you will read it. Click Here.

End of 2007

2007-12-29T10:22:00.000-06:00

If you have to been to the site before start at the bottom for the stories from the first days after Katrina till now. Some great reading.

Watch this rescue video to understand what it was like in those days after Katrina:
I found this dog 25+ days after Katrina locked in a bathroom with no hope of rescue. Video Click Here This dog was one of 25,000 rescued and 100,000 or more killed.

And then on to the most amazing BS of the Year:

Doogie as he struggled to get up 3 days after he first went down, with his owners ignoring him.

I’d like to bring to light the complete loss of common sense when the state of PA prosecuted Tammy Grimes for taking this dog (Doogie) from a back yard of a house after the owners left it for 3 days laying in the mud, on its back, legs kicking back and forth unable to get up. Common sense often prevails in our courts but not this time. The DA aggressively pursued Tammy for taking/helping the dog and NEVER CHARGED THE DOGS OWNERS WITH ANYTHING.

The Entire Story and Pictures Click Here

What would you have done? I know what I would have done.

As the year comes to an end I’d like to post some dog blog member stats.

Members: 1041
Dogs Saved 2007: 500+
Donations to Emergency Vet Bills by Members: $25,000+ (estimated)

Emergency vet alerts were primarily severe cases of neglect and abuse with high vet bills where the dog would not have been saved without raising thousands of dollars. Cases like the baby Pug mauled and left in a shoe box, several cases of dogs used as bait for fighting, a mother and pups dumped in an alligator pond (whatever that is, and how did people get so cruel?) where only one pup survived with bad injuries.

Dog Auction Recap

2007-11-22T11:13:00.000-06:00

DOG AUCTION RECAP
Below is the recap from a recent dog auction in MO. It must be hard to live in MO with no ocean and no mountains. I think that is why these people go crazy and abuse animals for a living....I would not consider spending a single tourist dollar in this state even though I am a big fan of Mark Twain. This state government has not done a thing to stop the abuse that goes on at its thousands of puppymills.

I have posted the first paragraph of this story below but click on the first comment to read the rest of the story. Eric

Dog Auction Recap -- State of MO. "The Show Me a Puppymill State"

This is an e-mail that was written by my friend, who went to the Bulldog Auction in MO.

In November of 2007, I was sent a note from a friend of mine, a respected breeder and member of the English Bulldog community and the Bulldog Club of America, alerting me to the fact that there was to be an "All Bulldog" auction in Rocky Comfort, Missouri.

As a rescuer, I was devastated when I heard about this auction. I know these events occur frequently – particularly for livestock, and even for beautiful dogs that ultimately deserve a life as family members, not breeding stock. I realize not all people view canines the way I do, but in the least, I would expect all animals to be treated with respect, compassion and appropriate care. With trepidation, I wondered if I should get involved with this auction and help these bulldogs... CONTINUED.

PLEASE SEE THE CONTINUATION OF THIS STORY BY CLICKING THE FIRST COMMENTS BELOW...

Mexico's Katrina?

2007-11-04T13:41:00.000-06:00

My guess is animals come last in Mexico and no US animal rescue groups seem to be stepping up.

TABASCO, MEXICO
300,000 TRAPPED AFTER TABASCO FLOODS
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Mexico/10164571.html

11/2/07: More than 300,000 people are believed to be trapped in their homes
after severe flooding hit the southern Mexican state of Tabasco. A huge
rescue operation has begun after torrential rains caused widespread flooding
in the region.

One person has been confirmed dead so far but more than 1m are thought to
have been affected by the floods. Dramatic rooftop helicopter rescues are
being seen on television. Mexican President Felipe Calderon called it "one
of the worst natural disasters in the history of the country."

MEXICO FLOODING AFFECTS 700,000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7072554.stm

Thousands remain stranded in the worst flooding in 50 years The authorities
in Mexico say as many as 700,000 people have been affected by heavy rains
and severe flooding in the south-eastern state of Tabasco.

The governor has called on anyone who owns a seafaring vessel to help free
the 300,000 people believed to be trapped in their homes. Rescuers have also
been using helicopters to try to reach people stranded on rooftops.

Recent Puppymill Video

2007-11-02T10:12:00.000-05:00

The USDA has no control over the out of control puppymill industry.

Recent Video of VA Puppymills

If you need further information get a copy of the documentary "Dealing Dogs" to see just how much these people put money$$$ above the humane treatment of animals.

Help or Peru

2007-09-30T10:21:00.000-05:00

Best Friends, local government agree on plan to rescue animals, stave off mass euthanasia after earthquake devestates the area.

By Michael Rinker, Best Friends Senior Editor

Best Friends is moving forward with an eight-week plan in western Peru that calls for more than 1000 spay/neuter surgeries, 1800 vaccinations, and distribution of 15 tons of food, according to chief executive Paul Berry, who approved the proposal Sept. 20.

At stake are the lives of thousands of animals who would be subject to government-ordered mass euthanasia.

Our goal is to show the country’s Minister of Health and his directors that we’ve helped provide a safer, healthier environment in the areas most affected by last month’s earthquake. One of those areas – the province of Ica – signed an agreement Sept. 20 that details the Best Friends mission there. The other areas are Chincha and Pisco.

Read the entire story. Click Here.

Imagine Being A Chained Dog

2007-09-11T15:35:00.000-05:00

Website stats: 200 daily visitors. 6,000 people on the email list. Sign up today.

Note from Eric about the article below:

Watch This Great Video. I dare you. Click Here

What many people do not understand is that most experts say dogs develop to be just about like a 2 to 2-1/2 year old child. Even though a 2 year old can't talk, write and use other forms of higher reasoning they can feel pain, sadness, depression and boredom. It is no different with a dog, they are feeling those emotions and suffering if they are tied behind a house for years at a time. To prove it just go pet a chained dog and see how insanely excited they get for the smallest amount of attention. The person chaining and ignoring the dog simply isn't using common sense about what they are doing or they would not do it. Most chainers are not bad people...they just need to think. In 2007 we have enough research to know that "its just a dog" is a really lame excuse for imposing such unneeded neglect. Are you someone who has a dog chained behind your house and wants to rethink it? I will give you $500 to write about it here...

How can this be ok?

Many, many more pictures Click Here.

Here is a good article from the Times Gazette on chaining. Click Here

Here is the first couple of paragraphs....

It can't get much worse than being chained to a doghouse 24/7
By LORI ROUSH
Copy Editor

Let's use our imagination for a minute.

Let's pretend that you have come across some dire circumstances in your life and must move in with a friend. This friend seems very welcoming and nice at first, but after a few days, she gets irritated at having an extra being to think about in her home.

One day, the two of you take a walk around the yard. Suddenly, she grabs you and ties you to a tree, then leaves. You can not free yourself no matter how hard you try. You spend your time trying to figure out how to escape. Drained by that task, you begin to yell for your friend to come release you. You yell and yell, but she does not come back.

The sun sets and you curl up in a box to stay warm. You fall asleep and when you awake, you find that your friend is there with food and water. You're not interested in that, you just want released. You yell and yell at her, but she continues to ignore you and walks away.

Vick Rant

2007-07-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

We all know that Michael Vick is a scumbag. Who really thinks he owned a house with 60 abused dogs that he knew nothing about. It has been going on for years. It was all his family? I think the great thing is everyone in the country knows the truth.

But this rant video is the best I have seen trashing MV.

You can Watch It Here

BTW- Here is a picture of a Pit who was abused with 30 other pits licking his rescuers face as he was taken from the filth, abuse and neglect he had lived since he was a puppy... An amazing picture I think:

2007-06-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, this dog auction looks like loads of fun.

Watch A Live Video Here

Let me know what you think.

Master Tank and Nila Go Home

2007-05-25T07:18:00.000-05:00

So Pam Bondi pats herself on the back and has a press conference where she proclaims
to have become friends with the owners of these dogs. My guess is that the reality is that the case was about to come crashing down on her and every indication was these dogs were going back to the rightful owners, the Coutures who NEVER gave these dogs up. Pam's recent little press conference was nothing more than trying to correct the amazingly bad image she has gotten out of this at a time when her case was falling apart. She did this out of the goodness of her heart? She had 18 months to be "good." Anyone who would associate themselves with her at this point is a lunatic. She did bad and took advantage of people she thought she could roll right over because of who she is. (People who lost everything in a little storm called Katrina.) Rumors abound of other unsavory things that took place during this 18 months. If Bondi would do this to an innocent New Orleans family for 18 months what would she do to the people she is prosecuting in the state of Florida, for she surely prosecuted this family unfairly. The dogs are home where they belong only because the owners WOULD NOT give up, would not given in to Bondi's power, wealth, and high paid lawyers. She basically hired her own little dream team vs. doing the right thing from the start. It is scary state of our legal system that she "thought" she could get away with this. Common people should be just plain scared of the time and effort it takes to win a case even when you are 100% right. Bondi could have made everything right 18 months ago, just 2 months after Katrina when the dogs were located. Thousands of people all over the country supported the return of these dogs and that is why they are home along with the neverending strength of the Couture and
a quite lawyer who would not let this happen. Who is the better person? You decide 1) Pam Bondi a well eduacated, probably wealthy, successful lawyer who gets to speak up on CNN now and again? or 2) The Coutures and two grandchildren who lost everything in Katrina, have survived the death or their son/parents, raise their 2 grandchildren, and have rebuilt their home with their own hands and who have proven that even Katrina can't keep people like this down. I know who I'd rather have a beer with. What about you? These pictures tell the story of what Bondi was withholding from a family with 10 times more backbone. These pictures make her claims and her case disolve. She should have been down their helping these people rebuild their lives and home not fighting to keep them from their family. She has made this family shed a million tears in the last 18 months I am sure. Look at these pictures. Shame.

Update on lawyer who gave 500 hours to this case: Click Here For Article

After 18 months of stalling Master Tank and Nila go home.

About time.

Buried Alive

2007-04-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

How would you like to be thrown into a hole? Then live for years off scraps that butchers threw down the hole. Then get rescued.

Not much fun I am guessing.

Must Watch Katrina Tribute

2007-03-21T07:35:00.000-05:00

This is a must watch Katrina Tribute:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dWB2XfjePfc

Back To Katrina Reunions

2007-03-11T18:28:00.000-05:00

Katrina Dogs Make it Home

Before getting started if everyone who reads this could send this link to everyone you know; no matter where you live we still need to bring Max home. Someone has seen this guy. Read this and you will understand
http://helpbringmaxhome.com/

Its been a little while since I focused on Katrina but here are two amazing stories of pets being reunited with their New Orleans owners even today. These are truly miracles:

See Whoadie's Story Here
http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/HOMEPAGE/2_17WEBSITE/WHOADIE/Whoadie.htm

Bears Amazing Story as taken from a popular forum:
KART contacted Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons. ARF has a number of dogs for adoption & they immediately responded by sending us all the info they had on 5 dogs (from Katrina). One of those is a black chow they called Sugar Ray rescued in mid-October from Pressburg Street. To be honest, we weren’t all that optomistic—a black chow; October rescue; etc. Adele Tanner took this case and the funny thing is that after we all dug up all these possible phone numbers for the person who lived at the home where the dog was found, Adele just called 411 & got the right #--sometimes the obvious is the first thing we forget! LOL

Anyway, Sugar Ray was Bear & belonged to Mr. & Mrs. Donatto. Bear is an older guy so reunion is particularly great! They had evacuated, leaving Bear in the yard. As we all know, nobody could get back into town for weeks and I suspect they thought Bear hadn’t made it. But sure enough, when they got back, there was Bear sitting on the front porch just waiting. Mr. D. said that being in the yard is what saved Bear as he would have drowned inside the house. They found a shed had floated into their yard & likely Bear hopped on that to ride out the flood. There were indications of feeding/watering stations so Bear had no need to wander to get food. They couldn’t take him back to Lafayette w. them so Mr. D. came down every few days to feed Bear but one day, Bear was gone. Apparently, rescuers did find Mr. D & told him to go to Tylertown which he did right away. They couldn’t find Bear and he had no idea where else to look. We think he MIGHT have gone to Camp Katrina instead of St. Francis though that is unclear.

ARF flew Mr. D up and had a wonderful reunion with him & Bear is now back with his family in their old house on Pressburg. Pictures will follow!

And even Cats are going home:
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_5380501,00.html

How could they?

2007-03-10T20:38:00.000-06:00

Simply insane - Research on Beagles

http://www.myspace.com/shac_uk

How could they?

US Soldier Shoots Dog

2007-02-23T10:31:00.000-06:00

Here is ANOTHER video of cruelty to animals by US soldiers in Iraq.

My feeling is that they had this dog tied up and that is why it just sat there and barked and didn't either run away or come to the soldier. This cruelty situation is getting more horrendous.

US Soldier shoots dog with M203 training round
Under what circumstances could this have been a justifiable action?
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0a5ee2d6eb

The issue of cruelty to animals by some soldiers in Iraq is getting a lot of national attention ever since the following video surfaced.

Soldiers taunt crippled dog in Iraq

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6445f9fdd7

The military can't ignore it at this point and can't sweep it under the rug. With enough pressure, hopefully we can get them to put something into place to protect the animals of Iraq from cruelty, at least from our own soldiers, and at least in the green (IZ zone.) They also need to learn to implement humane methods of controlling rabies and stray animals.

Call your Congressman today.
Call Tom Hankus Military Community PR -- 703-695-2057

Insane.

Georgia Dog in Hell

2007-01-08T16:56:00.000-06:00

NOTE: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE STORY OF HOW WE RESCUED 25,000 DOGS AFTER KATRINA SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN AND READ THE BLOG IN REVERSE.

Georgia Dog in Hell
Luckily not all dogs have owners who would do this. This is a real picture from a rescue list I am on. Lets hope someone got to this dog. I would happily beat the living hell out of the person that did this.

I really do not know what else to say except that I hope someone gets to this dog after the alert....oh and F Bondi.

If you want to stop chaining of dogs go to www.dogsdeservebetter.com
the most active group in that area. Also go to the "Chained Dogs" link to the right to see a good video.

Update: Cobb Animal Control went to this home first thing this morning, and seized this dog (who was still wrapped up just like it looks in this picture).

They have taken him or her to the vet and everything has checked out okay so far. The owners will be given a citation for cruelty and will be "encouraged" to give the dog up but are still given a chance to take it back. My contact promised to keep me posted and he thinks the people will be willing to sign the dog over to the county.

Would it have been so hard to feed these dogs?

2006-12-04T14:43:00.000-06:00

Instead of helping the 20 or so people (and dogs) who had to leave the dogs behind by taking care of these friendly dogs...they murdered them.

I traveled over 1000 miles to end up in St. Bernard Parish rescuing over 500 pets, returning many to desperate owners in the days after Katrina. How hard would it have been to feed these peoples pets? No other Parish saw the need to shoot wild dogs. Quite the opposite. I saw this school, what a nightmare. All these people had to do was feed the dogs, not shoot them. Even 30-45 days after Katrina rarely was a dog dangerous. What hell those dogs must have went through in that killing hour, watching their people taken away in boats without them and then as these people came around shooting them one after the other, and all the time thinking this was "just shooting some dumb animals" Things have to change in this country...

Reprinted from: www.neworleanscitybusiness.com
http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/viewStory.cfm?recID=17461

Owners allege ‘gruesome’ pet slayings
by Richard A. Webster
12/04/2006

Judy Migliori is shown with her dog Gigi before Hurricane Katrina. The toy poodle was later found in St. Bernard High School shot in the head. (Photo courtesy Pet Jusice Project)
Judy Migliori is shown with her dog Gigi before Hurricane Katrina. The toy poodle was later found in St. Bernard High School shot in the head. (Photo courtesy Pet Jusice Project)
“It was a massacre,” said Mark Steinway, co-founder of Pasado’s Safe Haven, an animal welfare refuge in Sultan, Wash. “Dogs were shot in the hindquarters, shot in the gut, shot in the feet, in the mouth. It was very, very gruesome.”

On Oct. 2, New Orleans attorney Elaine Comiskey filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of more than 15 plaintiffs seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the wrongful destruction of their pets. Nearly 20 St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies stand accused.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. is conducting a separate investigation. Under Louisiana law animal cruelty is considered a felony. The maximum sentence for cruelly killing an animal is 10 years.

In all his years investigating cases of animal cruelty, Steinway said he has never seen anything that remotely approaches what occurred in three schools in St. Bernard Parish in the days following Hurricane Katrina. The bullet-riddled bodies of dozens of household pets littered the tiled hallways, some allegedly executed after they had been leashed and tied up by their owners.

Among the allegedly massacred was Gigi, an 8-pound, 7-year-old white toy poodle with red painted nails and a collar medallion of St. Francis Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

Gigi’s owner, Judy Migliori, brought the poodle to St. Bernard High School, a shelter of last resort, after the floodwaters engulfed her Violet home. Moments after she arrived at the shelter, police ushered her into a boat headed for higher ground.

Migliori clutched Gigi to her breast as she climbed onto the flat-bottom deck. She said a man with a hunting rifle stopped her, pointed at the dog and said pets were not allowed.

“I started crying and pleading and he said — I’ll never forget this — he said, ‘Ma’am, we can do it one of two ways: nicely or not nicely, and if need be I’ll handcuff you.’”

Migliori left Gigi behind after police assured her and the other pet owners their animals would be safe inside the school.

THIS POST CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS...JUST CLICK "COMMENTS" BELOW TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.

Where is Hunter?

2006-11-04T09:07:00.000-06:00

Readers: It has been a busy Fall for me and you see that my posts have fallen off. Please keep checking back as I will be updating the blog more often after the first of the year. If you have or have not been here you can spend hours on the blog recounting the first days of Katrina (by scrolling all the way to the bottom). It reads in almost "book like" fashion by starting with the very first post. You can watch the videos on the right side of the blog, and many within the text of the blog.

http://helpbringhunterhome.blogspot.com/

Here is the recent and shameful story of Hunter and peoples hinderance of his return to his owner. Hunter is a service dog. Folks, until you have seen it first hand you simply can't understand what it was like to have 15-25 ft of water quickly flood your home. The only mistake these animals owners made was not leaving, and I have made far greater mistakes than that in my life and so has everyone who is holding these dogs up from their owners. I do not believe every dog needs to go home here two years past Katrina. But read this story and you will understand why I think this one does. Any authority with an ounce of compassion would have helped this person get out of St. Bernard Parish with her dog. They are lucky it is not my dog.

Kristin M. Thomas
Senior Writer
Capital City Free Press www.capcityfreepress.com

When Hurricane Katrina struck St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana, Fay was stranded at home. She had no transportation and parish officials did not provide evacuation services for her and Hunter, even though she is disabled and he is her service dog. Hunter had identification tags on his collar and was implanted with a microchip, as is the standard practice for all registered aid dogs.

Fay and Hunter survived the hurricane and flooded nightmarish aftermath in their apartment with no assistance from the local government. It was only after a concerned neighbor called parish authorities from his cell phone did help finally come for her. Rescue and relief was what these authorities were supposed to bring with them but in reality they only brought her brutality and heartache.

Instead of being Fay's saviors these men, who showed no identification, told her she could not take her service dog with her. When she refused to leave without Hunter, they forcibly dragged her from her residence. Fay had already put Hunter on his leash in preparation for transportation to safety and had securely wrapped the other end of the leash around her arm. Once in the boat and nearing Beauregard school, the "rescuers" unhooked Hunter from his leash and dumped him off at the steps. Hunter, wanting to protect his charge, tried to jump back into the boat while Fay was trying to escape from her captors and save the dog that had been more than just a friend to her.

These men proceeded to brutalize this disabled woman by handcuffing her and then pinning her to the bottom of the boat by her chest. All the while, Hunter who was dedicated to his master, swam after the boat in an effort to accompany his charge, but every time he approached, the men would throw him back.

Technically, a case could be made that Fay was kidnapped. She was taken against her will and brutalized by individuals who were supposed to be providing aid. Sadly, this story is an all too common one in St. Bernard Parish and allegedly several officials from this particular parish are responsible for the worst examples of cruelty, inhumanity and misuse of power to come out of this crisis.

There is a constitutional right in this country to not be forced from your home, and it is just equally applicable in a natural disaster as it is in every day life. Likewise, not only was it her right to have Hunter accompany her to safety, it was imperative for sustaining her quality of life. None of these inalienable rights were taken into consideration in the days after the hurricane for many, including Fay and Hunter.

The last time Fay saw Hunter he was frantically doggie paddling after the boat she was being abducted in. Fay started looking for Hunter immediately. Over a year later, Fay is still committed to finding him.

Fay's case has been adopted by the Stealth Volunteers and they are now helping to reunite Hunter and Fay. According to the volunteer on the case, some of the animal shelters, such as the St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter, have been helpful. Others have not been so forthcoming with information and in some cases have hindered her progress in her quest to find her best friend and service dog.

There is a possibility that Hunter has been located. Unfortunately, the shelter who adopted him out refuses to release the file on the dog in question until ordered to do so by a court of law. In correspondence to a Stealth Volunteer working on Hunter's case, the director of Marin Humane Society in Novato, Calif., Dianne Allevato, admits, “I met today with the guardian of the dog in question. Hunter may be the same dog that she adopted. It isn't clear.“ Yet, repeated requests to scan the animal in question for a matching microchip or releasing his file have been flatly denied. Hunter has been adopted out, and it appears that a legal action may be her only recourse.

What can be done?
First and foremost, you can e-mail Diane Allevato daily at DALLEVATO@marinhumanesociety.org concerning her refusal to see if the dog in question is Hunter. Secondly, if you know a California lawyer willing to help Fay obtain a court order - pro bono - have them contact me: KThomas@capcityfreepress.com

If you have information about Hunter email: huntersfriends@verizon.net

Hunters’ Description:
Microchip ID # 453C165E18
Hunter is a neutered male, long-nosed Pekinese mix, long body, short bowed front legs, front feet and elbows stick out, always smiling, 25 lbs. Hunter is black with brown paws. He has a curled fluffy tail. Hunter was last seen at 1979 Sugarmill in lower St. Bernard. For more information, please visit http://helpbringhunterhome.blogspot.com/. If you have any information on Hunter please call 504.418.3734 or St. Bernard Parish Animal Control 504.228.1093 or email

Most Interesting Animal Planet Hero Nominee

2006-09-28T20:39:00.000-05:00

You can see and vote all of the Animal Planet Hero Nominees by clicking the link below
Click Here for All Nominees

I thought this was the most unique and intersting person. Her house to house strategy might be something to consider on a state level with Animal Delegates for every neighborhood.

Meet Pam Porteous

Pam Porteous "adopted" the town of Pontiac, Mich., 15 years ago and developed the most innovative urban community outreach program in America, to ensure that every animal has a chance to live a healthy and happy life. Hers is a holistic and highly interactive approach to animal welfare; she personally visits any home with animals to ensure each family is taken care of so that the animal will be, too. She has conducted over 50,589 visits to homes in Pontiac to ensure animals are not being abused, neglected or fought; educate families; and distribute food, water, doghouses, straw and other supplies. She has rescued 9,331, sterilized 3,028 and vaccinated 12,039 animals for low/no cost. Pam knows most people in Pontiac, and most know her -- from drug dealers and prostitutes to pastors, children, the police department and city employees. Any and all call her whenever they or an animal needs help. The effect of her approach is profound. There are thousands of stories of lives she’s touched nationwide.

Common Sense Loses in PA

2006-09-13T21:03:00.000-05:00

Common Sense Loses in PA

(not surprising given the states attitude towards Puppymills and the thousands of them they allow)

Would you help this dog? I surveyed 11 children today and 100% of them said they would help the dog even if it meant going to kid jail. But what do kids know huh?

Yesterday Tammy Grimes was arrested for helping a dog so sick it could not even move. It was chained at its owners house. The story goes that the dog may have been that way for days or at least many hours. What would you do?

Please see www.dogsdeservebetter.com and click on the right side under "Grimes Arrested" for Updates and Phone Numbers of people to contact.

Doogie laying on the ground, neighbor crying in background:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN9t1rv4pj4

Doogie after vet at Grimes house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8wxGP1N7QQ

Who in their right mind would not help that dog? It is shameful that the owners have not been arrested.

The idea that Tammy is some out of control animal rescuer is proposperous. She runs an organization that I respect from top to bottom. I have always seen communications from her that respected people’s rights and the law.

Let’s see, every night the police pull over people they expect are drunk driving and let them go. The police make common sense calls about who to arrest and how to handle situations every night. In the case where someone chooses to help an innocent victim dog they decide to go for the throat and worse DO NOT ALSO ARREST THE OWNERS WHO HAVE NEGLECTED THE DOG.

In the Tammy Grimes case they have chosen to throw common sense out the window and are rewriting the truth as they always do when public pressure goes against them.

Why have the owners of this dog not been arrested? The two are not mutually exclusive.

A nice ending for Malvin, his friends, Bandit and Lisa Fox

2006-08-26T17:33:00.001-05:00

This is an update as of Sept 10th, 2006. Picture of Bandit back home with Malvin in New Orleans. Thanks for everyone who made this happen.

A few notes --I have recently lost all my emails whem my computer crashed...if you are reading this I want your email so shoot me an email at ericrice3@comcast.net (I had over 2000)

This is a good chance to tell stories of the hell the animal lovers of New Orleans and the Gulf experienced...please use the "comments" to do so.

A nice ending for Malvin, his friends, Bandit and Lisa Fox

Many people on all sides of this have behaved admirably in recent weeks allowing Bandit to go home to his desperate and deserving owner Malvin.

"I'm going to try to get my dog back and take my dog with me everywhere I go," he said. "Before this year's out, I'm going home to New Orleans, and I'll have Bandit with me.
--Malvin Cavalier, several months ago.

Malvin returned home recently and stated that he felt helpless all over again as everthing reminded him of Bandit. Bandits leash.

Bandit, my dogs and I in Annapolis

Well Malvin was correct. He is home in New Orleans and Bandit will soon be on his way home. I picked him up today. What a story it has been. This reunion may just epitomize all Katrina victims doing better in Year Two than they did in Year One – A New Start. Let’s make this a good year for all of them. People have no idea all that they have suffered. Most who have not been reunited with their animals want that more than they want anything else they lost.

Amazing One Year Anniversary
Almost one year to the day since Katrina separated them Bandit and Malvin will be reunited in New Orleans with the help of the friendly crew at United Airlines, who are kindly making room for Bandit in the cabin of the plane this Thursday.
Malvin is specially thankful that Bandit ended up with people like Lisa Fox who took such good care of him and who do understand how desperately he needs Bandit back in his life. He is thankful that Sandra and Cindy helped him when people in the early days simply shut him down. Their role has been misunderstood and it would take me far to long to explain it (one day I probably will). Just know they worked hard with hearts in the right place.

This kid is cute

A special apology to Lisa Fox and her husband for all they have wrongly suffered in this situation. Had they been told the absolute truth in October or Nov., Bandit would have been home within days, not at month twelve. Once they got the correct story they moved within days to return the dog. They placed the phone call to me that got the ball rolling and brought Bandit home.

I would like to state for the record that while of course he has asked for and received some assistance in his quest, Malvin has never waivered from his desire to get is dog back, he has never been coached, and since his and his family’s first requests on Oct. 13th he has 100% with his own mind and spirit been the driver of his own cause, never even hinting that he would give the dog up. Malvin is in the top 10% of us who have that special bond with our pets is deep. Period.

It would have been easier had he not wanted the dog back. That makes it a piece of cake for everyone and the dog stays where it is and everyone is happy. But he was one of the most devastated owners I met along the way. His entire life was consumed with finding his Bandit starting on his first days at the Superdome. Imagine his heavy heart in those six days in the Dome or during the long ride to Houston, when he was being taken farther and farther away from his Bandit. No, Malvin knew he had to find Bandit, and his son’s first emails to me and other groups were literally in desperation. Malvin has recetnly had a rough time returning home as he states "everthing reminds me of Bandit."

The final outcome was made possible by Lisa Fox and her husband Duane themselves when they contacted me to say that they wanted to give the dog back and that they wanted a fair and neutral party to get involved. I knew from the first call they were serious, nice, and honest. Over the course of a few days we gained each other’s trust and moved ahead very quickly. It was not hard. These are WONDERFUL people who finally had the opportunity to speak directly with Malvin. I have come to learn that they really never were told that Malvin wanted his dog back. It wasn’t until they started to read about it themselves that they started to realize what was going on and how sincere Malvin was.

The sometimes unfortunate public perception that they were refusing to return the dog couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Others forces at play complicated the matter and Lisa and her husband never really ever had the truth. When I told Sandra, who had spent the better part of the last year trying to help Malvin get his dog back, that Lisa wanted to talk to Malvin about giving Bandit back, she was ecstatic and deeply appreciative. She knew how much it meant to Malvin for this to happen and was beside herself that good things were finally happening and that Lisa finally had a chance to talk about this directly with Malvin. We always knew Malvin could make his case best himself.

The Foxes are owed an apology by quite a few people. We will see who does so. It will be a litmus test for the Fox’s to see who is genuinely apologetic and who on the other hand had their own agenda. Should you have any kind of note for the Fox's please send it to me at ericrice3@comcast.net and I will forward it along.

The Fox’s never intended to keep Bandit (who they named Lucky Louie), but were told some misinformation along they way that led them to believe that Malvin didn’t want the dog back. As it became clear to them that he did want his dog back, they quickly reached out to me and we put a deal together. The Fox’s are wonderful people who were put in a bad situation (as other fosters/adopters have been) and were told some inaccurate information. That they stepped forward totally on their own says a tremendous amount about them. It was rather simple actually. It took less than seven days from start to finish after they called me. Right now Bandit is laying on the couch with my dogs here in Annapolis.

Lisa and her husband love this dog. It was not a happy day today to know that through doing the right thing they are suffering from their loss. They did have to feel pain to help Malvin alleviate his but they did what they felt needed to be done. I think of it like this – Bandit has two families, and with a little appreciation by everyone involved, everyone who Bandit has touched will be a part of his life forever.

The Foxes’ return of Bandit near the one-year anniversary of Katrina is a symbol to me. A symbol that regular America has not forgotten the Gulf, that if dogs can go home people can also; That little things like a leash or a dog or a photo Album or seeing their neighbor of 20 years come back to town are more important to Katrina victims than their houses and cars. This week Malvin is made whole again although materially he has much to rebuild. His house was demolished. His possessions washed away. But that meant far less to him than a life without his Bandit. Thanks to Lisa and Duane for recognizing this as soon as they had the truth and ending his unhappiness over Bandit. They made it happen quickly.

What people have to understand is that it is very hard on the people who have adopted Katrina animals and who were not told until very late in the process that owners were possibly looking. They may only find out in the harshest possible way, through the announcement of a lawsuit, or unexpectedly seeing a picture of the dog they adopted in the local paper, with a very unhappy story attached, which they may only have heard about for the first time when reading it in the paper. It should never have to come to this. It’s extremely stressful on all the parties to go through this.

At least he now roots for the right team...a true Steeler fan.

Bandit and Malvin Pre Katrina

Please do something for the Gulf today!!!!! I have always said that every American should visit. You can’t understand the pain until you walk the streets or hear the stories from the people you meet. It does something to be their in person and actually see a row of houses all with a little holes chiseled in the roof to let the people free as the water rose around them (they had no chisels). Half the country is a two-hour plane ride away but few have actually been. Make this trip. (I think the President might even fly over again for the Anniversary)

The fact that this was eventually settled without having to go to court and in a positive way says a lot about Lisa Fox. Mr. Cavalier states that after speaking with Lisa, he is thankful that Bandit ended up with someone who deeply cared about the dog and he understands that these were unique times for all involved.

Let me promise you Bandit/ (Lucky Louie) is just as cute as in the pictures. I can understand why Malvin misses him and the Foxes love him.

Bandits Twin. We met this dog at the dog park this morning with his owner. In an amazing coincidence this man and his dog are from New Orleans and his house was destroyed by Katrina. A good time was had by all.

Mr. Cavalier, who says Bandit is the last remnant of the life he shared with his wife, who after 54 years of marriage, recently passed away. Malvin recently returned home to New Orleans. At this time he was still unsure if he would ever see his Bandit again. I learned today that he broke down as he entered his house that had been demolished and half of which simply was gone…as he found Bandit’s leash right where he left it…One of the few things that remained intact in the house. He was reliving the hell of Katrina all over again. But today he is cheerful and looking forward to spending a lot of time with his little buddy again. Thank you Lisa and Sandra and everyone everyone who helped bring them together again.

There may be many future updates right here, pictures of the reunion, video and information about other issues that may come out of this.

I have preached a lesson that if you get both sides talking in these Katrina pet stories, that they will be settled amicably. This proved it today as have many past cases I have worked on. I have never said that every dog need go home, in fact plenty of owners have made the decision not to take their dogs back...and that is just fine...but it is their decision.

Bandit was returned to me with the agreement of Mr. Cavalier and taken to my home in Annapolis, MD. United Airlines has been on standby offering to allow Bandit to ride in the cabin of the plane even though his size is just a bit bigger than usually allowed. The reunion is scheduled for this Thursday.

Trip to the dog park this morning

Coincidentally, this all comes at a time when volunteers like Sandra and Cindy who had been helping Mr. Cavalier with Bandit’s case had planned a trip to see him in New Orleans over Labor Day weekend, to help him with the repairing of his house and offer him some moral support. Malvin had told them that everything around the property reminded him of Bandit and he was missing his buddy even more than ever and they wanted to be with him. You simply can't understand the connection he has to Bandit.

Malvin is in the middle of rebuilding his house in New Orleans and donations can be given by contacting Eric Rice at ericrice3@comcast.net I am starting the fund off with $200. Funds will be used to insure that Malvin has all he needs for Bandit so that he can use his own money to rebuild his house. We already have donations of heartworm and a few other supplies. If you know of someone in New Orleans who would be a long term advocate/friend for Malvin and Bandit please let us know.

Please check back for Bandit reunion pictures and information about the resolution of another famous case.

A special note:

If you are an animal rescuer or group who wants to go into disasters, please remember there are rules and you are not allowed to be the judge of who gets their pet back. For good reason, as many of you have shown that you should not have that power. Rules were set up in Louisiana to insure that owners had a chance to reclaim pets. Most people and groups followed those rules as best they could. A minority of them took it upon themselves to judge others, when they could not ever know what those pet owners had experienced. The neglectful owners aren’t the ones searching for months and fighting to get their pets back. Groups who broke the rules only hurt the people who loved their pets dearly and the pets who loved them back. Pets and owners like these at http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/ Do these animals look abused? Most of these pets never were located by devestated owners, although many of them are known to have been “rescued”. The owners of anyone of them could have been found in 5 minutes on Petfinders lost reports. But no, these people still suffer because some took the pets with no intention of returning them. Very sad in my book when every dog you took that had an owner meant one more of your local dogs got put to sleep and you devestated good people.

United Animals Nations, Noah’s Wish, HSUS all use the model in disasters of “Rescue, Shelter and Reunite”. If you do not want to play that game -- Don’t come. It is that simple. You have caused great pain to countless people who love their animals just as much as you do. If you can’t recognize peoples’ connections to their pets and think that rehoming every animal you rescue is ethical or moral, then – DON’T COME. And guess what, you don’t even need to worry about an abused dog going back to its home…those people simply don’t look for their dogs. The only people you have hurt are those with deep connections with their animals and the new adopters who are hurt when you tell them things like “this dog has no owner, or it was owner surrendered” and then the owner comes forward. Everyone loses: dog, dogs owner, new adopter and your local pets that need homes. Please review your actions in New Orleans. Over 2000 parents were separated from their children (i mean real children not pets and nobody tried to take those children from their parents. It was an amazingly complicated and horrific situation. To blame pet owners for the hell that transpired was wrong. To keep their pets was wrong. Can you even imagine never knowing what happened to your precious pet....I just don't understand some of you....

more in "comments" --- Gotta run as Bandit, Brooke, Bradley, Buster and I are going for a boat ride...

Award Winning Picture

2006-08-15T08:35:00.000-05:00

I will let this picture speak for itself. It is just a great shot.

But more could be said about this picture. Guess which one I am talking about boy or dog:

1. Brain not fully humanized. Can't think critically or reason like an adult human.
2. However has all the parts of the brain that allows it to feel pain, depression, anxiety, happiness, sadness, and hunger just to name a few. FEELS ALL THOSE THINGS JUST AS DEEPLY AS AN ADULT HUMAN.
3. Can't verbally express itself.
4. Relies on adult humans for its needs and welfare.

Am I referring to boy or dog? Your comments appreciated and I will finish my thoughts in 7 days.

Breaking New Videos -- EDNAH they way it should have been

2006-08-03T08:49:00.000-05:00

Anyone remember the email the EDNAH hoarding lady sent around about how the dogs lived on a virtually oasis where the they came and went from cabins she has built for them and could go swimming in the lake anytime they wish? What BS that was. I fell for it. But only because I knew a place like that existed. Where? On my farm. I didn't want to talk about it till I had some video to back it up (and no we are are not accepting any more doggies. We are full)

This is the farm http://www.pineacrestreefarm.com/
My father's 100 acre Christmas Tree farm in Western, MD.

Tucked away against the mountain is a farmhouse with a big front porch and a wrap around porch. 18 dogs call it home. They come and go as they please but they never go far. They go swimming any time they want in two ponds. Most of the time you can find them laying on the porch which is where most of them sleep both day and night, although they can sleep inside if they want..some do and some don't. When my father goes out to work each morning they all follow him out on the farm...but one by one they get hot and tired and head back to the porch. They are allowed inside but they choose to spend most of the time outside. Several of them are bad when guests come with other dogs so that is the only time they get hooked to a dog house for a few hours but the leash is long and they have a big pine tree to crawl under for shade...You will see Bear tied up. He was rescued from 4 years of being tied up and never loose. He gets a little mean with dogs he doesn't know so a few hours on the box isn't going to hurt him.

Video One (Quicktime, 4MB) Snapshot of the dogs and farmhouse.

Video Two (Quicktime, 21MB) All the dogs going for a walk.

The cast: Bradley, Brooke, Sharkey, Roddie, Bear, Luna, Cole, Mr. Akita, Buddy, Barkley, Zoe, Tic, Toc, Jace, and others ....

Extra
As an extra here is one of the funniest things I have ever heard of. Exactly what you would expect out a dog put in a room with 100's of teddy bears. What were they thinking.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1835785,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=11

Also, while you are here please watch the Video to the right titled "Chained Dogs" and go get one off a chain this month. Usually money does the trick.

And here are some of the farm dogs in nice picture...

Two New Must-See Videos

2006-07-20T18:48:00.000-05:00

Please make sure Mrs. Bondi and all the others holding dogs from owners get this video. No bad owners are still fighting after 10 months. I get more pissed everyday . Where is the "put-yourself-in the-other's-shoes" mentality that should have resulted from Katrina? Didn't these people happen to notice that it was just as devastating as if someone had nuked the place?

This video is hard to watch. This is raw footage from Dana who many of us tried to help find her dog for months and months. In the opening you can see her dog for a second. Then Dana worries about her beloved pet pig BARELY as the water comes up. (Barley was later found drowned) Later you will be almost amazed at how fast and how far the water comes up leaving the family in the attic. After a blue pause be sure to watch as the family goes back to the house. Many of us know that Dana did everything she could to get the dog out with her but it came down to an almost impossible situation for the family. This story was played out for thousands of residents whose dogs could not evacuate with them. The Coutures for instance stayed with Master Tank and Nila for 5 days after the levees broke and then put them safely in the attic where they were just fine and came back to get them as quick as possible.

PLEASE WATCH THIS Mrs Bondi and hope you never have to go through such a terrible event, do everything you could to save your dogs and then have them shipped off by people who accused you of abandoning your dogs when that is the exact opposite of what you did. You must be one tormented chick to keep that dog. You are not 1/3 the person these people are. I despise you for your arrogant attitude. What are your lifes hardships that compare to the devastation these people have experienced?, and you would hold this dog from them! Go help the Coutures rebuild their house and lives and quite promoting yourself on TV.

Here is Dana's story in her own words (from a previous post).

Her Video is Here:
Dana's Rising Floodwaters in Saint Bernard's Parish (Quicktime, 50MB, 10:49)
This is a huge movie file. For best results, right click and save to your desktop (instead of attempting to view it directly in the browser window.)

The second video recounts the animals still being searched for:
Somewhere Out There (WMV, 8MB, 10:49)

Shame on those who have fought these Katrina animal lovers. Do you not understand the relationship between animals and the people who love them.

Here is another one that is just as disturbing. This man is one of the nicest men you would ever hope to meet. This is from www.bestfriend.org

Elderly Katrina victim fights to be reunited with his closest companion.
July 1, 2006 : 12:00 AM
Malvin Cavalier has filed suit in Pennsylvania for the return of his beloved poodle, Bandit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo: Malvin Cavalier and his grandson pose with Bandit during happier times.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the past few years, 86-year-old Malvin Cavalier has lost his wife, his home, and the community where he has spent a lifetime.

Now, his dearest wish is to see his dog, Bandit, again.
THIS POST IS CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. SEE SECOND COMMENT FOR REST OF STORY.

Sick of Bondi BS...

2006-07-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

Sick of Bondi BS and the local Florida press. Anyone else?
I will take my chances with the real owners of the dogs even though they have limited resources to take on someone as connected as these people. Anyone that has ever had to fight for what is right in the face of total beuracracy should be rooting for this dog to go home.

Read a detailed article about this.

Pam Bondi fell in love with a dog. That is a fact. The problem is she fell in love with someone elses dog and now her only defense is to claim that the owners were neglectful owners, as we have heard in almost 100% of these Katrina situations. The dogs Nila and Master Tank were loved and cared for by a family and two young children in New Orleans. The dog was NEVER abondoned by the owners, The Coutures. Bad owners do not spend money and months of their lives trying to get their dogs back when they have lost everything and have a life to rebuild. They did everything they were susposed to do in a state of emergency and took the pets to a shelter for safe keeping, no different than if you or I took our dogs to the local kennel while we went away for the weekend.

Notice: It says "OWNED" and not "please take me to Florida, use me for PR, don't call my owners, don't put me on petfinder.com, lie to my owners when they call the shelter, seperate me from my lifelong companion Nila, and adopt me out as soon as possible." THIS DOG WAS OWNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yet, anyone who went to New Orleans knows all to well the attitude of many shelters and rescuers who were blaming the victims for the tragic loss of their pets and then virtually taking them them never with any intention of finding any owners. Get me in court and I will tell what I saw with my own eyes. Not to mention that within weeks of me being back I was getting calls about dogs whose tags were removed at shelters, owners who were blatantly lied to by the shelters about the dog even being at the shelter. (I have never met a bad owner that chased a dog all the way to Florida for 10 months, stood up to deception, and other things that are being said all the descredit good people so they can't get a family member back.) This is exactly what happened here. Having been through it on dozens of other cases. Had this been a dog from anywhere other than New Orleans with PAPERWORK that clearly said OWNED all over it these dogs owners would have been found and the dog never rushed into an adoption. The shelter may have not even made a single phone call to try to find the owners or inquire of St. Bernard reps. Shelters are not for stealing dogs from helpless victims, they are for sheltering unwanted dogs and finding them homes.
Let me promise you anyone who called Pinellas about any dogs can tell you how they treated anyone trying to get a dog back for an owner -- horrible, dispicable, rude, and mean spirited. As if it was not their job to take calls from helpless and desperate people looking for their animal family members after the worst natural disaster in the history of the USA>

That goes for Tri-County, Peggy Adams, and other Florida shelters...they were some of the worst in the country with their attitudes.

Now the Coutures face an onslaught of well thought out propoganda and deception by Bondi who has the upper hand in this game (because of her status as a Lawyer Celebrity for CNN and others) in the campaign to paint them as abusive pet owners. Shame, shame, Shame. If these were my dogs I'd die trying to get them back and that is what owners do when they love their pets. But barely a hand of compassion has been handed to the Coutures from anyone in the entire state. You should be ashamed of your lack of understanding pf what Katrina victims went through to survive. I was their with them were any of you? Certainly Mrs. Bondi wasn't with these people in either body or spirit and that is typical of what Katrina survivors are going through whether it be over dog, or insurance or anything else. Pam Bondi recently quoted as saying she deserves the dogs both legally and ethically. Bullshit! These dogs were not simply Florida strays where an owner had to simply drive two miles to the local shelter to find them. They were virtaully picked off by overzealous shelters and by people who knew they had an owner and felt that "a better life exists" with the likes that live in Florida. Well Bondi and Pinellas are showing that Florida lacks compassion at all levels. The Florida press seems prepared not to ask hard questions of either Bondi or Pinellas, recently writing a story glorifying Mrs. Bondi. Where is the story detailing the day to day struggles of the Coutures from the day they ended up in their attic for many nights, 6 miles from dry land to their search for their beloved pets. Her behavior is nothing short of dispicable. At least the holders of the other dog Nila keep quite unlike Bondi who runs her trap constantly insinuating that the dogs were not cared for. The Coutures for all they have been through have yet to raise their voices or cast a stone at anyone, the worst they have done is travel to Florida to hold a press conference to beg for their dogs back. Much like The Gulf is having to beg for help at all levels to rebuild.

These dogs look abused or neglected to you? Nila in foreground and Master Tank in rear, lifelong companions until now. Has Bondi even thought or had time to have a playdate with Nila? I bet not with her busy lifestyle...Yet the dogs live just miles apart.

Look at this dog. Bondi has her best CNN face on but does this dog really look happy? Mrs. Bondi must work long hours as an attorney. In New Orleans this dog had Nila his daily companion, 2 kids that played with him daily, a swimming pool, constant love and attention. You telling me being locked in Kim Bondi's house 12 hours a day and getting walked by some "pet walker" in the middle of the day is a life this dog wants? Like the people of New Orleans this dog wants his former life back. He doesn't even know what hit him just that his world was turned upside down, he lost his best friend, Nila (the second dog, his family and now he is posing for pictures and told to "put on a happy face" He ain't happy.
Look at his eyes.

Why is it that arrogance always comes with success? Why is it that people take the side of a well known Attorney like Bondi vs. people who have lost everything and love their dogs and did the right thing for them during Katrina in a overwhelming situation? We have seen good people all over the country return adopted pets when owners came forward. Did Bondi not watch the news the week of Katrina and see what these people have been through? This is no different than if I took my dogs to the kennel while I went away for the weekend and came back to a dog that had been shipped out to FLORIDA. Would anyone argue that I couldn't get my dogs back?

What if the storm had been in Florida and it was Florida residents who had their dogs moved to shelters all over the country without an inkling of care about finding owners. Bondi and clan would be fighting just as hard to prosecute these people and get Florida dogs back. Falling in love with a dog doesn't mean you have to twist and spin the truth to keep it Mrs. Bondi. This could have had a good outcome. You could have helped this family get back on it feet. You could have shared in the dogs life. Now you are going to go to court and wake up one day without the dog. PERIOD. Your pain could have been managed.

I want you to shut your eyes and think about the feeling the Coutures family had in the pit of their stomach the day they went back to the St. Bernard shelter where the dogs were taken by them for safe keeping to be told..."nope no longer here." ..then the frantic months of searching wondering if you would ever see your babies again....(bad pets owners don't search) Anyone who loves their pets should have a hole in their stomachs like the Coutures do.
Here are the facts:

a) The two 2 dogs were bonded – Couldn’t the case be made that two dogs that grow up together become closely bonded? That keeping these two dogs apart could cause long term depression and is itself a form of abuse to these dogs? Look at that dogs eyes. Look hard. They belong together. Make it happen Kim. Florida animal lovers should understand this and stop taking up for Mrs. Lawyer Barbie.

b) The pics of the dogs before Katrina show happy and healthy dogs with great weight, sparkle in their eyes, shiny/healthy coats and loving family. Bondi can make these folks out to be whatever she wants but it is a pack of lies. She has dogs that belong to someone and are loved by rightful owners. Sure she loves the dog but how much do you think the Coutures love them? They were part of the family for 4 years.
Bondi an Pinellas knew that the owners were looking within weeks of the adoption.

c) Legal adoption? Give me a break, these dogs should have not have ever been taken from the St. Bernard shelter, they were turned in for "safe keeping" and the paperwork clearly said 'OWNED" all over it with the Coutures names plainly written. Even St. Bernard animal control stands by that and by the Coutures. This is not normal animal control function for the Pinellas shelter. These dogs were actively taken from LA. It isn’t like they wondered in off the streets of Pinellas County and the owners were near the shelter so knew were to look during the “normal holding” time. No legal holding time could be binding. The owners didn't even know where to look. This is no different than if I took my dogs to the kennel while I went away for the weekend and came back on Monday to find them gone.

d) Pics at Camp lucky show healthy dogs not the dogs on deaths door (with a big sign on the dogs that says "OWNED"). But who the hell cares. You basically have to almost kill your dog in this country for a judge to take it, so this defense of keeping the dogs is just plain stupid. BTW- all the pics of the dogs before Katrina show healthy happy dog.

e) The dogs had heartworm. So what. This is the one they seem to be hinging the right to keep the dogs on. Having heartworm is something that happens to even good dog owners in LA and the dogs were being treated and that is exactly what you do to a sick dog, get it treated. You ever hear of a vet turning a person into the police for a dog having heartworm? Lets remember hear this family lost the parents of these grandchildren and I am sure during that troubling time these dogs might have missed a heartworm pill or two. Funny, I forgot to give my dogs the pill last month and nobody is here trying to take my dogs.

Bad owners do not spend money and months of their lives trying to get their dogs back when they have lost everything and have a life to rebuild.

The Coutures are virtual heros as many other would just say "we can't worry about the dogs in the face of losing everything" But no they fight on when I am sure they have better things to do than to BEG Pam Bondi to return part of their family.

Shame, shame, shame on Florida and Pam Bondi. Can they ever get a fair hearing? Everyone else in Florida seems willing to screw them so why not the judge who must know Pam Bondi as she is a well know prosecutor.

Pam..it is not too late. Instead of bashing these people, get to know them like we have...let them have the dog and be part of its life as I am sure you will not find nicer people than the Coutures. Not once has the man raised his voice. Not once has he threatened you. Not once has he embarrassed you in the press as you have him.

You will not continue to take advantage of those with less resources than yourself because people will not have it. When people know the truth they quickly change their attitude about the Coutures.

Anyone that owns a pet should be scared silly at this situation...anyone can take your pet (remember these dogs were not rescued, left behind or anything else) and then claim it is theirs.

Pam you are about to know how the Coutures felt that day they walked back into that shelter to be told "Your dogs that you got through Katrina alive by staying with them for days in the attic ARE GONE." Not a good feeling. I don't wish it on anyone not even you but you put yourself into this all or nothing position. Who knows had you sat down with the owners anything could have happened. As it stands you are going to lose unless Florida has no true justice.

Please see how it should go:
http://cbs3.com/video/?id=28242@kyw.dayport.com

Think Shelters didn't understand that Katrina dogs didn't mean big donations? Simply
google "Katrina Animal Rescue" and up pops Browards advertisment.

Eric 's Dog Blog presents The Great West Virginia Dog Expo of 2006

2006-06-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

SEE WV UPDATE BELOW!!!!

My Favorite Stuff On This Blog:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best rescue video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. This is the coolest dog ever Click for The Coolest Dog Ever.
5. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
6. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
7. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
8. The Video in the Links to right called "Shelters Dog Video" is very good.

UPDATE 6/26/06: FIRST TRANSPORT GETS 24 DOGS TO RESCUES NORTH. 74 MORE STILL NEED WAITING FOR HELP.
(IF YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS CASE PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO READ MORE)

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

2 Urgent Hoarding Situations in Rural West Virginia
+ Mason County Shelter at over 200 dogs and now outside
after shelter burnt down
6/16/06
Updates at
www.ericsdogblog.com
www.vvsahs.org
http://wellminded.com/rescue/rescue.html

Your chance to support “Wild, Wonderful West Virginia”
and 3 URGENT CASES TOTALING 350 DOGS AND 100 CATS.
Pics below and attached.

Please donate via Pay Pal at donate@vvsahs.org

Or by credit card using pay pal at www.vvsahs.org Click “Donate”

************************

By Check made to: VVSA: Write: “West Virginia” on your check.

VVSA, PO Box 100, Bridgewater, VT 05034. VVSA is an incorporated humane society with 501 ©(3) status for your tax purposes.

Please email Sue the amount that is being sent so she can plan transports.
Primary Contact: Sue Skaskiw, 802-672-5302, cell: 802-952-8181.
Skaskiw@vermontel.net (prefers email)
VT Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society
www.vvsahs.org

THERE ARE 3 SERIOUS ALERTS IN WEST VIRGINIA RIGHT NOW AND FUNDS AND RESOURCES WILL FIRST BE USED ON ALERT #1 BELOW. ANY LEFTOVER FUNDS AND RESOURCES WILL GO TO HELP THESE OTHER ALERTS WHICH CAN BE FOUND BELOW, OVER 350 DOGS TOTAL IN THESE CASES. First alert is the one we were first informed of a 100 dog/40 cat hoarding case in Roane County that is the first one being handled. Then the Mason County Shelter that was destroyed by fire now has over 200 dogs at the local fairgrounds and just 3 part time volunteers. A third hoarding case in Hampshire County, WV has 40 dogs
plus cats. (all described below) That is 350 dogs that are in situations outside “normal” animal welfare issues and a state in crisis. We will start with this first case in Roane County and then see if anything can be done with the others as resources line up for the first hoarding case which is being worked on. Maybe if enough people “act” we can share resources etc and save many more of these dogs and cats. THIS IS NOT A STATE WITH LOTS OF RESCUES AND RESOURCES; HELP IS NEEDED IN THE FORM OF DONATIONS, TRANSPORTS AND RECEIVING SHELTERS AND RESCUES.

Alert # 1: Urgent Hoarding Situation in Rural West Virginia

Approximately 95 dogs and 40 cats
County with few resources for handling a case this size.
(Please be sure to see the all the way below pictures
to see how urgent this hoarding case is)

Roane County, WV
Put together by Eric Rice: ericrice3@comcast.net
Updates at www.ericsdogblog.com

http://wellminded.com/rescue/rescue.html

Primary Contact: Sue Skaskiw, 802-672-5302, cell: 802-952-8181.
Skaskiw@vermontel.net (prefers email)
VT Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society
www.vvsahs.org

1/3 of the dogs are in this barn, tethered.

A rescuer in West Virginia has gotten in over her head and local authorities have
had to step in. She is cooperating and wants the dogs to good no kill facilities
who will be kind enough to update her on the dogs as they are adopted. This is a hard thing for her to do as she loves each of these dog and feeds the dogs before herself. However, she knows things have gotten to a point that she needs help.
She is scared to death that any of her dogs will have to be put down and
we have told her that we won’t let her down for her cooperation.
She spends every dime of her money on them and feeds them before herself.

Approximately 95 dogs and 40 cats. Most dogs have been tethered for some time and others are in a very, very dirty barn. The farm is not sanitary with rats and
snakes in the high grass. THEY NEED TO GET MOVED TO RESCUES NOW and the cost of transport is becoming a huge problem.

Sheriff and Local Animal Control are very cooperative and seeking YOUR help.
This is a rural location with high euthanasia rates as it is, so they need help moving these dogs. They need to know that support is on the way and that light
is at the end of the tunnel. The goal is not to euthanize any of these animals,
nor the ones currently being held in their town facility but we all know how things can spin out of control with this many animals to care for an deal with…

Sue Skaskiw and others from Vermont are familiar with the rescuer as she used to
live in Vermont. They are trying to coordinate efforts to help this situation. However, TRANSPORT is becoming a big issue and it is going to cost money. We are also trying to get spay and neuter done locally at a good cost. Everyone knows
what it costs to try to deal with 100 dogs and 40 cats and we need help.

Please note that one of the biggest problems is funding for relocation. At least $10,000+ needs raised to get these animals to receiving shelters in Colorado, Vermont, Maine and others. (Or transport donated) and get vetting done.

DONATIONS URGENT FOR TRANSPORTS AND VET CARE

Please donate via Pay Pal at donate@vvsahs.org
Or by credit card using pay pal at www.vvsahs.org Click “Donate”
************************

By Check made to: VVSA: Write: “West Virginia” on your check.
VVSA, PO Box 100, Bridgewater, VT 05034. VVSA is an incorporated humane society with 501 ©(3) status for your tax purposes.

Please email Sue the amount that is being sent so she can plan transports.

SHELTERS, FOSTERS, RESCUES, TRANSPORT WALKERS ARE STILL DESPERATLY NEEDED FOR ALL 3 SITUATIONS IN WV.

Can your group help walk dogs (transport walkers) on stops on the way to the North East or Colorado? Can you receive animals? Pick up and transport animals? Meet a larger transport vehicle and deliver a smaller number of animals from that transport to another NO KILL shelter or rescue? The animals will be coming up to the North East, Colorado, and New Jersey.

Sue Skaskiw, 802-672-5302, cell: 802-952-8181.
Skaskiw@vermontel.net (prefers email)
VT Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society

See Pictures Below (this is but a few of the near 100 dogs plus cats)
“This is Helen’s Pole Barn. This is the building she was wanting to move into. I think she has a hand pump in this building and this is where she gets her water.
The sadness in these dogs eyes wanted to make you cry.” Sandy Bush – Roane County Animal Shelter Director

SEE THE SECOND AND 3RD ALERTS FOR WEST VIRGINIA IN THE COMMENTS. 2 MORE DESPERATE SITUATIONS. PLEASE CLICK COMMENTS.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP, ERIC

A special rescuer

2006-06-07T10:15:00.001-05:00

Shannon Hartwick Moore

MOORE Shannon Hartwick Moore, passionate advocate for animals and active volunteer for many humane organizations in the New Orleans area, died May 31. A lifelong resident of New Orleans and Metairie, Shannon was 36. She was a magna cum laude graduate of Loyola University and, at the time of her death, was a partner with Fitzmaurice & Moore Associates CPAs. Shannon's volunteer work for animals leaves an imprint that survives her. On behalf of the animals she loved, Shannon formed (SOS) Supporters of Save Our Pets. She was instrumental in rallying grassroots support and awareness for the Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill so that pet owners would never again be forced to abandon their pets in the event of a disaster. She was a driving force behind the People & Pets March to the State Capitol steps this spring, part of a coordinated non-stop push for passage of the bill. Although her possessions had been damaged by Katrina, Shannon's response was to focus on saving the lives of hundreds of the thousands of hurricane stranded animals. ***Continued in the first comment***

LA state vet continues to show they are in the dark.

2006-06-04T12:05:00.000-05:00

These are probably some of the dumbest comments in the history of animal welfare. I have made bold the ridiculous ones for your enjoyment.

Silly comments from the below article:
1. "State vet not in business of helping evacuate animals" -- Eric Comment, "Seems like they should be. I know I would be looking for a way to get involved if I were a state vet"
2. "Keep shelters secret" -- Eric comment - this is one of the most bizarre statements I have ever heard.
3. "Animals removed if owners don't take care of them" -- Eric Comments -- Lets see people's houses destroyed and families spread all over the place (maybe dead) after a disaster and you don't want to help them with animals. Confusion and stress for them and you are going to do what? turn the animals out into the streets? How about inviting people like me to man the shelters and take care of the animals. How about caring about your citizens. Of course it is a good idea to have those that can take care of their animals.
4. “will never again allow out-of-state vets to come in” - lets see they only helped save 10,000-20,000 animals but I doubt the state vet stopped by Lamar Dixon to notice what went on. Maybe I should send some video of the hundreds of animals being worked on at one time.
5. "Credentials Required" - I am fine with that but they seem to blame us for them not being at all prepared for this. Had Mrs. Poirrier been prepared I would not have been needed. They seem willing to sacrifice the lives of animals to prove a point. Lets us no forget that many thousands of animals that would have died behind closed doors were saved.
6. Final Comment - They are all focusing on the "rescuer." In the typical disaster they only need a few dozen or a few hundred in the field rescuers. However, what will save more animals is shelters and help for people to get to the shelters. In every disaster and every potential disaster/evacuation in process they need thousands of volunteers to man shelters, direct traffic, hand out flyers letting people know shelters are available. They need this days BEFORE the disaster. They need people to take care of the animals of thousands of people and an intake system that is fool proof and security guards who have been vetted BEFORE the storm. They are focusing on one small part of this. This is what none of them especially Poitter gets. I'd be begging people to come down to LA to take a 1-2 day course called "Evacuating and Sheltering LA animals in Disaster" 100's of volunteers could be on call by week. If the hurricane is headed that week you are asked to respond even if it doesn't hit.
7. Final Final Comment - They don't pass the Trump test. Love him or hate him the Donald would pull together a team that got this right. These people don't live up. They wouldn't make it in my world. None of them. Not one of them has stood up for common sense, its all about "saving face" not doing the right thing. 100% Period. They have been outed. I saw the incompetence and lack of will with my own eyes.
How do I apply?

The below article reprinted from the Best Friends website. Please visit www.bestfriends.org and donate to one of the best organizations in the country.

LOUISIANA STATE VET'S OFFICE ANNOUNCES PLANS THAT WILL HOBBLE ANIMAL RESCUE EFFORTS DURING A DISASTER
May 4, 2006 : 12:00 AM
© by Laura Allen, All rights reserved

The Louisiana State Veterinarian’s Office announced Saturday that it is not in the business of evacuating animals during an emergency. Dr. Renee Poirrier stated it is each individual’s responsibility to evacuate their pets in an emergency. The state vet’s office plans to have a few temporary shelters, but their location will be kept secret from the public until a disaster hits. It is not clear how people will find these shelters in an emergency. Also, the state vet’s office will require pet owners to take care of their pets in the temporary animal shelter. It is not clear how this will work if people are forced to evacuate or where the pet owners will stay during this time. Dr. Poirrier warned animals would be “removed” if a pet owner did not come and take care of the pet for two consecutive days. In other words, in Louisiana, as far as the state vet’s office is concerned, you are on your own in trying to save your animals during a disaster.

This announcement came during a meeting at the Hotel Crown Plaza in the New Orleans French Quarter of several rescue groups including Best Friends Animal Society, Southern Animal Foundation, St. Francis Animal Sanctuary, and Muttshack as well as officials from the American Red Cross and the City of New Orleans. The state vet’s office used the meeting as a forum that seemed to discourage help from private animal rescue groups and particularly, out-of-state veterinarians during a crisis. Dr. Poirrier stated unequivocally the state vet’s office which is actually headed by Martha Littlefield “will never again allow out-of-state vets to come in” and help save animals stranded and dying as a result of a disaster. She made clear all veterinarians working in Louisiana during a crisis must have proper credentials from this state. She did not even offer a relaxed licensing plan for vets to help during an emergency. Russ Mead, Best Friends Animals Society’s attorney and representative at the meeting, told Dr. Poirrier he could have offered $10,000 per week for a vet after Katrina but there simply were none to be found in the area to help with the Best Friends Animal Society’s rescue effort. She had no response to Mr. Mead’s comment.

Dr. Poirrier also announced private animal rescue groups will not be allowed in the state during an emergency unless they have proper “credentials”. The state vet’s office will also, according to Dr. Poirrier, require daily reports from any private shelter or rescue group operating in the state during a disaster.

When Mr. Mead asked her about the criteria for obtaining credentials, Dr. Poirrier said they have not worked that out yet. (The credentialing required is likely FEMA courses such as ISCS 100, ISCS 200, NIMS 700 and NIMS 800). She then turned on Best Friends Animal Society, questioning whether that organization had any experience in emergency response and sheltering. Her criticism provoked an outcry from the other rescue groups present. They actually applauded Best Friends and told Dr. Poirrier they could not have saved the animals they did without the help of Best Friends.....SEE CONTINUED....

CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS SECTIONS OF THE BLOG
Final comment from Eric - "these people have lost it. they should get some people in from Florida who know how to do this stuff and stop trying to act like they have any experience"

What They Faced

2006-05-26T09:56:00.000-05:00

For anyone who has withheld the return of a Katrina dog you need to understand the amazingly difficult "life and death" situation that people faced, just take a peek at the below picture and hope YOU are never faced with the same desperation. Many did DIE trying to save their animals (see below in the blog for those stories, many others were forced to leave them by authorities, many were told by authorities they would be held, many came to a crisis after many days with no rescue of rescuing themselves, their children and the elderly. In many cases they locked the animals in top rooms with lots of food and water. Later well intentioned rescuers came along and save the animals....However, the system for reuniting those animals was very poor.

Anyway- Here is what those BAD animal owners you like to call them faced --

This is an actual photo of the storm surge.

Knuckles Should Not Die Because Of Stereotyping

2006-04-24T18:47:00.000-05:00

I like this dog. He looks harmless. He didn't bite anyone. No dog should die because he got out of a yard. Maybe we can help stop this?

See "The Save Knuckles Website": Click here to see why Knuckles Might Die

SEND KNUCKLES A TREAT OR TOY

Mail or Fedex gifts (treats or toys) to the Suisun City Mayor, Jim Sperling, marked:

Doggie Treats (or Toys) for Knuckles

Gifts will have an even greater impact if they're accompanied by hand-written letters from children asking the Mayor to "let Knuckles live."

Now, dog lovers, it's up to you to work your magic! Send treats or toys marked for Knuckles to:

Jim Sperling, Mayor
City of Suisun City
701 Civic Center Blvd.
Suisun City, CA 94585
Tel: (707) 421-7300

Remember this dog did nothing but be born a Nice Lovable Pitbull.

My Favorite Stuff On This Blog:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best rescue video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. This is the coolest dog ever Click for The Coolest Dog Ever.
5. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
6. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
7. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
8. The Video in the Links to right called "Shelters Dog Video" is very good.

Why?

2006-04-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

My name is John. I am a former resident of the now devastated
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana and I am here to ask you to pass the Pet
Evacuation Bill so that when there is another disaster, our pets can
travel safely with us to designated shelters and not be left behind to
perish because of lack of proper emergency planning.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed Southeast Louisiana
turning St. Bernard Parish into a waterlogged marshland. A very large
percentage of our residents did not evacuate to shelters outside the
parish because we did not want to leave our pets behind and we were
told we could not evacuate with them.

To give you a brief background of my medical situation at the time, I
had just been released from the hospital and couldn't drive because of
my medical condition. The other occupant of my home, my elderly
father, is no longer licensed to drive. I had been disabled for three
months and was without the income to even fill my vehicle with
gasoline, let alone charter a vehicle to transport my family and pets.
Obviously, public transportation was not a pet-friendly option. Later
I came to find that although some generous gas companies were offering
free fuel, this was not widely known nor broadcast through the media.
This was simply not a known alternative that I was aware of. It seems
that this was yet another flaw of the emergency broadcast system.

My 2 and 1/2 year old black lab, Angel Girl, was a hero who saved the
lives of myself and my family. If she had not woken me from my sleep,
my family would've drowned. The water was over the roof when she led
us out the door.

After the levee breach, my father, sister and my nephew's girlfriend
were rescued from the roof of our home in Violet, LA by boat thanks to
brave St. Bernard residents who took us to the school evacuation
shelter at St. Bernard High School. My brother-in-law and nephew
stayed behind with four dogs and eight birds.

That Tuesday night, my brother-in-law, Gene, and his son, Robert
Christopher, along with our family's four dogs: Angel Girl, Bullet,
Daisy, and Honey were transported by boat to PGT Beauregard Middle
School. Gene saw other dogs and cats at that school and thought that
was where all the pets were being safely kept until the water went
down. The next day, Wednesday, St. Bernard Sheriffs Office Deputies
ordered everyone to leave the school. We were forbidden from taking
our pets with us. When we asked about our pets, a St. Bernard Sheriffs
Office Deputy assured us "your pets will be rescued." To ensure their
safety, I wrote a note on the wall of the school pleading for Angel's
safekeeping. I wrote "she is a good girl." Others wrote similar
messages, indicating our home addresses and contact information in the
hope that the Deputy's word would be kept and our pets would be
transported to animal rescue authorities.

One week after Hurricane Rita, my sister, Carol, her family, and I
were in a hotel after evacuating again due to Hurricane Rita. I
received a phone call from a dear friend that was searching for Angel
advising me to watch the CNN broadcast news that evening at 10:00 pm.
We turned on the TV and witnessed Anderson Cooper break the story
entitled "Dog Killings at Three St. Bernard Parish Schools." The first
room the camera crew entered and filmed was room 203 at PGT Beauregard
Middle School. What we observed was beyond devastating. They camera
followed as rescue teams opened the door, showing the first dog, my
sister's husky mix, Bullet. Bullet had not been rescued as promised.
Bullet was dead. In the next room, the camera showed my Angel Girl and
Honey, also shot to death.

PLEASE SEE THE STORY CONTINUED IN THE FIRST COMMENT. JUST CLICK COMMENTS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST.

What is wrong with people.

2006-04-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

Animal Disaster -- Australia: Cyclone LarryI hope you will consider donating to these Australian shelters who are trying to cope with the recent cyclone. I have spoken with them for hours and they get little support. Even a small donation by check or Pay Pal is appreciated by them. We are covering the Cyclone at our new website AnimalDisasterNews.com Click here

My Own Favorite Stuff On this Blog:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best rescue video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. This is the coolest dog ever Click for The Coolest Dog Ever.
5. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
6. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
7. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
8. The Video in the Links to right called "Shelters Dog Video" is very good.

***********************************************************************************
Edited and Reprinted from an email I received, Eric

BOO BOO - Died Saturday April 8, 10: 30 AM.
May you rest in peace my sweet pity-pit.

Boo Boos Blog --
Click for
Boo Boos Blog.

Last Wednesday an email was circulated from a rescue advocate about Boo Boo: "Boo Boo is a sweet 5 month old in ISO where the public can not see him - he is in great danger. He was admitted on March 29 with extensive trauma from a car accident. He was brought in for emergency veterinarian treatment and is on antibiotics, and other medications. He is available for adoption since April 2 and will require further treatment by his new family."

I contacted my friends in the animal rescue community. A friend of mine was to pick up Boo Boo at the shelter today (Saturday), and drive him to San Diego where he would get emergency treatment. When I called the shelter this morning, I spoke with a man who could barely assemble a sentence, let alone conceptualize the concept of compassion. I asked to speak with the woman in the background who seemed to be answering the questions. She was apathetic and unfeeling. She wouldn't release the dog to me unless I had the 501c, was there with it, and wouldn't take a credit card or my check unless I was there. "It's just policy" she said.

THIS POST CONTINUED IN THE FIRST "COMMENT"

Boo Boo

This Picture Worth a Thousand Words

2006-03-28T19:39:00.000-06:00

This Picture Says Enough. This is New Orleans Yet 6.5 Months after Katrina. The picture was taken several days ago and sent out by www.animalrescueneworleans.com

My Own Favorite Stuff On this Blog:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best rescue video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. This is the coolest dog ever Click for The Coolest Dog Ever.
5. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
6. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
7. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
8. The Video in the Links to right called "Shelters Dog Video" is very good.

Animals Held Hostage -- 6 months later

2006-03-19T15:26:00.000-06:00

Visit our new website AnimalDisasterNews.com Click here

Todays Post: Animals Held Hostage -- 6 months later (Blog is below and continue in comments)

Website Stats:
Daily Site Visitors: Average is 350/day
Biggest Day: 3,012 visitors
Email Signs Ups: 2,012

Some of the most interesting posts are at the very bottom of the blog.
Scroll all the way down if you want to move forward from the day of Katrina. Remember the average Post has 50 "comments" from other people. Much of the great data is in the "comments" from others and all you do is click "comments" to see what others had to say for each post.

My Own Favorite Stuff On this Blog:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best rescue video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. This is the coolest dog ever Click for The Coolest Dog Ever.
5. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
6. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
7. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Animals Held Hostage -- 6 months later
To save space this post continues in the "comments"

Here is a guest blog from Marilyn Knapp Litt, a Stealth Volunteer in San Antonio. Stealth is an ad hoc group of volunteers http://www.stealthvolunteers.com that has reunited over 1,000 families with their loved ones. Most of these animals were “lost in the system after leaving Lamar Dixon.” These cases are current as of March 7, 2006. She is seeking probono lawyers in every state. Please email her if you can help: marilyn@marilylitt.com

“Rescues without Reunions Bring Evacuees Despair”

These are just samples of the dozens of cases of shelters and people that refuse to return known pets to owners.

Case 1: An 67 year old man still waits to be reunited with his elderly cat. He located it in October. It was "rescued" by someone who kept the animals he took from Lamar. Why? Because the residents of New Orleans are "bad owners." This gentleman likely won’t live to see his cat again; tonight he went to the hospital with chest pains and stress related problems. At 67, you know what is important. That is why he grieves for his cat and not for his lost home or his lost city.

Case 2: Ransom: Another foster agrees with this assessment but is willing to look the other way if a “bad” owner will pay all the bills for his dog’s care. Never mind the owner cried with relief to find out his dog survived. Dog for ransom?

Case 3: (too many to name) I could list some of the best known shelters in the country. Their staff all have reasons not to return the animals in their care. A foster told me no one in the South should be allowed to have an animal. But then how do I reconcile that with the California shelter withholding a dog because it is too cold in Ohio? Or the many that demand the owners travel to their state?
Or the dozens that take the pictures off their website two hours after the owner calls. Or the few that took tags off animals?

Case 4: Should a two tour Iraqi vet consider his little dog as just part of his sacrifice, along with his New Orleans home? If he had cared about his dog, he would have taken it to Iraq! I am sure the military would have let him; after all they took so many animals from owners boarding busses. I even heard a rumor they went to Lamar and cherry picked some Rottweilers and German Shepherds for training. So rest easy all you people looking for Rottis, your dogs are serving your country!

Case 5: Then there is the Louisiana shelter that “fired” a volunteer for facilitating reunions. I have no idea what they did with the dogs they took, except for some desirable dogs that went home with one of the staff. I guess if you work at the pound, your friends get animals for Christmas!

SEE CASES #6-13 in the Comments.

These are but a smidgeon of the open cases. We now know of over 800 different locations that these dogs ended up at. None of these animals were rescued. They were taken. Had they been rescued, they would have been restored to grateful families. As it is, if they are not euthanized, they will be adopted out locally, leaving one less home for a local animal that will now be put to sleep. In the meantime, the heartbroken families of New Orleans will go without. Thank god for reunion volunteers who are helping some of these pet owners wrestle them back.

What is next on Erics Dog Blog:
CHECK BACK IN A FEW DAYS ON POSTS ABOUT MY NOAH'S WISH TRAINING
AND ABOUT WHAT STEALTH VOLUNTEERS HAVE DONE TO RECLAIM ANIMALS.

I leave you with my own "in-family training."
This is my nephew practicing approaching "agressive animals" and showing you how we clean crates around our place (no more bending and kneeling).

Tammy On The Run

2006-02-25T04:32:00.000-06:00

(See Below for an Update on Tammy Hanson)

My Own Favorite Stuff On this Blog:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best rescue video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. This is the coolest dog ever Click for The Coolest Dog Ever.
5. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
6. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
7. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here

***********************************************************************************
Please post everywhere
Ms. Hanson did not show for her sentenceing and is said to have removed a bunch of pens and other materials from her property which means she is setting up somewhere else to torture animals, she has warrants issued from Baxter county today, be on the lookout for her and report to Eric or the Baxter county Sheriffs office. She also has charges pending in Mo. so i suspect she is in another state. If she does not show in Mo. They can extradite from other states , i am not so sure whether Ark. can on misdemeaner charges but she has to be stopped somehow...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

(The local paper had a picture of her lawyer sitting alone waiting for her to show. She never did. Tammy doesn't even respect our court system).

Here she is:

Where is the USDA?

2006-02-22T19:38:00.000-06:00

Where is the USDA?

Anyone who thinks that the HBO special “Dealing Dogs” was some rare breeder out of control needs to “think” again. This is normal, this is common and this is growing.

After seeing the HBO special “Who needs China?” (in reference to the horrors going on in that country with dogs and cats)

We never had puppy mills in Maryland. Now we do. They are creeping over into Western Maryland from Pennsylvania, whose Amish community runs most of the mills. We have one right now that has perpetuated animal abuse on hundreds of animals and the USDA and the local animal control are nonexistent.

Why are these places such hell holes --

1. USDA visits once a year and turns a blind eye. You can’t even call it an inspection. Mills have months and months between inspections to go about the inhumane practices.
2. Usually located in rural areas with poor local enforcement of Animal Abuse Laws
3. The economics of it lead to more money for owners the less humane they are (or at least they think that).

Why in the world do we need these mills anyway?

I honestly don’t have much to say except that I think every local, state and federal politician you know should be sent a copy of the HBO special with a note explaining that this is common and is exactly what happens at puppy mills and dealers all over the country. Please distribute this video far and wide. We need allies.

As far as the USDA this is the enforcement agency that I dug up:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Regulatory Enforcement and Animal Care

Secretary 14 St. & Independence Ave. SW, Wash 20250

OR: Federal Center Bldg., Hyattsville, Maryland. 20782 301-436-7799

Animal Care = 4700 River Rd. #84, Riverdale, MD. 20737-1234
301-734-7833 fx=301-734-4978

Dana's Story

2006-01-27T10:21:00.000-06:00

Hello,

My name is Dana Liebert. I lived in St.Bernard Parish, Louisiana for the past 35 years until 08-29-05 the day my life changed forever. That Sunday, the day before Katrina hit us, I was staying home I figured I would ride the storm out. I put everything up on my comp. desk thinking if I get water, it would never go 4 feet.
My mom came over that sunday morning and insisted I go stay by her house with her. She lived 10 blks up from me. My home was two blks from lake Bourne canal. Barely my potbelly pig was 180 lbs. I tied open his gate for he stays inside the shed but has a trap door that goes in and out. I figured if water comes in the shed he would at least get out. Gina my cat I left her inside the front bedroom and open the closet door.

I packed an overnight bag and took Tobias my dog with me and left with my mom to go around the corner. mom, dad & I stayed for katrina and thought we would ride it out. Little did I know that night My whole world would
fall apart and be gone in just a moment.

SEE DANA'S STORY CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

EDNAH- A Sheriff To Thank

2006-01-16T20:05:00.000-06:00

Please input your email to the right for future blog updates.
The post below this post about Belinda and Pepe are the last blog posts since my last email. I suggest reading both and more...

Hoarders and Abusers no longer safe even in the smallest counties in America
Tammy Hanson has been convicted on 20 counts of animal cruelty, and had a big surprise as she was arrested on 6 new warrants from Arkansas and 1 new felony warrant from MO this afternoon in Baxter County Ark. She was taken into custody by Sheriff John Montgomery of Baxter County Ark. and will be extradited to MO. The look on her face was said to be one of astonishment. She had no idea these new charges were coming. In case you didn't know it she applied for a breeders license in MO and that just ticked everyone off that she would thumb her nose at the current situation/charges. This lady thought her Sh** didn't stink. I was promised the information as it unfolded and they delivered as I got a phone call this evening. Those close to the case said she really thought she was going to get off. Typical hoarder mentality - I did no wrong, I can care for them better, It is a conspiracy! She still seems to have some friends, husband and lawyer who are enabling her. She is never going to stop so she needs to be tracked wherever she goes. The thought that she would be so cavalier as to go apply for a breeders license!

Tammy being told she is being arrested and held on Felony Charges:

See the pictures of EDNAH here if you don't know the mess I am talking about:
The basic story is 500 dogs living in crates and cages of feces and being taken care of by 2 people. It was worse than the mind could imagine. Pics tell 10,000 words.
Before and After Pics At this link:

http://www.mhpets.com/hanson/

When the EDNAH news first broke some of us jumped the gun and made some pretty bad assumptions about what Sheriff Montgomery and his county were all about. It took about 6 hours till the pictures came out and we were all eating crow.

Sheriff Montgomery and his whole team turned out to be an amazing group of professionals. Many animal rescue people often frown on local authorities in small towns (sometimes rightfully so and many times not so). This should show that we might just find a friend if we look hard enough. This entire county rallied behind this issue. Who wants to see a bunch of pooches abused? Even your most die hard farmer has respect and appreciation for his heard of cattle and other animals he is raising. Nobody should put up with animal abuse.

Many small town authorities simply have never had to deal with hoarders, puppymills and other BIGTIME animal welfare issues.

You can email around the case of EDNAH to your local sheriff as an example of how one Sheriff's office said "not in our town." This Sheriff even started the entire thing off with a flight over the property to see what he was dealing with then acted quickly for the welfare of the animals.

Thank you Baxter County. You have one hell of a sheriff. I am sure he treats other human issues just as thoroughly as he did this matter.

There are a dozen others to thank but without the backup of the local authorities these cases go nowhere. Here we go: Desiree Bender, EARS, HSUS, MH Pets, volunteers that took vacation time to go help, Shelters that took these animals and many others that I never heard about.

Tammy in cuffs.

For a good EDNAH rescue story about how unhealthy these animals are go to the comments in this post (3rd comment)
It would be wonderful if all of you could send a Thank you email or Snail mail to Sheriff John Montgomery for all the work that he did to shut down Tammy Hanson's house of horrors.

Sheriff John Montgomery
904 Highway 62 SW,
Mountain Home, AR 72653

Hoarding, fighting, puppymills and worse happen in every state in the country. You can make a difference. Find out who investigates these crimes in your state and support them.
************************************

Back to New Orleans. Here is an new blog I found with some great new pics.
New blog from rescuers in NO now.

http://dogbusters.blogspot.com

One thing that strikes you right away is the sheer number of puppies, feral looking dogs. We need to get these poor animals off the streets.

If this isn't solved they are going to have 20,000 new dogs in New Orleans alone, not to mention other parishes and Miss.
**************************************

Belinda's Letter and What Pepe's Owner Has Been Through

2006-01-09T10:35:00.000-06:00

This post speaks to 2 different Issues: 1) The search for Pepe.
Pepe's Story (and the story of many New Orleans pet owners and what they went through) 2) the struggle of Belinda to get her animals returned from the MC SPCA in Maryland

If you didn't live through this flood then you have no idea what horror it must have been.

Many of you have been helping in the Search for Pepe. Unfortunately it has been learned that Pepe did not make it. However, read the story below to understand what these people went through BEFORE judging them as a bad pet owners and doing things like refusing to return their Pets. Eric

Letter Recieved Last Night in Reference to Pepe.

Before I tell you the news I want to tell all my friends who have been helping me search for Pepe, William Wright and his dog Harley a few sincere words from my heart. I want to express my sincere thanks with all of my heart for all your prayers, sweet words of wisdom emails, cards, key ring with Pepe's picture, websites, research reports....on and on all the hard work every night since 9/4/05 you have been with me and I thank you! My Mom thanks you! Please keep in touch with me...who knows maybe Oprah will hold a Cyberspace search and rescue reunion for all of us???? I will email each of you and keep in touch.

I sit here trying to type this note to all of my friends who have been helping me night after night through cyberspace searching, sending emails and questions back and forth so we could piece this nightmare of a puzzle together...................and we did. My Mom's story turns out sad.

I received a phone call today from a lady who found William "Bill" Wright's parents and then found William. William called my Mother today and told her the story of what happened to Pepe.

Remember Mom, Pepe, her neighbor William Wright and his dog Harley were rescued on 8/30/05 from a neighborhood rooftop after sleeping on the rooftop all night. All four were taken to The University of New Orleans. On 8/31/05 little did the remaining people know this would be the last helicopter brought in to take anyone out and to a shelter. Little did they know there would be no more food or water brought in for them. Little did they know how riots would break out, prostitution, rape, drugs, and fires. Thank God William made Mom get on the last helicopter out of there; even though she was forced to leave Pepe. William told her he would take care of Pepe and he tried very hard.

William told me after Mom was taken that afternoon on the 31st of August to Veterans to take a bus to Nicholls State University in Thibodeaux, LA what awful events took place that evening - it was shocking to hear what happened. William took Pepe and Harley and went out of the University of New Orleans classroom to an open field; however staying somewhat close to the building with a few people he could trust. They witnessed fights, women screaming, rapes; children were there, elderly who could not defend themselves from the stranded wicked, mean and evil people.

William told me that they did not have any water, food or supplies brought to them after 8/31/05. William said when he would find food or water he always gave some to Pepe and Harley. He told me that after Mom left Pepe stopped eating and drinking water and sat looking glazed. On September 2, 2005 William left Pepe and Harley under a tree where they had set up camp so he could quickly go to the restroom and when he returned Pepe had died.

Pepe had surgery on his rear end around July, 2005. He had a cyst removed that was cancerous. Pepe had been feeling bad for about a month. William felt so bad about Pepe and did not know how to get in touch with Mom. He only knew his neighbors as Audrey, Malcolm and Pepe.

The story goes on....William decided after 5 days that if he was going to survive he had to get out of there. William and Harley walked 14 miles to Lamar Dixon in Gonzales, LA. So my friend out there in cyberspace that found the video clip with a guy named William and his dog Harley who walked 14 miles to save their lives...you were correct! William helped with the animals being rescued at Lamar Dixon until a shipment of animals was taken to California. William and Harley rode with the shipment and started a new life.

William told us the awful experiences he had at The University of New Orleans. William lost everything just as Mom did and her friends and neighbors. It is so sad what all the people in New Orleans experienced and we wonder why most of them are so bitter. It is really sad that the insurance companies cannot decide what to pay; that Fema hesitates to help these victims. Very, very sad and disappointing how these Americans - human beings have been treated.

Needless to say, Mom is very upset this evening. She had honestly held on with hope and prayer thanks to all of you who have been helping us; then to see the sadness in her eyes and hear it in her voice is crushing! You can tell her to hold on to the good memories; however we all know it hurts to loose your best friend, companion, and the pet that is there loving you unconditionally and trusting you to take care of them until death do you part and you are forced to leave them behind because a city that resides on water, a fish bowl as Dad use to call it, did not have a plan, did not have a heart….why would they make these poor people leave their pets…it is beyond anything I can comprehend. The shelters that cannot be patient long enough to find the owners of the pets scattered throughout the United States…they threaten to euthanize them…WHY???

This email is dedicated to Pepe – we will always have him in our hearts and we will love him forever! Thank you for all your efforts and great job well done!

Dad (in heaven), Mom and Pepe at their home once in New Orleans for over 45 years.

Belinda's Letter to MC SPCA. Just for everyones information, Belinda made several lost dog reports on PF. It would have taken all of an hour to find her if anyone had wanted to be serious about reuniting these dogs with owners.

Click to Enlarge:

An Amazing Stat

2006-01-03T03:15:00.000-06:00

From Tara High in Gulfport --

"I just want you to know that since the storm, our euthanasia rate has gone
from 62% to 25%. We are working hard to save every animal possible! One
day we hope our euth rate will be negligible. Thank
God people like you have helped make it possible!"

I bring this up because Tara scoured the country SCREAMING for rescues to come take these animals. Her shelter was destroyed, her area got little press, very little rescue support (compared to New Orleans) and little hands on support from HSUS until recently.

Yet she packed her shelter with double the amount of animals it held and just hung on until help came in to export her animals. They lived day by day for 3 months. It was live by the seat of your pants daily.

With the attention and resources being driven on the area both LASPCA and Gulfport should continue to capitalize on exporting animals out of the region to willing shelters. Let the alerts go out....

See the first comment about the problem we all knew was coming "thousand of puppies" ...

An Honest Mistake?

2005-12-29T10:52:00.000-06:00

I emailed these to a few people and to a person, they asked me if this was a "JOKE."
It is not a joke.

These are real and recent pictures found on PetHarbor Posted by the LASPCA for animals they recently rescued off the streets. I'd be embarrassed if I was them? Like everything else I am sure that they have a reason? I sat on these for a while wanting to be fair..and then it dawned on me how totally unfair it is to the owners of these animals (2000 of whom showed up at the "FIND YOUR PET" event two weeks ago) to be so inept as to have these pictures up for nearly a month before VOLUNTEERS and not the LASPCA themselves noticed. And unfair to the animals themselves as the LASPCA IS euthanizing (and maybe more than they are letting on but I hope not) Quality control anyone? If I did this at work I would be reprimanded.

"If The South Would Have Won..."

2005-12-20T16:55:00.000-06:00

Note: Please put your email in the form to right and submit so I can keep in touch! Is this your first time here? Be sure to go to the bottom of this post and see some great links, video and pics about Katrina animal rescue.

This state has huge animal welfare issues and from first hand experience I have seen how the government treated the issues associated with animals. Why would we expect more of the local or state government of LA? They have shown how much they care about animals and returning them to owners. Maybe one state official could have shown up to the Best Friends Lost Pet Weekend where over 800 LA residents showed up desperate to find lost pets?

CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE
More Cartoons Coming Soon

HOW TO TREAT A GUEST IN YOUR STATE:

This is the letter to me after I had written Mrs. Littlefield a total of just 6 emails. None of which was in any way harassing or out of line. You can see the last one I sent in the COMMENTS to this post. In my only phone call to Mrs. Littlfield (the call was even set up by an official from HomeLand Security) I inquired as why animals were being shipped all over the world with NO TRACKING. Mrs. Littlefield very unpolitely told me "that is not true, I have been to Lamar Dixon and they have a sophisticated tracking system." We all know how that turned out.

Then this lawyer letter from a governmental official. She might know how to run a State Ag department, but I think we can all see that State Vets have no business and no knowledge of running disaster animal rescue first response, recovery and long term animal welfare operations during and after crisis.

This one cracks me up, I hope you find it amusing as well:
**************
FROM: Marvin Montgomery
General Counsel
La. Dept. Ag. & Forestry
225-922-1234

PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION:

November 2, 2005

Mr. Eric Rice
General Manager, Bulkregister
Via e-mail only
erice@XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Re: Communications with Dr. Martha Littlefield

Dear Mr. Rice:

Your e-mails directed to Dr. Martha Littlefield, assistant State Veterinarian with this Department have been forwarded to me for review because of the number of e-mails you have been sending to her. Please be assured that this Department and Dr. Littlefield are as concerned with animal welfare as you. However, repeated e-mails over a situation that none of us have any control over uses up time and resources that can be put to better use.

After Hurricane Katrina this Department cooperated with public and private agencies to assist in the coordination of rescue and shelter operations for animals abandoned or lost as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Littlefield served as this Department’s liaison with this team of agencies. However, under Louisiana law, neither this Department nor Dr. Littlefield regulates the SPCA or the rescue and sheltering of animals in New Orleans. These functions are regulated by the SPCA in New Orleans in conjunction with the New Orleans city government.

The destruction in New Orleans is beyond comprehension. What one sees on television cannot begin to show the extent of the devastation. It is safe to say that only a minority of businesses and agencies that were in New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina are currently operations. We have no idea when such businesses and agencies, including the SPCA will be fully functional again. The fact that SPCA does not have telephone communications or someone to answer the telephone is not a matter that this Department can control. It is therefore, unnecessary, to keep sending an e-mail to Dr. Littlefield regarding this situation.

It is unnecessary to continue e-mailing Dr. Littlefield regarding the situation in New Orleans or to send her e-mails regarding rescue efforts in New Orleans. Therefore I, on behalf of Dr. Littlefield and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry ask you to remove Dr. Littlefield’s name and this Department’s name from your e-mail distribution list and to cease e-mailing or attempting to contact Dr. Littlefield about any matter. If you have complaints regarding Dr. Littlefield or this Department you may send them by U. S mail to my attention, but we will not respond to any e-mails from you.

Future attempts to e-mail this Department or Dr. Littlefield will be blocked and any attempt to contact Dr. Littlefield in any other way will be reviewed for possible harassment with referral of the matter to the proper law enforcement authorities, if necessary.

Sincerely,

J. Marvin Montgomery
General Counsel, LDAF

My favorite must see blog stuff:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here
4. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here

INSANITY! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

2005-12-10T04:26:00.000-06:00

Scroll down to see: INSANITY! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

Note: Please put your email in the form to right and submit so I can keep in touch!

My favorite must see blog stuff:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
9. Chat makes it home after being dognapped by Brew Beagle for 8 weeks http://booknote.blogspot.com/ (nov 23 blog entry)
10. Vermillion Parish Needs Help http://vermillionanimalaid.blogspot.com/

*******************
INSANITY! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED
THIS WAS STORY SENT TO ME THIS MORNING. Forward www.ericsdogblog.com to all our your local and state officials so they can see what Redcross and FEMA policies do to people with Pets. Be aware a disaster like this could be coming to any of our areas just as easily. What if 9/11 had been a "dirty bomb" and they had made 2 million people leave pets on the bridges as they walked out of NYC? Read on --

Eric, perhaps you could do a reasons to reunite post on your blog since so many COLD hearted people don't seem to see the need? Here is a piece you could lead with:

10/26/2005 - To David and Goldie, aka Tiny
Posted From Animal Ark Shelter - Minnesota
Posted by Mike F

This morning, I started my day by talking with Goldie's mom. It was one of the most difficult phone conversations I have had in my life. But, being on the phone was nothing compared to the horror she and her family are living.

Her son, David, had been Goldie's "dad". David loved Goldie, and two other dogs that lived with Goldie, whose real name turned out to be Tiny. Tiny is a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix who came to live at my house in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Of the hundreds of animals we have rescued, his is also the first story that I know in it's entirety, thanks to the time spent talking to David's mom on the phone this morning. David, I am sure, would have told me the story, but he is no longer alive to tell his or Tiny's tale. I feel comfortable in "knowing" this, because after hearing his story, I feel bonded to him, and I feel like I know him. Our lives are connected through the life of a little dog that we both love. . .

David lived in St. Bernard Parish, a neighborhood in New Orleans that was hit very hard when the levy broke during the storm. He shared his home with his daughters and his three dogs. The dogs were spoiled and even slept in bed with him at night.

When the levy broke, he and the daughters were home. They survived by climbing the stairs in their home, going to the second floor, and ultimately, into the attic. As water engulfed the interior of their home, they raced to save each other and the dogs.

Trapped in the attic, their only route to safety was to dig a hole in the roof of the home from the inside. They lived on top of the house with the three dogs for days awaiting rescue.

Eventually, a small boat came by. With it came good news, a larger boat was coming to the levy wall to pick people up and take them to safety. So the family and the dogs boarded the boat and headed for the levy. They lived on the levy with several other people and some other pets for days with no food or shelter. They watched helplessly as some of the other humans and pets died in the heat. Eventually, a boat did come, but the news was not good. Tiny and the other pets were not allowed.

In desperation, David took a small row boat into St. Bernard Parish and found an apartment building where he could leave the dogs. The third floor apartment had nearly three feet of water in it. By piling furniture and mattresses in the living room, he created a dry island the dogs could survive on. He left them with food and water; then he and his daughters evacuated to safety.

Tiny and his canine friends were rescued 10 days later and taken to Tylertown, Mississippi. Tiny eventually found his way to my home in Minnesota.

But, life for David was not as happy. He and his family searched night and day to locate his lost pets. Struggling with the loss of his home and property, and unable to locate his beloved dogs, he hanged himself from an oak tree at his mother's house. His mom swears that had David been allowed to evacuate with his dogs, he would be alive today. Following his death, his mother continued the search for the missing dogs. With the help of Best Friends Animal Society, we were connected to Tiny and David's mom and the story is complete.

I thanked David's mom for sharing his story. I asked her to give Tiny a big hug and kiss for me. I hung up the phone. . . and I cried, not just for David and Tiny, but for all the families and all of the pets that were put through unnecessary hell due to crazy FEMA and Red Cross policies. Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster - but the real devastation inflicted on these families came about because of human choices. If we are to call ourselves a civilized nation, we must swear to never do anything like this again.

*******************

IF YOU HAVE A FOSTER DOG OR IF YOU ARE A SHELTER THAT HAS NOT PUT PETS ON PETFINDER AND THINK THAT YOU ARE DOING THE WORLD A FAVOR, RESCUERS ON THE GROUND WILL TELL YOU A DIFFERENT STORY OF HOW THESE PEOPLE LOST THESE PETS. THEY ARE NOT ALL BAD PET OWNERS AS YOU LIKE TO THINK. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I MET HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO SLEPT ON ROOFTOPS AND IN LITTLE BOATS 5-8 MILES FROM DRY LAND. THEY DID THIS FOR 5-8 DAYS WITH NO FOOD AND WATER. THEN THEY WERE TOLD NOT THE BRING THEIR PETS. ITS PURE INSANITY FOR YOU TO STEAL THESE ANIMALS AND NOT DO THE WORK TO TRY TO RETURN THEM TO OWNERS. Eric

*******************

SNOW DOGS!!!!

On a more positive note I just realized that many Katrina Dogs are just now seeing snow for the first time ever. What a ball they must be having. I think my dogs like winter more than any other season cause of the snow they get to play in. So I am looking for pictures of Katrina Dogs and Cats having fun in the snow. Email to ericrice3@comcast.net I will post after I get a bunch.

Here is my dog Quincy in the Snow.

He passed away over the summer but he loved the snow more than anything. He would put his shoulder on the ground and plow through the snow for 100 yards at a time. He was well versed in giving himself snow massages which results in perfect dog snow angel designs. Quincy lived at a ski resort and got to do things like follow me up the chairlift then chase me down the hill. You ever see a dog run as fast as they can down a steep hill? After a few hundred yards the back usually goes over the front end and they roll down the hill about a hundred more yards.

This is Quincy and Brooke when the heat went out at my house for a week last year. They would not move from those blankets for 12-14 hours at a time for fear that they could not get themselves all wrapped back up in them. It was cold.

Oily Dog Loses Slickness: Escapes Us No More

2005-12-06T20:08:00.000-06:00

Note: Please put your email in the form to right and submit so I can keep in touch!

Oily Dog Loses Slickness: Escapes Us No More and Is Found

I just got off the phone with Don Rorschach (Texas), who was so incensed at the
Dallas Reporter that took the original pictures of the Oily Dog and didn’t pick up the dog that he started a national awareness campaign and reward.

You Must see the Original Video of Oily as he begs to be picked up from the oil:
Click Here For Video

Oily Dogs Previous Story and the Reporter that did nothing to help:
Click Here For Story

The Infamous Picture that started the Search:

OILY HAS BEEN LOCATED AND TURNED OVER TO DON R.
Lisa Wilson, Austin, Texas, was instrumental in the search since she created the Oily Dog website that received so much attention. Carolyn Spence created flyers and spread the word all over the place.

Tribute to Orli-By Judy Gagnon 12/8/2005; See Poem In Comments

New Name: Orli-Slick

Seems like mine, Lisa Wilson's www.oilydog.org and dozens of others hard work finally paid off. Oily has been located.

Long ago I was contacted by Don R who wanted me to go to the actual site of the infamous picture of Oily Dog was taken and look for him. I suggested the bigger step of Don fedexing me 100 Laminated Reward Flyers to put up. I was pretty sure the dog had been rescued. I couldn’t in my wildest dreams imagine workers and others in the area really just leaving the dog to fend for himself. If one or two people were despicable enough to do so I was sure that someone equally as compassionate had come along and rescued Oily.

I had my team put flyers all around the area near where the original picture was taken. You could not get into Chalmette without seeing an Oily Reward poster. I have to admit it almost didn’t happen because of the sheer volume of calls we were getting to do rescues. But after a few days I just put it on the schedule like a rescue assignment and sent Joe and Jennifer over to put the Posters out (they were nice flyers that Don R fedexed and he even sent some big nails so I am sure they hung around for a long time)

Where Has Oily Been?

Just several days after the original picture was taken a local worker picked the dog up and delivered it to a friend of a friend named Angela Robert who is in animal control in St. Rose, LA. Angela had seen the flyers and heard of the Oily Dog on the Internet but was worried that Don R. was trying to get small dogs for various “bad” reasons or to resell.

She had someone to adopt the dog so she just went that route. However, the woman who adopted Oily turned the dog back in because she could not get it potty trained. This time Angela decided to call Don R and see what he was all about. She quickly understood that she probably had a real good guy. The bottom line is she finally approved of sending the dog to Don R. Don drove all the way to LA when no transport could be arranged. He has the dog safe in his house. Angela Robert would not accept the $2,000.00 reward for the little dog and immediately endorsed the checks to the St. Charles Humane Society in Saint Rose, Louisiana.

The Times- Pacayune will also be doing a story and may fill in some things I left out. I could have an item wrong as I got it all from Don R. Regardless a lot of people made this possible and the dog is safe and many thousands of people around the country can get that image out of their heads.

I have said all along that “guerrilla tactics” will work to locate dog and locate owners. I can’t tell you the success we have had with these types of flyers and notes.. These are not unconquerable challenges. What IF every animal WAS on Petfinder.com AND every owner who had lost a pet knew to look on it? We would have huge reunion rates.

Finding Lost Pets Is Hell For Owners and Will Wayne Sign? I think Yes.

2005-11-30T21:58:00.000-06:00

So you think animal rescue efforts are all wrapped up? We expect to recover 10,000-15,000 animals in the Gulf Region with a massive trapping program in the next 6 months. You better read and watch the video of my latest trip the the Gulf Region in the 2nd post below (scroll down).

If you have lost your animal during Katrina or Rita please email: ericrice3@comcast.net and search on petharbor.com and petfinder.com

If you are a shelter or rescuer please review to see if you have these lost pets. These owners are devestated. Click Here

First How Hard is it to find and get back your pet if you are a desperate owner?Answer: It Is HARD!

Listen to Renee in an Interview and the story of her Lost then Dognapped Beagle "Chat" that her family was forced to leave at a bus stop after they successfully got the dog out of the city:
Click Here For Audio Interview

Read Renee's Saga To Get Chat Back: Click Here
Chat Reunion Pictures: For Pictures Click Here
See the Chat Reunion Video: Click Here For Video Reunion

Kickoff Conference Call to Bring Needed Funds and Resources Back to the Gulf Region

Listen to last nights kickoff conference call with "Best Friends" Organized by Joe Trippi, Howard Dean's Campaign Advisor. He specializes in Internet "Get the Word Out Campaigns". This is an interesting piece. Please send people here to hear it. Anyone that questions the incredible intentions of Best Friends or wants to know the needs of recuers still on the ground should listen (it is an mp3 and has 6 minutes of music that you should forward through before the call starts: For Audio Click Here

Can groups work together to save animals? I hope so. So I requested that Wayne Pacelle the CEO sign Best Friends Petition. I think HSUS can help set the pace and revitalize people to look at the Gulf area again. Any attention they bring will help with everything from adoption to a continued flow of volunteers.

It should be noted that I have kept in touch via email with both Wayne and Bernie Unti at HSUS. Both have responded quickly to any requests I made on a few issues. They are supporting several groups. My wish is that they would become more vocal about the continued animal welfare recovery effort and plight of the Gulf Region.

Here is what they post on the website about continued efforts in the Gulf:
Click here

I will give more on the situation of Tara High in a few days. Things are bad in Mississippi and they get little press coverage.

I hope Wayne doesn't take my email the wrong way. I think it 100% the right thing to do for him to sign the petition.

My email to Wayne:

----- Original Message -----
From: Eric Rice
To: WPacelle
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:57 PM
Subject: Will You Sign?

Wayne,

In the last 2 weeks it has become apparent to many of us that The GULF Region is in dire need of continued assistance. Regardless of arguments about the number of animals in New Orleans the entire region is devastated and it is showing.

In my email to you about Tara High at Humane Society of Southern Mississippi and her desperate plea for support, you quickly stepped up and got her a phone call
from your people who can help her. So I know you have the willingness to help where HSUS can

Tara's been living without the support needed to clean up after Katrina. She has 26 miles of coastline that needs trapped and export needs for the population explosion at her shelter. Her shelter took 5 feet of water during Katrina. It is operable but not the best situation. She was in the middle of building a new shelter but the reality is that her donor base is largely unable to support her as they need to rebuild the houses they own that got destroyed. Miss. has huge needs that went largely ignored due to the press focus on New Orleans.

St. Bernard Parish has virtually no animal control and no shelter. Plaquemines Parish has far out sections that look similar to the coast of Mississippi and have animals that need taken off the streets.

Of course things are not back to normal in an area of such total devastation.

I see at this site you are still doing much to help the Katrina situation and more people should know about your continued efforts.
Click here to see the HSUS Katrina Updates

Best Friends has a petition that has been signed by 31,500 people as of tonight simply asking for a renewed focus on the area. Will you sign it?

http://network.bestfriends.org/Petitions/Detail.aspx?pn=2

You might think it funny to sign a Best Friends Petition but in all honestly there are so few of us who protect animals in the world that we all need to stick
together, work together and organize to get jobs done. What you support today they will support of you tomorrow I have no doubt.

Signing this will put your critics back in place. It will show other large organizations that we all need to take a look at how we can continue to respond when so many are asking for help.
It will help bring legitimacy back to supporting this region on more short term and long term animal welfare efforts. Please help. I sign all of the petitions you email me -- Black Bear Hunts, Horse Slaughter, Puppy Mills. Elephant Rides to name a few. Petitions must be good as many as I get.

You more than anyone have the ability to say we see a need and we will help. What you do others will follow.

So will you sign?

Regards,

Eric Rice
PS. Riding around in a truck with Dave Pauli for the day during the LASPCA Assessment was quite interesting (in a good way).

My favorite must see blog stuff:

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here
9. Chat makes it home after being dognapped by Brew Beagle for 8 weeks http://booknote.blogspot.com/ (nov 23 blog entry)
10. Vermillion Parish Needs Help http://vermillionanimalaid.blogspot.com/

The Forgotten Ones: Whether it be 4 or 4000 they deserve our help!

2005-11-19T09:54:00.000-06:00

Please enter your email on the right so I can stay in touch with this great network of people that cares so much about our work!!!

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED.
Please visit www.animalrescueneworleans.com about volunteering.
AnimalRescueNewOrleans.com

See great Video’s Below of my 2nd trip to New Orleans Nov 12-Nov 16th (Videos are in Quicktime and needed placed in a new Browser).

Best Friends Comprehensive Assessment Of Gulf Region
Read Assessment

Best Friends Petition to bring money dedicated for Katrina Animals Back to the region
SignThePetition

This week was marked by lots of data showing that the entire GulF Region has serious and continued animal welfare problems from Katrina and Rita. New Olreans got lots of attention. It irks me to no end that big groups went in for a month or so and then lost interest. Best Friends deserves our praise. They are still on the ground, they are spending money, they are intaking animals and they are helping out with EVERY situation that comes to their attention. They also spent money on an assessment of the entire Gulf area and determind that we still have much work to do.

My Day 1 Trapping Results, Nov 12, 2005:

If we are bringing in these kinds of numbers with a small # of traps then just extrapolate out to see how many animals still need rescued....

ARNO: 27 dogs (I was on site and counted myself)
Winn Dixie: 13 Dogs
LASPCA: 30 dogs (approx as reported by them)
Muttshack: 9 dogs

X 7 DAYS = would be 553 total for week. Some disasters only have that number total for the entire disaster. (Note: other days appeared consistent with this and yesterday Nov 18th Animal Rescue New Orleans brought in 32 both cats and dogs).

This week Alley Cat Allies and ARNO trapped approximately 50 cats from one trailer park to be bulldozed. This was in Jefferson Parish.

It is my belief because of what I have now seen with my own eyes is that these numbers of trapped animals can be retained by all groups and increased with more traps and with more places to Export animals. It does not take long in the field with “Navy Seal” type trapping teams to locate many packs of animals.

A Navy Seal trapping team uses intelligence to find hiding packs. The people I was out with had 8 different units of the National Guard telling them where they saw animals as they drove around ALL night. The Guard are the only ones on the streets 24/7 and they patrol a dedicated area seeing everything. Even when they told us specifically where packs of animals were it took us hours to find where the pack consolidated at night. You simply don't see many of these animals.

Here is my video: (you must put each link in your browser) Please do not cut and past my video to other site but please refer people to my website to watch so that I can collect email addresses for the future!

Video #1:
http://revenue-dev.bulkregister.com/rescue/dogshollynick.mov
This is dogs coming in by 1 trapping team (27 that day total), Holly at morning meeting talk, and Nicky an ACO and responder to many disaster situations:

Video #2:
http://revenue-dev.bulkregister.com/rescue/chows.mov
Pack of Chows found and trapped. One chow was missing an ear see picture below.

Video #3:
http://revenue-dev.bulkregister.com/rescue/coverall.mov
An experienced trapper describes the animals she brought in and tells how she is finding multiple packs.

Video #4:
http://revenue-dev.bulkregister.com/rescue/corrolla.mov
Trapper Corolla with multiple years experience explains what she sees in the field.

News Clip on 50 Cats Rescued in Kenner:
http://www.wafb.com/Global/category.asp?C=38708

Pictures:
Chow with ear gone and rotted. Luckily Best Friends has vets.

Lab trapped with Pack of 20 dogs located in brick yard. Just as Friendly as he was 3 months ago.

Same Lab as above after I made my friend Jim rent a car 1 way and drive him 22 hours to my house in Maryland. Jim loved me for that.

Pit in same pack of 20

Does this Pit look agressive? It is the one in the page above.

Brick Yard where the pack of 20 dogs live. This is why it is so hard to find animals. This yard had one entrance but once inside you found animals everywhere.

Recent Morning Meeting where they talk about respect for the citizens and laws of the state

Video #1:
Dogs, Holly, Nick (Quicktime, 60MB)

This is dogs coming
in by 1 trapping team (27 that day total), Holly at morning meeting talk, and
Nicky an ACO and responder to many disaster situations:

Video #2:
Chows (Quicktime, 19MB)

Pack of Chows found and trapped. One chow was missing an ear see picture below.

Video #3: target="new">Coverall (Quicktime, 2MB)

An experienced trapper
describes the animals she brought in and tells how she is finding multiple
packs.

Video #4:

Corrolla (Quicktime, 56MB)

My old favorite stuff:

1. My own favorite Post:
Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones
Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics
Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see:
Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners:
Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video
Click Here
9. Chat makes it home after being dognapped by Brew Beagle for 8 weeks http://booknote.blogspot.com/ (nov 23 blog entry)
10. Vermillion Parish Needs Help http://vermillionanimalaid.blogspot.com/

New Report Soon

2005-11-17T09:10:00.000-06:00

I will have an update and video on the blog in 2-3 days from my recent 5 days in New Orleans. I met with Laura Maloney LASPCA, met with Ciely Trog who runs St. Bernard Animal control, went on the LASPCA assessement, spent time with Jane Garrison and Richard at WD, drove to Tylertown to get a Little Black lab we rescued and delivered to MD (my buddy loved that as I rented him a car one way and said "you don't mind driving 24 hours to save this little dog do you?"), I went trapping with Marilyn and others, I found packs of dogs on my own, I spent 3 hours with a National Guard unit who showed me many packs of dogs, I found the owners of 3 dogs Marilyn had just trapped a few days before by asking neighbors if they knew who owned them, lady started crying hysterically when I called her about the dogs...Had an insightful trip. Have good news and bad news.

Eric

A little lesson on why we keep doing what we do for animals and OWNERS! This is Porsche. He spent 10.5 weeks on the streets and then was rescued within blocks of his house just days ago. How many Porsches remain? I think thousands. And what if is only 4? Why in the world would anybody care if we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of our own money to chase 4 little dogs around the city to catch them and return them for their owners?

Most of the smear against rescuers makes very little common sense but neither does most silly things humans fight over. Welcome Home Porsche and I won't give up on you and your friends no matter how much money I spend and how nuts people think I am. I wonder who you (Porsche) would vote on to be in charge of your rescue..Me or the LASPCA?

Wait till you see the pictures I post of my little Lab boy who was with a pack of 20 dogs but decided he would rather jump in my rental car and get back to his couch situation. He is happy and at my house.

Returns

2005-11-12T03:43:00.000-06:00

I am off to New Orleans for another week...

Phase 2 Crisis Emerges - Please Help

2005-11-08T19:17:00.000-06:00

I AM ASKING EVERYONE TO REGROUP AND RECOMMIT. THE #1 NEED IN NEW ORLEANS AND SAINT BERNARD IS VOLUNTEERS. SEND EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO www.ericsdogblog.com TO ALERT THEM.

This is why we are still doing this. This dog was found on the streets
showing that animals like this have been missed-- Thousands like him are hiding and coming out at night. In Saint Bernard packs roam the woods.
http://www.geocities.com/nibbles141/candy.html

It is becoming apparent that a second crisis is emerging. That crisis involves a large number of remaining animals combined with a low volunteer to animal ratio.

I make the case that on a ratio of “on the ground personnel” to “animals” we are far worse off now than we were at the end of September (and animals are coming out of the woodwork)

Let me explain. The animal population over the last month has not decreased significantly but the volunteer base has decreased significantly so that our “volunteer ratio” is at an all time low. Progress is becoming slow. We can’t sustain lives long enough to trap animals because we can’t keep them fed.

What is happening to produce a second crisis:

1. Thousands of animals remain, the ones that were hiding during the day so not seen during Crisis 1.
2. Call ins of animals “in need” is increasing daily
3. The small group of volunteers is locating thousands of places where the animals are hiding out. Thousands. Once we find them we have to keep them fed.
4. The remaining animals are not being adequately fed and watered
5. People simply are NOT returning home to New Orleans. Parts of the city are a ghost town.
6. The animals are breeding in full force
7. Trapping is a slow process and it will take months to clear these animals
8. Local Animal Controls at the Parish level were decimated by Katrina and are in rebuilding mode. As dedicated as they might be no one agency is going to solve this crisis.
9. The state and federal gov’t are in recovery vs rescue phase. This places the control back at the Parish level.

The current command and control structures appear to be inadequate to deal with such an on going crisis. Nobody imagined a crisis of this magnitude for people, let alone animals. The reality is that the legal authority now is the Parish and in Orleans Parish that is the LASPCA and in Saint Bernard Parish virtually no animal control is functioning. From a strict legal standpoint the state and federal government are doing their jobs. However, from a practical standpoint someone needs to pick up the ball and take it to the goal line because the LASPCA can’t handle the burden alone. Who exactly is that someone?

There is no way anyone can handle all of this alone, whether it be any one rescue group (Alley Cat Allies, Jane Garrison, Muttshack or Winn Dixie) or the LASPCA. The LASPCA through no fault of its own is in rebuilding status and the remaining rescue groups are understaffed themselves.

The emerging data is that we have a huge problem on our hands, more enormous than anyone thought we would have going into month 3.

The LASPCA has made it clear to us that they have a hard time credentialing “anyone who just shows up” due to legal issues of being responsible for all of those volunteers with no real way to manage them. On the other hand they are “ok” with the work that grassroots groups are doing and don’t interfere.

Given today’s crisis we don’t have time for anything other than to immediately send volunteers to Jane Garrison at www.animalrescueneworleans.com

Have them contact: katedanaher@animalearthhuman.org

Let’s be creative. How can you get volunteers to Jane Garrison to feed? If every person reading this got just one volunteer our problems would be solved. Let’s get the word out again.

1. Revisit your list of former volunteers. I have gotten several people to go ahead and commit to trip #2 once they heard what is happening.

2. College Strategy #1: You could sponsor college student at $8-10 an hour. Run an ad in the school papers at $50 or so a week. (LSU is the main school but I bet you can dig up others and community colleges)

3. College Strategy # 2: Fraternities would love this kind of thing. LSU has many. Start calling them.

4. Call your local animal community – Vets, Kennels, etc…Any place that has animal lovers. Let them know they can still save thousands by feeding and watering during a 3-7 day tour in New Orleans. You will be surprised at how many have no knowledge of the ongoing crisis. GET EMAIL ADDRESSES AND START FORWARDING THEM INFO. Fax them updates as well.

5. I am sure you guys can find more ways to find volunteers??? Local Papers?

Be nice if we could get some new revitalized support from big groups. I heard EARS sent 25 to EDNAH, how about just 10 to New Orleans.

Have volunteers contact: katedanaher@animalearthhuman.org

This is not over. This was the “perfect storm” for an animal disaster. I think it was 100x worse than anything previous.

Special Guest Hero: Marilyn McGee

2005-11-03T20:13:00.000-06:00

Special Guest Hero: Marilyn McGee

Marilyn and Lexi (I worked with Lexi on many days. She is awesome, been back to New Or 3 times

I met Marilyn about a week after I got to New Orleans. She called my dispatch phone (my cell, which is unfortunate for my bill) and asked me to get a team to go on a water rescue with her in Saint Bernard Parish. We were late so much like the Marilyn I have come to know now she said, "I found a boat I will just go on in myself." Later that day she called my team over to the school where all the dog shootings were. That is how we all got involved in the shootings. I never went and am glad I didn't as those images are haunting all that did. But I was able to call State Senator Bajorie (sp) who we were helping in a search for her friends dogs. She gave us Mrs. Wells, who gave us Mimi Hunley in the AG office. Mimi Hunley was all over it. My next call was to the CNN guy we met at the YMCA. He was all over it and quickly sent people to the school. All this transpired before noon on just one day.
I am sure just as much happened that afternoon.

I do not know of a SINGLE DAY Marilyn McGee has not rescued since the day after the storm. She rules the far out places like Saint Bernard where people feared even going.

If you want to understand the Rescue Operation as it is going on today read this as trapping is the standard way animals are being brought in.

Here is her latest to me: (will be continue in comments)

I attached a picture of Teddy the Wild Child we trapped in the woods along Riverbend in St. Bernard. Also is "Linus" the beagle we trapped that was running with him. I named him Teddy to soften his first impression by people. He was almost unimaginable and it took two of us to pole him out of the trap and crate him. I noted on his intake that he had been living in the woods for 2 months and survival was his only concern and that he would bite out of fear if you approach him.

This little beagle was one of a pair of two that was reported over a month and a half ago. I caught his brother in a pile of brush with the pole at that time and this guy eluded me for all that time. I bait fed him every other day, and spoke to him in beagle talk to get him used to my voice. I had a great concern for this little guy and was so delighted to get the traps so that we could bring him to safety. I called a local vet Dr. Green and he came to magazine and treated Teddy and Linus free of charge they both were anemic, HW positive, and had worms. Teddy's mouth was lacerated from gnashing at the trap. Linus was dehydrated and decompensating from fear, drooling for two hours, pale, shaking, listless etc. He recovered with IV's and tons of TLC and was taken to Oregon by Karen one of the volunteers who helped me with the trapping mission... THIS IS CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS. LOTS OF GOOD INFO.

Teddy The Wild Child In Trap (pissed off, he was king of the jungle)

Linus The Beagle- He don't look to wiiiiild! (I think he is happy to be trapped.)

Yes that is Teddy the Wild Child A Bit Calmed Down

Interview Questions: Laura Maloney LASPCA

2005-11-01T20:11:00.000-06:00

Scroll down to see interview questions posed and answered to Laura Maloney, President of the LASPCA

First time here? Read the Oldest Posts and LOOK AT PICTURES at the links below. Words can't describe what rescuers saw once they hit the ground.

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here

Over the last few weeks I have been in regular contact with Laura Maloney President of the LASPCA.

My initial email to her with the questions, "Laura I hope you will respond to any of these questions you feel prepared to do so. I think a lot of bad information may be being passed around. I have tried to post accurate information on my blog and would like to give you the chance to set the record straight."

The questions: (see #2-#19 in comments)

1. Yesterday in a conversation Asst. State Vet Marsha Littlefield claims that the LASPCA was responsible for shutting down the HSUS as of the end of October. Yet you told me several days ago in an email that it was not you? Can we get a straight answer? How many employees and volunteers do you have on the streets today? And what are they doing? How many “animal control” or other volunteers do you need to finish the job?

The state veterinarian and the USDA representative determined that Lamar would close on September 30 based on an early discussion about 9/30 being the date when animals could go into foster care. The LA/SPCA had nothing to do the decision to close Lamar and asked that it be extended since our facility wouldn’t be open. During the first week of October, the LA/SPCA asked the Mayor of New Orleans to contact the lessee for Lamar to ask if we could use it for animal control services. By the time the city and Lamar responded, in mid-October, we were well on our way to setting up our current facility in Algiers and couldn’t have operated two facilities.

Between Oct 1 and last week, we were blessed with significant human resource support from SPCA of Texas, San Diego Humane Society, HSUS, and the ASPCA. We had a strong operations director from Broward County Humane helping us setting-up shop.

Most people have now returned home. We now have about 6 officers on the street and the same number of people working in the shelter. Our regular LA/SPCA volunteers (pre-Katrina) are coming in to assist as well.

We are seeking volunteers to work with our ACOs and shelter staff and are accepting applications at our facility, 701 Thayer St. We’ll have the applications online soon. However, volunteer opportunities are limited until our roof is replaced. See next question.

PLEASE SEE QUESTION 2 THROUGH 19 IN THE FIRST COMMENT FIELD (CLICK COMMENTS BELOW)

Laura wants to know why anyone would spraypaint a car? Situations like this have caused tension with people as they came home. She did say in the early days the army did instruct the painting of houses.

They Listen Now -- 2 Week Workshop

2005-10-28T18:52:00.000-05:00

Alert-- Katrina dogs put to sleep...oops I mean Katrina dogs sleep all the time...

We have been in intensive training at my house. This was before training and after I specifically told them no couches. They laughed and told me to mind my own business, "Who are you to tell us? And besides your not here all day and this is the best position to see the TV."

After training and with a few threats about being back on the streets of New Orleans if they didn't shape up...they got smart and moved to a better location. You just gotta be smarter than them.

Survival of the Yorkie:
This is a dog we found at approx. 30 days, alone and scared (well if you know Yorkies he might not have been that scared). He was all muddy, full of briars and surviving somehow on the streets without being eaten. Yorkies think they are big so he might have just made it for a while longer. 30 days for this guy- Alone!

Here he is after clean up-- I loved it when this guy came in. Yorkies just make me laugh over and over again. He was taught these little circus tricks which you can see in the video. Round and Round he would go...

AND YES WE HAVE VIDEO OF THIS DELIRIOUS YORKIE Mr. Mayor --- This will prove once and for all that these dogs were very mean. (Does he know what a dog is?)

This video will play in in Quicktime if you put it in your browser.

Video:
https://home.comcast.net/~dogslifeproductions/NOLA/ericrice.html

Notice my eyes after not sleeping for the previous few days. More video on the way.

I think I will just use the post to put more and more pics in over the weekend so if you get a chance to check back.

The Truth Is We Do Know

2005-10-25T10:08:00.000-05:00

Doesn’t Take Much To Understand Tammy

Pics in case you have not seen this mess--

http://www.forpitssake.org/ednah.html

http://www.mhpets.com/hanson/

"Sheriff Montgomery's behavior is animal cruelty," she said.
--- Tammy Hanson

I don't think the jury needs to come back for me to understand the truth. Tammy is a classic hoarder. Hoarders come with great powers of practiced deception and are able to convince the unwitting and even the experienced that they are legitimate. They pray on our weakness to want to find loving homes for our animals. AND THEY ARE GOOD!!! Her initial emails to people described a Lakeside Retreat where animals swam daily. Anyone remember those? We bought it.

The hoarder is no different than the alcoholic who is skilled at hiding his booze or the anorexic that tells all that they did in fact eat dinner. It’s a mental illness and well documented. The hoarder rarely stops when caught and blames everyone but themselves for the mess they have created. I have seen reports of her coaching her supporters to blame this on a big conspiracy from the sheriff, the Humane Society and dozens of others. Tammy needs to get help. Her lawyer and her friends and supporters should intervene and help her. Tammy can’t see her disease (think anorexic and alcoholic) herself. To her the shelter she provided looks perfectly fine and if it isn’t well it is someone else’s fault. Her response is that she spent $98,000 on dog food last year. Being rich doesn’t make you a credible handler of animals.

Did she ask for help when things got out of hand? No she in fact hid her sanctuary knowing deep inside that legitimate people would see right through her. She has never requested help and in fact lied about the conditions as is classic in collecting. I hear that she would not let Pasado fully in? and now we know why.

Several people have stepped up to support Tammy and to say that “she loves animals.”
These folks are the unwitting dupes who just need to hear great things about animals from Tammy herself to support her. Not one has shown Tammy’s experience with animals. All have talked only to Tammy who continues to con them. In fact many such as a Winn Dixie volunteer who witnessed her as she came to take animals from them have told me that Tammy has virtually no skills or knowledge about caring for animals and no skills at dealing with aggressive animals. She seemed a bit odd and manic was one description. Tammy tells people, “I know this looks bad but it is the fault of…...” No Tammy it is the fault of a disease and your husband and supporters are enablers.

If you want to support Tammy close your eyes and imagine the conditions of those dogs 30 days, 60 days and 90 days from now. She didn't even have the skills to get the Pits out of the cages and she probably would not have.

Are we to think that the farm got that way overnight? Just since Katrina? The list of problems is to large to mention – no fixed animals, no shelter, no vets, no volunteers, puppies being born every day, tons of trash and maggots piled high, 75+animals running loose, 200+ Katrina animals in cages for weeks with no walks and no attention. This problem was not on its way to being “fixed.” Saying Tammy was overwhelmed is like saying the Titanic had a leak. It was beyond repair. She may have been "ok" before Katrina with 100-200 animals but the conditions were still not up to standard. During Katrina her instincts to "save at all costs" probably kicked in due to the imagery we all saw on TV.

Stop enabling her and get her help. She is not doing animals any good as you can see. She has a history of doing this in another state. I read the article and the police described her property in that state as a small scale problem of what they found in Arkansas. Tammy in an interview today say groups begged her to take animals. My information is that Tammy traveled from group to group begging to take animals. Then these groups called on her when they had no other solutions and were desperate. Tammy’s interview is showing today that she is ready to blame others and not herself.

I have had good dealings with Pasado to date. I have a few direct questions however.
Just as I asked the HSUS about several pointed issues I ask Pasado the same

Simple Questions For Pasado:

I have two questions for Pasado that deserve an answer. Who delivered the animals to Tammy? Did they not see what we saw? If they were not allowed onto the premises then why would they drop animals? Where were they left? Wasn’t your drop off essentially your check of the facility?

I am not sure who else transported to the compound but they should answer as well.

Second – Who was going to put the animals on Petfinder.com so that owners might find them?

Tammy was not on her way to turning this situation around as some have said. That is going to take a small army of experience Pit handlers, 10 vets, dozens of volunteers, a judge, a local sheriff who does care, and about $75,000-$150,000 dollars.

The sheriff from my chat is one solid and caring guy. Anyone who called him prior (especially at his house) should do like I did and send his office a basket of fruit or fax an apology letter. Part of the rescue effort of these animals is being hindered by the fear that the “entire world” thinks the sheriff the enemy.

Do not mistake the fact that this ordeal sits in the hands of a judge. This is not over and he could rule to do whatever he wants. Hopefully he will see that dedicated people can mount an organized (and non political) response to help them out of this situation.

Do not show up uninvited. The sanctuary will be heavily guarded. The sheriff has tasked reputable groups to organize help for these animals but it is going to be highly controlled and at the first instance of political infighting the entire thing could be wrecked.

Update - 30 skilled people are on the way!!! Supplies are being paid for by various groups and at this time they are pulling everything together.

DON'T FORGET TO HELP JACK FIND A HOME. TIME IS NOT ON HIS SIDE. IT IS GETTING COLD IN MASS.

The Truth is We don't know the truth -- BUT THESE ANIMALS NEED HELP!!

2005-10-22T21:33:00.000-05:00

Are we to believe that Tammy could have turned this around in a few days with some Elbow grease? What matters now is the animals. I personally don't care about the who did what wrong rumor mill. GO HELP IF YOU CAN.

Here is Pasado's latest update
Click Here

THESE ARE THE MOST RECENT PICTURES--
I am sure you will have some comments on these.

http://www.forpitssake.org/ednah.html

http://www.mhpets.com/hanson/

One interesting comment, the dogs do not appear to be malnourished. I know that is a small concession given to what appears to be a very, very bad situation. I am just saying it looks like help arrived in time to get many of these dogs out, thank goodness for that. However, I have talked to one person this morning on the ground who said they have nowhere near the # of people to take care of these animals.

Question 1: Do they need help handling these animals and where can we send people?
Someone on the ground please tell us where to come and what airport is closest. Southwest flies into Little Rock. Is that close?

It has come to my attention by several reputable Pit Bull groups that more to this story may exist. In fact people have told me that they warned groups not to take Pits to Tammy and asked how anyone could claim they can take care of hundreds of Pits (they even sent me the back and forth exchanges). They claim the result is that the sheriffs found hundreds (as many as 400) animals not being cared for in any way shape or form. More may exist to this story than meets the eye. These first hand accounts have been told to me by reputable people who went in with the sheriff as representatives of the "animals." They and the sheriff were alerted to problems with Tammy by several other well respected Pit rescue groups. One person told me that the farm had almost no building to house animals, that the animals were in the same crates as transported in and that most looked to not have been walked in days. They said Tammy would need at least 20-30 people to care for the number of animals she had and that nobody was on site. This story is not near over and my guess is you will hear differing accounts for a while...someone is sending me pictures I hope showing the condition of the dogs, which they state is horrible. If groups sent these animals to Tammy ..it does not mean they intentionaly put these animals in harms way in my opinion. Below you find an account by a person who entered the facility and the letter sent by Pasado soon after Tammy's arrest.

Here are pics of the property. Did Pasado reps actually go to this facility as suggested in emails that I saw? It doesn't take much to see it isn't a facility at all. How many dogs were already on site when Pasado dumped off its group?
---
Dog In Its own Feces and not one little dodo either --

More pics?
Picture 1 (dead dog)

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Account By Person going into the property --

From the gated entrance to her property the piles of trash began.There was not a single permanent building on the property. Therewas a storage unit with no doors for one group of dogs. The restwere lucky if they had a barrel to go in, but when you have 15 to 20dogs per pen and 3 barrels, I would say very few dogs had anyshelter at all. The poor Katrina pit bulls, rotties, and chows linethe driveway and way beyond and in the crates they came in fromBaton Rouge, NO COVER, NO PROTECTION FROM THE SUN, THE RAIN,ANYTHING and stuck in tiny crates!!!!! The pens donated to care forthem sit unused at the entrance to the property. Tammy wouldnt evenallow the sheriffs department to set them all up to help the dogsstuck in crates!! It would appear that the poor dogs have not beenout of these crates since the day they arrived. ALL WHERE FILLEDWITH PISS AND FECES. The poor dogs had no where to sit, or evenstand. On poor pit mix was desperately trying to stand on his crapcovered food bowl, balancing like the elephants in the circus, toget out of the shit. I can not tell you how many had burns,swollen legs and feet and horrible looking skin due to sitting intheir own wastes. IT WAS SICK AND WOULD MAKE ANY NORMAL PERSON BEOUTRAGED.

I have 176 pictures of the property and the dogs but am not beingable to upload to the group. Is there a trick to this?? I will try again tomorrow but am too tired to keep trying.

The entire property was covered in trash. There were dead anddying dogs and even the lucky dogs that were running free werethirsty. I have never seen so many dogs in my life and have neverseen such a disgusting and nasty place. The sheriffs departmentdeserves a commendation for what they did last night. All rescuersshould be singing their praises. They are going to be desperate forhelp and I can promise you that by tomorrow morning there will bemore dead dogs. The only pens with fewer than 10 or so dogs arethe ones that the humane society and sheriffs department set up.

I would guess there are 500 dogs there and I did not see A SINGLEALTERED MALE!!! I did see many many females with sagging tits andvery few puppies. I can imagine the survial rate of newborn puppiesin a pen with another 50 large adult dogs. Every single pen, everysingle crate was nasty. There was not a clean water bowl, feed pan,or even a place for a dog to sit, for any of the dogs locked up incrates or pens. (Except for the few provided by the humane society)The roaming dogs were the lucky ones, but even they had no water.Although it looked like Tammy had a swimming pool (above ground) setup for herself.

They are going to need volunteers. Just cleaning the crates forthe katrina dogs is going to take forever, and the dogs are goingcrazy from being locked up so long.

I so intended to write a more detailed description of what I saw,but if I cant get the pictures to upload, I will email invidually toanyone who wants them.

There are going to be hundreds of dogs that are going to needhelp. Lots of black medium sized dogs and houndish types. Thesmallest number were from Katrina and even that number is going tobe overwhelming. The most discusting thing to me is that the poorKatrina dogs were dumped and are suffering the worst. Pasadoshould be held accountable for dumping these dogs in thissituation. If they did in fact inspect the "facility" (is this whatyou would call a tent with a tv in it?) then again they should beheld accountable for not giving a shit.

I will not argue with anyone that hasnt been there or that wont gohelp these most pathetic dogs. Were the pictures on the news notenough? Ask me. I will send mine. Most of my dead dog shots cameout as video, but I can send those too. How many dead and dying andsuffering dogs dogs it take to make a person "bad"? If anyonebelieves that two people can take care of 500 dogs, even 400 dogs, or that it is exceptable to leave over 100 dogs in crate filled withpiss and poop for 9 days then I do want to know who you are. I forone will never send dogs your way.

There is absolutely no defense for the neglectful behavior of Pasadofor sending dogs to her when they were begged not to, or for thecondition of the dogs in the care of Tammy and her husband. Thiswoman is a very sick person.

There are mountains of food, out in the driveway, but I think thatbowls are desperately needed to be able to give these dogs cleanfood and water. Metal prefered as they dogs are in crates seemed tobe tearing up the cheap plastic bowls. I know that they will needbleach, dog houses, leashes, and most of all people willing to helpthe dogs NOT from Katrina. Those that recommended her, ought to bethe first to jump in and take 50 or so.

Here is what Pasado asked me to post this morning --

Innocent Dogs
Pasado offers to transport the animals out of state.
Light up the phone and fax.

URGENT UPDATE: 10/21 10:16 pm pm PST
Your help is needed NOW!
CROSSPOST WIDELY PLEASE!

Dozens of pitbulls, who we rescued, walked, hugged, and cared for for days, were transferred to a shelter in Arkansas named EDNA (Every Dog Needs a Home) after the Humane Society of Louisiana, as well as Best Friends had sent animals there. We also had volunteers travel to EDNA and return stating that animals were well-cared for. After these credible recommendations, PasadoRescue chose to place non-aggressive pitbulls with EDNA.

From what we can tell, Ms. Hanson has been under attack for years for caring for pitbulls by various local Arkansas groups, warranted or not. Tonight, spurred on by these local groups, sheriff's deputies raided Ms. Hanson's facilities and charged her with animal cruelty. We understand they are threatening to kill dogs tomorrow.

We understand that the veterinarian who assisted the sheriff in the raid stated these animals are vicious. We know, for a fact, that the animals that we transported to this facility were on our laps, able to be hugged, loved, fed by hand. This is untrue. He also stated that none of these animals had been treated by a veterinarian prior to transport to AR. Also not true. ALL the animals transported were all under the care of licensed veterinarians. We have records to prove it.

If these animals were not well cared for by Ms. Hanson, then we agree that animals need to be removed. And PasadoRescue will gladly take care of all transport and care. But NO LAW ENFORCEMENT ENTITY has a right to kill these animals. These are the pets of hurricane victims. People are still trying to find their animals.

You need to call the Baxter County Arkansas Sheriff and the Arkansas State Attorney General and tell them that killing these animals is killing someone's pet. Someone's property. And they will be legally liable.
Sherrif John Montgomery: Tel 870-425-7551 or 870) 425-6222 Fax: 870-425-1669
Mike Beebe, Arkansas Attorney General Tel1-800-482-8982 E-mail: Here

Read the letter sent to the Arkansas State Attorney General and to Sheriff John Baxter

Date: October 21, 2005 9:06pm PST
To: Sheriff John Montgomery Baxter County, Arkansas, Mike Beebe Arkansas Attorney General
By Certified USPS mail, facsimile and electronic mail

I am writing on behalf of Pasado's Safe Haven, an authorized animal rescue group involved in Hurricane Katrina rescue work in the Gulf. We understand you and others in your state are planning to euthanize dogs rescued on behalf of residents of the State of Louisiana that have been confiscated from Tammy Hanson. We believe this would be a moral and, quite likely, a legal mistake... SEE THE REST OF THIS LETTER IN THE FIRST COMMENT.

St. Bernard Parish Rabies, Tatoo and Chip Info Available

2005-10-21T14:13:00.000-05:00

STB RABIES and other DATA: This link has rabies and mircochip info for STB...First time online,.....this is important ]

http://www.islandbusinessgroup.com/stbernard.asp

Please get to ALL SHELTERS....AND TO VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE HELPING TO REUNITE. I HAVE HAD MANY PEOPLE ASK ME FOR THIS....

also they have several more hardrives to recover data off of so they will have additional info into the database in the future. Keep trying even if you don't get the info the fist time you try.

Dog Fighting and Dog Stealing

2005-10-19T22:07:00.000-05:00

NOTE: I GOT SEVERAL DIFFERENT REPORTS ON THIS ISSUE. SEVERAL PEOPLE CALLED ME TO TELL ME THAT THE ISSUE WAS UNDEREPORTED AT TYLERTOWN AND SERIOUS. TWO INDIVIDUALS WHO WORKED AT THE SHELTER CLAIM THAT CERTIANLY ANIMALS GOT STOLEN. OTHERS CLAIMED THAT THEY THINK IT WAS ONE INSTANCE 3 WEEKS AGO. ALL AGREED THAT NOTHING HAS HAPPENED SINCE SECURITY WAS IMPLEMENTED. THE REAL FACTS AND NUMBER WILL NEVER BE KNOWN.

NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT PITBULLS FELL VICTIM TO THE LOW LIFES WHO RUN THE FIGHTING RINGS IN THIS STATE DURING THIS CRISIS. HOW MANY DID THEY SIMPLY PICK UP OFF THE STREETS? THIS STATE NEEDS TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT ITSELF. WHAT RESCUERS UNCOVERED IS THAT THE PLIGHT OF ANIMALS IN LA WAS DESPERATE BEFORE ANY HURRICANE. FIGHTING SEEMS TO BE MORE WIDELY ACCEPTED THAN IN OTHER STATES.

FOLLOWING MAY OR MAY NOT BE TOTALLY ACCURATE BUT IT IS ONE RESCUERS ACCOUNT:

We have heard that Lamar Dixon had many animals stolen by proffessional Pit Bull fighters and now Tylertown cries out for help. Last night after promising the day before from the Sherriff dog looters once again took dogs from the shelter and fought them to DEATH in ear shot of the shelter. I would like to know that this is handled. This state needs to provide support for those supporting it. Leave it to people from all over the world to care more than they do.

As Reprinted --
Rescue efforts being hindered by dog fighters

I have just returned from my second trip to the area and those of us working in animal rescue disaster relief are having to face yet another horrifying challenge.

On top of all the suffering the animals of Katrina have suffered, they are now being stolen from the sanctuaries and holding areas erected to treat and house them. In Tylertown, MS where the HSLA has been treating animals abandoned in New Orleans, there is a dog fighting ring less than a 30 second drive from the entrance of the camp. We have asked to local sheriff for help daily with no response. Night after night we had to take security shifts and guard against men trying to enter camp to get our dogs.

The people of Tylertown have expressed their own frustration at the growing business of dogfighting in their community. They feel helpless and frustrated and are sorry that our animals are paying for the inability of their citizens to intervene in this heinous criminal activity.

To our horror several dogs have been taken from the property. After all, they are seasoned criminals and didn't have a hard time figuring out how to get around our dog runs. They take friendly animals that go eagerly to the gate in hopes of getting petted. I can hardly stand to think of the torture that these creatures endure before their deaths. We found a deceased Pitt Bull in a makeshift fighting ring last Monday. We are at the end of our rope.

Now, instead of using donations to build more runs, or transport animals to foster homes and rescues, we are having to build security fencing, purchase motion activated lights, alarms, air horns and other tools to protect our dogs. Instead of taking as many dogs from New Orleans as we can house, treat, and feed, we are having to limit our intake to the number of dogs we can keep safe, depending on the number of volunteers we have to fill 24 hour security shifts.

We are receiving no help from local authorities. During the night, we have had up to four men attempt entry to the camp. Earlier this week, FEMA offered to provide us nighttime security, but that fell through because the Gov. of MS would not grant permission for them to be there. Apparently FEMA cannot help if not asked by a state authority. The sheriff has said that he does not want them in Tylertown. So not only are they not helping to protect us and our animals from these vicious dog fighters, they are not allowing others to help us.

We need a voice to ask the Gov. of MS to do the right thing and let FEMA protect our camp from these monsters who delight in the torture of the helpless and vulnerable creatures left injured and abandoned in the wake of Katrina. Ours has not been heard.

There are still thousands of animals waiting to be rescued from New Orleans and they need our help. Just last week, we found a dog who had been tied to a door knob for 5 weeks and was still alive. Also, we recovered a dog that had crawled into a cupboard above a stove during the storm and was trapped there until last week when a rescuer heard her barking. (Both are doing well now, putting on weight in foster homes.) The 9Th ward has hardly yet to be touched by animal relief workers.

Please, we cannot continue in the fashion necessary as long as the safety of our animals and volunteers is at risk.

End---
It seems unthinkable that dogfigting could go on within earshot of the shelter and then be followed by gunshots but I have spoken to people who promise me it is true.

---------------------------------------------------------
Here is my house "On Fosters" 6 total now on board. They are not to be on the couch. I told them to stay off! What are they thinking?

Who is that doggy in the window?

Surely We Can Help Jack

2005-10-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

Lots of good info coming out on Katrina Rescue. I have had to slow down on the Posts and will update the blog Every few days. I have some good stuff coming...and you can always post your "comments" in the most recent post.

If you want to see the best animal rescue Pictures go to -- Click here and each days post has great Pics. Warning the Post "UNFORGIVABLE Endings" is dead animals. I would skip it if you do not want to see images like that (just don't click on that post)

For the next few days can we help Jack?

Jack would prefer year round warm weather as he needs bathed/washed off several times per day. Will look at any reasonable option. Post any ideas in comments for foster mom and shelter to pursue. Please forward this to anyone who you think could help.

Call 508-867-5525 and speak with Foster mom if you are dead serious about adopting Jack. But read below first to understand Jacks unique needs.

Jack's situation is URGENT! Jack needs a new home as soon as possible. He will not be able to stay in his current foster home once the cold sets in and due to his disability, returning to the shelter is not an option.

Jack is a 2 year old purebred yellow Labby boy! We are looking for a very special home for this wonderful young dog because he is disabled. Back in October of 2004, Jack suffered a fibro-cartilaginous embolism (FCE) - basically a stroke in his spinal column near his tail. He has come a long way since then. His strength and mobility improves a little more each day and he walks pretty well now. A simple wag of his tail brings us great joy! He is currently in foster care and he loves to play with balls, play tug, chase cats, bugs, squirrels, and anything else that moves. Because of his disability, he feels vulnerable around other dogs and therefore doesn’t like them. He would be very happy placed as an only pet! He adores the kids in his foster home who are 6 and up. Jack has so much love in him and we are trying to find an owner that is willing to accept him with his disabilities. Jack's perfect home would be one with a walk out basement or level home as he can't handle stairs or high steps. He will still drag himself if he gets too excited. His new owners will need to be committed to taking him out every 3-4 hours during the day so he can relieve himself because he still has some incontinence problems. He is on a strict feeding schedule which helps keep him regular. He has been very successful staying dry at night as well. His skin will need to be cared for on an ongoing basis since he is prone to scrapes and urine burns in his condition. A Doggon' Wheels cart was donated to Jack by Jen from PA whose had purchased one for her dog! He is adjusting to the cart quite well and we think that its use will make him more adoptable as he can go use it on multiple surfaces! He is very strong in his front end and has the power to easily pull himself around. Jack is very affectionate and he's also a good watch dog. His foster mom is currently working with a trainer to brush up on Jack's obedience skills. We are hoping that someone out there will open their heart and home to this young boy! Jack is in foster care with Second Chance Animal Shelter in East Brookfield, MA. If you are interested in adopting Jack, Call 508-867-5525 and speak with Foster mom.

More info on Jack:
http://www.secondchanceanimals.org/SCAS_jack.htm

Fill out the Application on at this link -- Click here

Can't adopt Jack? why not help out with another animal at www.secondchance.org

**Pictures of the Day**
I think this is Jane Garrison. The Mayor would tell these dogs are delirious and the State Vet would tell you Jane is contracting the plague at this moment and will be dead by tomorrow. Have I told you how fond I am of the State Vet?

Here is Billy and I at the airport before the trip. All the stuff on the cart is my luggage. That little white bag is all Billy brought and I swear it is the truth. If you are new to the blog you probably have not heard how I called Billy at 8Pm the night before and told him he was going on an airplane. That is all I told him. He had not been on one since 1987 and didn't believe me when I told him we didn't need paper tickets. His ID was expired so they interviewed him for 30 minutes at security. I had him carry on a bag which had a hammer and some other things that they confiscated. I had to stop him from smoking on the plane. Those little badges are official "animal evacuation team" badges made by Francis my designer.

Legislation Boring But Important-Please support H.R.3858

2005-10-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

First time here? Read the Oldest Posts and LOOK AT PICTURES at the links below. Words can't describe what rescuers saw once they hit the ground.

1. Read some of the oldest Posts first to get the entire story.
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. My own favorite Post: Click here
8. To reunite pets with owners: Click here

A Handwritten Note Begging for Mercy for dogs left behind in a school used as an evacuation center. The Butcher of St Bernard found no mercy only torture and bullets when they blasted away instead of feeding 14 small dogs and puppies. Our rescue team discovered this after being asked to respond to see if the animals were alive. We found the animals shot and had CNN over the next day and the Attorney Generals Office interested in 24 hours. Pasado Rescue quickly got involved with a reward and offer to assist with the investigation. HSUS had pictures of the shootings many days prior to us finding them. I am not sure why they didn't act.

Legislation Boring But Important-Please support H.R.3858
Reprinted from this website: http://dsmith.fpage.com/hr3858_pets.htm

"Dear God you remember Hurricane Katrina and Rita and the horrid way pets were left behind to die some a slow and very horrid death. You know how we and others have prayed that this would never happen again with your help this may come true.

A wonderful group of people in Washington and across the world have been trying to require families to stay together like they have in the state of Minnesota. Did you know they save not only the humans but their companion animals too. They say in Minnesota not only is it right to keep a family together, in the long run it saves money for the tax payer too.

Take New Orleans and surrounding areas what will be the cost of cleaning up all the human and animal body's? What will be the cost to the children who lost their furry companion? What will be the cost to the little old ladies who had to leave the only ones who loved the cats. What will be the cost to the family who came home and found their companion animal had died in the crate where the left him to be safe or the companion animal who they tied to be safe both drowned little by little. What will be the cost to families when they here about the 12 to 15 pets - dogs and puppies- that had been tied to classroom windows, doors and then shot."

Please support H.R.3858
Title: To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to ensure that State and local emergency preparedness operational plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or emergency.

Press Release

Congressman Tom Lantos Legislation Will Ensure That in Future Disasters, People Will Not be Forced to Abandon Household Pets

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Washington, DC – Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and co-sponsors Christopher Shays (R-CT), Don Young (R-AK) and James Oberstar (D-MN) and Barney Frank (D-MA), today introduced legislation to ensure that in any future disaster, federal officials will not separate people from their household pets and service animals such as seeing-eye dogs, as they did in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS Act, H.R. 3858), requires local and state emergency preparedness authorities to include in their evacuation plans how they will accommodate household pets or service animals in case of a disaster. Local and state authorities must submit these plans in order to qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The devastation in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama brought unbelievable images into American homes every night,” Lantos said. “The losses of life and property were simply staggering. And on top of all that, the sight of evacuees choosing between being rescued or remaining with their pets, perhaps even having to leave behind the trained and faithful helping animals that some people with disabilities rely on every day, was just heartbreaking. Our legislation will put an end to that.”

Lantos is the co-founder of the Friends of Animals Caucus; he currently co-chairs the caucus with Rep. Shays.

“Katrina taught us the hard lesson that, as we prepare for future emergencies, it's important we include in our plans ways to protect our pet owners and their pets,” Shays said. “The common-sense bill we are introducing today requires state and local preparedness groups to include in their protocols plans for evacuation of pet owners, pets and service animals in the event of a major disaster so that owners don’t have to make a choice between their personal safety and their pets’ safety."

At a news conference announcing the bill, officials from the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Doris Day Animal League and the Best Friends Animal Society emphasized their support for this initiative.

Lantos is a cosponsor of a dozen bills addressing issues raised the Gulf Coast disaster. Among these bills are measures to give Medicaid to those affected by the disaster, to provide additional funds to local and educational agencies to support elementary and secondary schools for displaced students, to assist vulnerable children in foster care by providing states maintenance payments on behalf of foster children in areas affected by the hurricane, and to let natural disaster victims declare bankruptcy as needed without having to enter newly-enacted repayment programs.

My Saddast Day -- Max Didn't Have a Chance.

2005-10-12T10:22:00.000-05:00

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.

In Salute of Military, ATF, Federal Marshals, Police...

2005-10-11T11:25:00.000-05:00

In Salute of the Guard, The Military, The ATF, Federal Marshals, FBI and the New Orleans Police

In Salute of the Guard, The Military, The ATF, Federal Marshals, FBI and the New Orleans Police

These groups saw what was happening on the ground and ALL stepped up to the challenge of saving animals without direct orders to do so. They quickly incorporated it into the day’s routine.

I can’t say enough about how they helped. Not only did they help but they went out of the way to do so. They constantly asked for supplies that they loaded onto their own vehicles to feed animals. They had our phone numbers and called us constantly to provide needed intelligence on trapped animals. They got rescuers through checkpoints with no credentials. In the early days their vehicles were virtually lined up at the YMCA loaded with dogs and cats. It was quite a sight. They were all animal rescuers. They respected us to as they called us into all kinds of situations to get animals out; including one murder scene where Billy took out a Pit Bull.

Some went further and set up shelters like Camp Luck and Camp Lucky II and the Navy set one up on a ship.

Gary, The Federal Marshal actualy brought this girl in

This Was The Top Brass of the Guard Coming to see that the Dogs and US were ok

Notice The Food in the Truck

Guard Bringing In Animals (some commented they didn't have much to do since the city was now secure)

This is Gary actually cleaning the camp - Amazing. Also this is the night that Billy and I stayed at the YMCA on our own. Notice how dark it gets. And glad that someone gave us a gun. I'm not a big fan but in this case...

This was our alarm at camp for the night. If somone came through the gate they would have to make that dog bowl drop. The guard was in full force during the day but at night you were on your own and it was quite spooky. No lights on streets so someone could walk real close before you saw them

State Government Slow and How 100+ Volunteers Are Finding Lost Pet Owners

2005-10-09T08:33:00.000-05:00

1. Read some of the oldest Posts first to get the entire story.
2. This blog has the best pics so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics

3. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics
4. And this is one of our groups blogs --

5. Most amazing photography: I mean must seeHere!
6. Amazing!!
7. My favorite Post

and My favorite Picture is my buddy "Josh" who I had with me for over 15 days through thick and thin getting home to his Dad, Earl who is 76 and retired. Thanks for hanging out Josh. You can read all about him in a post below. That is his foster mom Shelley who took him when I left NO. Today Josh was fixed and mircochipped. Earl previously spolied him with biweekly grooming and Josh looks forward to getting back on that schedule. He was one cool dog. We know this guy saw some rough times and deep water but you never would have know it. He was 8 miles from home.

This State Government Blows and How 100+ Volunteers Are Finding Lost Pet Owners

"Groups of animal activists have come into the city since Hurricane Katrina, and are breaking and entering homes to remove pets." LASPCA this after these exact same volunteers were credentialed by LASPCA and rescued at least 12,000 animals from this city. Now we are animal activists.

"most animals are delirious" Mayor Nigin in Press Conference to question asked by Eric Rice

"we are winding down to normal rescue operations" -- State Vet in the Advocate Newspaper

“how did you get my number? in my opinion the animals at Lamar Dixon have been adequately tracked” -- Assistant State Vet Marsha Littlefield

“those animals posed a health risk” – M. Minton. days after he used someones pets as target practice (just a few days after the storm)

“I’ve put worse things into my body than this toxic stuff” – Billy, as he refused a suit and mask and jumped in the back of a truck with Bourbon our dog rescued from the toxic water.

Asst. State Vets Marsha Littlefield Phone and Fax—(post her response in comments) PH: 225-933-8121 Fax: 225-237-5555

I am po’d this am. I just got Jane Garrison’s update and I watched the Animal Planet special about the rescue operation. Two things strike me -- more animals could have been saved and more can be saved if common sense was/is used. How can we be ok with rescuers told to not rescue on Animal Planet? If it was simply space then go get more space. The state had NO interest in saving anything more than an "acceptable" number of animals. A number that would allow them to say they responded. Some people like Nigin seemed to have no information on animals throughout the entire crisis.

First I’d like to make sure you get to watch this video of my team pulling a dog out of a bathroom alive after 29 days on his own. This has been rescuers experience time and time again that some of these animals are surviving and they are not “delirious” as the Mayor puts it. (By the way has anyone checked the Mayor’s backyard for an abused dog yet? I AM NOT KIDDING) Contrary, the ones that are stuck in and on houses know they are in trouble. Before we started taping we had an unstable chair propped up and you don’t see it but this poor guy was literally trying to climb up the walls to get out. We saw this from animals over and over again...They know they are in trouble and they are helpless WITHOUT US. They want to be saved…bad. (more video every coming every day, check back)

So check this VIDEO out and be happy that rescuers are rescuing: www.donrudolph.net/movie.wmv (WARNING 1 PIECE OF BAD LANGUAGE. sorry)

Excerpts from Jane’s email: (is she the only one in this saga with any common sense?) I have to tell you that the more I dig the more the state and LASPCA look like they tied the hands of the HSUS in many ways.

****************

OCTOBER 8, 2005: WE ARE STILL RESCUING AND STILL NEED HELP!

We pulled a dog out of a warehouse yesterday who was completely skin and bones. This dog was able to survive because there was access to water but no food. He is one of many we have seen like this. If there is one...there are others and we must come to their rescue!

As of September 30th, the HSUS was forced to stop rescuing animals due to orders by the Louisiana State Vet. It was ridiculous that this vet could pick some arbitrary date of when rescuing should end. She did this without ever consulting with those of us actually rescuing. I refused to stop this rescue operation knowing that there were still animals trapped behind closed doors in attics, bathrooms and carriers. I could not fathom the thought of them wasting away while a state vet believed they could no longer be alive. Because the state vet closed Lamar Dixon for intake of animals we had to find temporary places to bring the animals. Since Oct. 1 we have rescued over 300 animals which certainly proves the state vet wrong. The volunteers are still staying at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in tents and will be able to do so until October 15th...We do a volunteer orientation 9pm each night in front of the Prowler trailer between barn 1 and 2. We send our teams out at 5:30am.

Warm regards,

Jane Garrison
***********************
So why does Jane Garrison and her volunteers (the ones the state was so happy to have just weeks ago) need to hideout from the State Vet and LASPCA when she was the star of the show for LASPCA along with 300-500 HSUS volunteers that helped this state through the worst animal crisis in the history of the world? Nobody stopped rescuing humans while they were still stuck on roofs.

Lets face it for all the criticisn the HSUS has gotten they did put the most rescuers and resources on the ground. No doubt. HSUS in my opinion has answered my questions and admitted areas where they could have done better.

Why would the state stop the momentum that Jane and the HSUS had finally gotten into place? It was working and it was working pretty well – “Feeding Program” itself saved 1000's of dogs and I estimate it might have saved 10,000 cats (who are starving again I imagine as Jane certainly can’t have the team she had when she was “authorized”).

I have it from good sources that HSUS is supporting rescues even though they may not be able to state it out right (more stupid politics and legalize I am sure but at least they are still around) We got reports yesterday of owner after owner thanking rescuers for feeding cats. The owners are finding the cats sitting on the porch happy and healthy in many cases.

The concept that homeowners would flood back into the city and rescue the animals is false. I have to estimate that only 2-5% have returned home and in hard hit areas maybe less. We are fielding dozens of requests a day to "check my house for my pets."

The LASPCA put out a puff document about how they wanted volunteers who are animal control officers and others...but not a single email or phone number on that document appears to work. Animal control officers only? Yea, that will happen...Very few of the people that came to help in the first place were animal control officers. These people all have huge problems in their own cities. Of course some came. Does the dog in the video need to be rescued by an animal control officer? WE ARE ALL SMART ENOUGH TO STAY AWAY FROM AGRESSIVE DOGS. DUH! The cases of animal attacks and disease are almost nonexistent (I did get nicked by a poodle) and every rescuer that went or goes understands the risks and accepts them. Does the state vet have one verifiable case of anyone catching a communicable disease from a pet? This excuse is always used to keep pets out of evacuations and now being used to call off rescues. 90% of the animals left are well fed and hiding under houses scared to death.

Yesterday the requests started pouring in from homeowners that needed a dead animal removed. Calls to LASPCA were given the information –“we do not know who does that.”

How about a simple statement by the Mayor. "As you come back into the city please check on your neighbors pets and bring some dog and cat food as your neighbors pets may be right underneath the house or in the backyard and starving. We don’t suggest you approach aggressive animals.” For that manner how about one simple statement by the Gov or the Mayor about the animals of Katrina.

The crisis continues. We are fielding calls and emails from people in desperate attempt to have pets rescued from houses and we are working around the clock to reunite pets with owners in this mess of a “system.” Read below about how people are helping pet owners in this system.

“Owner Beware” – The system for finding a lost pet is almost not a system at all. Petfinder.com has become the defacto standard by that state yet many evacuees have no house and no job yet alone internet access. Petfinder.com is particularly confusing even to the Internet savvy. I have had several pet owners ask me what street it is on. The state making the use of Petfinder.com virtually the only way to find your pet is another injustice to pet owners, especially the poor and elderly. The system for finding a pet is a royal mess with absolutely no way to fix it now that animals have been sent all over the country and Canada without being tracked. Some shelters are adopting out pets others are being exceptional about finding owners and extending hold times.

So how many volunteers would have had to be used to check every address in New Orleans that first week or so?

Well I have always said that it would take about the same number of rescuers as the city had on as Garbage Collectors x 2. The garbage collectors hit every house in the city once a week right? Multiply by 2 since checking a house for a live animal takes a few more minutes than picking up the garbage. I think that by the time the response was organized by map sections with dedicated teams per area many animals had perished or already were to weak to bark…and of course you have the cat problem as they are so quit. You just needed so many rescuers on the ground to cover the entire city. Was it impossible?

We will never know how many but the worst feeling is all of those animals we didn’t get to behind closed doors.

From Stealth Volunteers Now 120 People strong is helping to match lost pets to owners. Site telling people how to search for an owner is http://www.KatrinaSanAntonio.com

The group searching for owners is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stealthvolunteers/ They have about 120 people doing this now and are solving dozens of cases every day. Some of them I would have thought were impossible, but they are a very collaborative group and they make a lot of breakthroughs. Join if you want to help a pet locate its owner.

Billy Playing Around with cuffs the girls found on the bridge:

"Dog Gone Airlines"
Flights Chartered by T Boone Pickens To Rescue Animals

You Can Rescue Animals

2005-10-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

Directions to rescuing an animal in your own backyard. No disaster necessary.
Bear At Feeding Time With Beagles

Several weeks before coming to New Orleans my dog rescuing started in Western Maryland. (It actually started with the two I have at home one from “Lost Dog Rescue in N. Va” and another from the Anne Arundel County Animal Control.

By my fathers farm is a small town called Crellin (population: approximately 100). On the road you turn to go into Crellin sets a well kept little house. Right along side the road by the house was a little dog box with a rather large Lab chained to it. The dog was chained for years. They didn’t beat him or anything and I am sure he was fed but I never in many years saw him off the box. It is cold in Western Maryland in winter. I remember passing by in blizzards, rain and baking heat. He was always on the box.

I always thought about how to get him off that box. Finally I just decided I had to try. I wasn’t going to steal him or anything. My father knows everyone so I told him to stop by and ask them if he could take the dog to the farm.

The first response was that they needed the dog for protection. The last crime in Crellin was the some high school kids who knocked over some mailboxes with Pumpkins. I am serious. These are nice people but even nice people take for granted what it might be like to be tied to a box for 4 years. My father started working on them and telling them “Bear” would be so happy on the farm with 11 Beagles and 1 Australian Sheppard. They were not that receptive at first.

I also had him offer money. This got some attention. I simply decided I was going to pay them whatever it took. Next they tried to horse trade. The son wanted a Beagle in return for Bear. Not happening. I upped my offer to $500. I was prepared to go much much higher at this point.

Funny, after a few months they came around. I think with a little insight they must have started to realize it wasn’t right for that dog to be tied up all the time. The final negotiation was a few hundred dollars and that the son could have a Beagle but it stays on the farm. He can come up and see it whenever he wants and they can see Bear whenever they want.

Folks, plenty of animals to be saved in your own back yard. Get creative.

Bear Playing (Now on My Fathers Farm)

Ok how about some controversy? Here is the picture I took of the Mayor right before I asked him the questions about animals to which he replied that the animals as he understood it where all "delirious." Right before that the Governor walked in and they gave each these big hugs like they were long lost friends. Has a anyone heard either of them say a peep about animals? Many people came up to me afterwards and said please tell rescuers to keep up the work as these two don't care. It is the Mayors and Governors own people who are going to suffer years more because of lost pets and they could help that suffering but they don't understand it not do they want to.

Someone should check the Mayor's house to see if he has an an unfixed, half fed dog, with heartworm (we are finding that as many as 75% of rescued dogs have heartworm( tied to tree behind his house...seems like the type.

LASPCA has virtually destroyed rescue operations. The momentum was bashed when Jane Garrison had no place to go. She has a list of 1700 animals being fed and watered not to mention as many as 10,000 cats (that is a guess but cats were on every conrer in the city). Jane's team was feeding virtually every block of the city. Who will feed them? Nobody I guess.

We had plans to put out small kiddie swimming pools and fill them with water via big water trucks in St Bernard. This never happened and won't now I guess. It could have but they kicked the creative thinkers out. This is all on the LASPCA now. They say they have "enough" rescuers. Tell that to the old lady that just called me who trapped an ill tempered pit bull in her shed. She wants it out. She has no idea who to call. She called LASPCA but no answer. To think that these people said "all is well thanks for coming but we don't need your help anymore just 30 days after the biggest pet crisis/disaster in the history of the world. Shame on all the politics.

Good stuff coming but for today...Just Need More Help

2005-10-06T13:40:00.000-05:00

This blog has the best pics so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics
http://justthinkingaboutit.blogspot.com/

And this is one of our groups blogs --
http://savethepetskatrinarescue.blogspot.com/

Old man who never evacuated "rescuing dogs." He asked us for treats for them. He was a little off but the dogs seemed fine for the time being.

Good stuff and info coming on the blog but for today...Just Need More Help. The need is still massive.

Also Here is a website that will help you find a pet if you lost one:

http://www.findkatrinapets.com/pages/1/index.htm

Phase 2 needs as of 10/6/05

A massive operation still exists

NOTE THAT PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THAT ST. BERNARD'S PARISH STILL IN NEED OF RESCUERS. MY CONTACT AT CNN TOLD ME HE MENTIONED TO THE SHERRIF THAT RESCUERS HAD CONCERNS ABOUT ACCESS AND HE GOT ON HIS RADIO AND TOLD ALL HIS DEPUTIES TO LET ALL ANIMAL RESCUE TEAMS IN. ????

Individual listings describe site locations where volunteers/supplies are
needed. You may contact people specified within a listing. If you still have
questions, email info@kinshipcircle.org or call 314-863-9445. We are flooded
with calls, but will do our best to provide information not found in this
volunteer alert.

10/6/05 —Hurricane Help for Animals Still Needed

IN THIS ALERT:
1.) Abbeville, New Iberia Animal Relief
2.) MuttShack M.A.S.H. Unit – New Orleans
3.) Winn-Dixie Site: Disaster Response Animal Rescue
4.) Pasado's Raceland, Louisiana Triage Area
5.) Lake Charles Rescue for Rita's Victims
6.) Alley Cat Allies Onsite For Feral/Stray Cats
7.) Humane Society of Louisiana in Tylertown, MS
8.) Help Horses, Cows... In Rita Storm Regions
9.) Emergency Response for Avian Victims
10.) Staging Area In Dothan , Alabama
11.) Supplies: Drop/Distribution Site
12.) Our Supply Distribution Site (Need Transporters!)

TO SEE IN DETAIL HOW TO SPECIFICALLY HELP ANY OF THESE CAUSES OR GROUPS GO TO THE "COMMENTS" UNDER THIS POST TO A COMMENT TITLED "PHASE 2 CONTINUED". It has very specific info about what to do and how to help. Get this website to people in your local community -- vets, feed stores, animal shelters. It is amazing once people hear things like "we need food for horses and cattle for 6 months" how they respond and organize. The plight of animals is undereported. Help spread the word. Go to Comments for huge list of needs.

Best Pics So Far and People to Be Commended

2005-10-05T12:28:00.000-05:00

This blog has the best pics so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics
http://justthinkingaboutit.blogspot.com/

My little guy --

This is the little lab/mix I tried to get for 2 weeks and finally got him on the 2nd to last day I was in town. He was trapped in his backyard with another dead dog and he was scared to death. This is his vet visit after being rescued (yes we took dogs to vet)

People to Be Commended

I need to give some credit. It is hard to write a blog and not have people assume all kinds of things. First I always had help. In the case of the dog in the drain pipe, that was a group effort with a bunch of great people from Atlanta....Gigi, Russ and others. In fact only one person could get out with the protective suit to get him. There was some small dispute about what to do with him as we were in a motor home and didn't want to contaminate it. I promise you I was ready to spend the night with him (we were miles and miles from areas that had living people). I would have never given him up after he got out of that pipe. Luckily, some guys drove by and I offered them $250 for the use of the truck. I would have paid whatever they wanted. They accepted and then Billy rode in the back of the truck with contaminated dust and contaminated dog. The great people from Atlanta split the $250 with me. Group effort. Here is a list: Lacey, Matt, Susanne, Billy, Kim, Catherine, Molly, Michelle, Jennifer, Fester, Joey, Lisa, Ashleigh, Joey, Camille, Joan, Tom Muller, Laura and many others that just showed up at the Rite Aid and made a difference. (I am forgetting so many, sorry).

A lady name Dorothy at www.dogdetective.com single handedly organized hundreds of volunteers sending them to Lamar, YMCA and Winn Dixie. She is still at it today. If you fill out her form you usually get a call from her in an hour.

Mark and his wife got hundreds of volunteers and supplies to the Winn Dixie. They are still at it today. He on site and his wife on the Internet. This type of operation was repeated in many locals by tenacious people. Mark rescued 16 animals himself yesterday proof of just how much is needed to do yet.

YMCA was set up and successful long before I came along. Gail and Lee and others had been at it for days (sorry names escape me sometimes). I did jump right in. Lee was the one that started feeding all the dogs instead of taking them. He went to many morning HSUS meetings and finally I think they got the idea as they started doing it to. See his interview with Anderson Cooper here on the blog. The feeding and watering in place and on the streets concept saved thousands of animals and was really great for cats who were hard to catch anyway. You can't drive a block anywhere in the city and not see spray painted marking a feeding and watering station. When they all left YMCA to go home I figured that side of town still needed us so we attempted to work at YMCA but it had gotten very dangerous in town by them. We drove out the very first night and found the Rite Aid which was a perfect spot for a small rescue operation. Very nice piece of land at side of Rite Aid and the owner of the Pit Stop bar treated us like gold from day one. I don't mean drinking I mean bathrooms, ice, water, etc. Nobody had time to drink. I didn't have a single beer in the Pit Stop although I had one or two bought from the outside bar. It usually consisted of me drinking ½ a beer and then losing it as we were still working almost all night. One time I took our two cutest dogs to the outside tables and let some cops play with them and recruited volunteers for the next day. It was amazing how many locals wanted to help once they found out what we were doing...Matt and Susanne who lived near the Pit Stop worked with us full time for a week and are still at it. Susanne had already fostered and adopted 4 dogs and 6 cats in her townhouse and Matt fostered several until owners returned.

Quick aside: How do you get Billy to walk and feed all dogs in record time? Tell him when he is done he can go over to the Pit Stop and shoot 2 games of pool.

What I want to make sure is known is that everything done was a team effort all the time. The Rite Aid thing was great because just about the time we got enough good people we got “found” on the Internet so we got call after call after call from owners who sent us to addresses to check on specific pets.

Internet workers were a huge part of success. They have worked for 30 days or more 15 hours a day plus -- finding supplies, and finding owners who needed houses broken into and now they are all working on reunites. There was an army of these people who got me anything I needed. They were the communication. One post a few hours before Rita and we had 6 people offering us places to ride out the storm.

We had 3 vets near the Rite Aid that were on call. Dr. Abadi never turned us away. We just called on our way in from the field and took them right to his place. He charged me but not much. I insisted on giving him more than he wanted to charge so we felt like we could call him anytime we needed. A lady named Eilleen ran electric and water from her house for us and volunteered at camp many days.

All I am saying is when you look at a picture or hear a story know that dozens of people made that pic happen..actually thousands of people. And hundreds of people like me just showed up and started to work.

All people came for the right reasons but It was a tough and emotional environment. I can say that the 12-15 of us in the end at the Rite Aid got along magnificently. I mean it. We just didn't fight or argue hardly ever (notice I say hardly)

David Meyers Blog -- A true Hero; No previous Experience and helping to run HSUS rescue ops.

2005-10-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

Please see David Meyers Blog at http://saveapetkatrinarescue.blogspot.com/
His stories are very good.

And his pics at -- WARNING SOME ARE GRAPHIC

Some quotes from his blog (he ended up helping run HSUS rescue operations and some days he was the one giving the am briefings. HE HAD HIS ACT TOGETHER FOR SOMEONE THAT JUST WALKED INTO THE SITUATION-- Read his blog to get a better understanding of the horrow we encountered. This guy got things done.

Quotes from his blog--
"...Then, when I got home, our spokesperson Pia said she was going to volunteer. I thought that was admirable and told her to report to me. When she called me crying, saying I could not imagine the suffering, starvation, and the lack of organized human response, I realized I had to go."

"He left me roadside with this dog, and what I am about to say is 100% true: I knelt down and that little dog reared up on her hind legs, put her paws tightly around my neck, pressed her chest hard against mine and hugged me with her cheek pressed against my cheek. For 20 minutes, that dog stayed on her hind legs, hugging me tightly just like that. I just kept telling her 'You're welcome, you're welcome" and "you're safe now".

"There is much conflict between the shelter staff here who want to limit the number of animals we bring in, and the rescue staff like myself who want to bring in as many pets as we can. I understand space limitations and other concerns, but I and Jane Garrison feel strongly about putting all our efforts into rescuing. If there are too many pets coming in, then the focus should be on stepping up output to other shelters around the country, not ceasing life-saving rescue operations. We are here to make a miracle happen and we can not accept a "no-can-do" attitude!" (There was a constant struggle to bring in more animals. Eric)

"We have only recently begun to use this list, as I didn’t know it existed until this week, and we are now saving pets that have had no contact for weeks." (Sept 25th he just got the list to use for the first time.)

Some friends of mine here are the reason I went--

Emails to me today from rescuers I worked with --
Daschund was called Lassie and reunited with delightful hispanic lady in Harvey - she could hardly speak english and only managed 'brown, black, friendly girl', but any doubts about ownership dispelled when entire family ran up shouting 'lassie, lassie' and dog almost peed with excitement. We have pictures.

Email to me from other rescuer -- (If you were not in this place take your worst nightmare for animals and then multiply by 20. Then see things you don't want to see but keep going because if you don't you can't save the ones still begging for help)

Eric, thank you for you NO diary. I, too, was in NO, but with the Pasado group.
You put into words my experiences. I have tried to explain to others what it was
like, but I am finding it hard to do the experience justice.
You have.
It breaks my heart being back home in (taken out) I want to be back down
there, helping again. So many animals need help, especially now. I keep going
over my contributions to the rescue effort and I try to shake the guilt from my
heart of the ones I did not see, or hear crying. What if the puppy I found was
the healthiest one, able to come to me, and I missed his litter mates
cowering/dying in the background somewhere?
Sorry, I know you, too, are having these thoughts, but reading your blogs
helps.
It is a source of shared comfort for those who were there, and a source of
honest information for those who weren't.
I would be back there in a second, but I cannot afford the long drive, or the
gas money again. If you know of any sponsors who are underwriting people to go
down to NO to help, please let me know.
I do not know if you had any expereiences with the Pasado safe haven group while
you were down there, but I found them to be an honest,
hardworking,tenacious,loving, focused group who kept the mission of saving the
animals their number one goal always.
It seems to me you have alot in common with them.
Again, thankyou, and let me know of If I can be of any help in the future

Find Max

2005-10-03T16:47:00.000-05:00

Any rescuers see this dog? Here is the request from owner. Typical case: not comfortable with internet, dog left by someone else etc. Does she really deserve just a few more days before MAX gets adopted out?

max was left at 5018 congress dr n.o.l.a. 70126 max was with my 11 year son who was living there with his aunt. they evacuated but chose to leave max there in the house. my sis in law is safe in alabama with my son. i have no way of going to new orleans at this time but i frantically search the web for him. i''ve only been using the computer since katrina hit so i am very illiterate. i have a slow system it's very frusterating. i have met a very wonderful person rebecca she is helping me as much as she can. that's how i got your address. max lost his tags which would have been very helpful because his tags were from az. i called bestfriends early after katrina and left his address but said they wouldn't be able to call me back. i'm enclosing pictures. thank you for any help you can give me.
celeste foley
928-636-6297 house

Previous Post Rescinded.

2005-10-03T14:11:00.000-05:00
First time here? Read the Oldest Posts and LOOK AT PICTURES at the links below. Words can't describe what rescuers saw once they hit the ground.

1. My own favorite Post: Click here
2. Best video footage: Click here
3. This blog has the BEST PICTURES so far of Katrina Animals. It is all pics and good ones Click here Warning pics of dead animals.
4. School shooting story WITHOUT ANY GORY PICS -- and ton of other great pics Click here
5. And this is one of our groups blogs --
Click here
6. Most amazing photography: I mean must see: Click here
7. To reunite pets with owners: Click here
8. Watch a Pitbull video Click Here

I recently put a post about euthanized dogs and had six quick comments that made me sway my decision to put it up. I obviously don't totally understand when and how and why dogs are euthanized so I retracted it. Someone with more knowledge than myself may may want to comment on it on this site. I don't personally have any experience on it. One comment reprimanded me saying that of course the breed Pits bred fopr fighting would need put down and how could I be so stupid to think otherwide. Well, I went to NO thinking crazy things about Pits and came away from it a changed person...We had dogs with scars all over them as some of the nicest guys in camp. I will admit those were quick expereinces and perhaps these dogs are dangerous to other animals and humans? Every thing I have written about I have felt I had first hand knowledge about and on this topic I just don't so I retracted it. People keep screaming at me for attacking the HSUS. Remember, I went to that camp as a proud member who sent my check off each month. I have simply pointed out specific mistakes rather than ever knock the entire organization. They have some great people.

Further, let be sure of the facts before we "demolish" an entire parish police department. As someone that had innacurate info put out about them I know the internet can be a very, very rumor oriented place. It is easy to guess who killed those animals in the school and easy to say it "must" have been the police...but lets be realistic, it could have been all kinds of people and we have NO let me repeat NO info saying it was any law officer. Let it be investigated by the AG before you fry someone.

State of The Reunion

2005-10-03T08:49:00.000-05:00
1. Look back here often. I have much to write about and the video and pictures are going to blow you away. I will also have guest writers and interviews from a variety of important and informed people. (including a video interview of Billy which should be quite hilarious as his take on every issue is quite amusing at times) Why is my blog a hit? Because the people like HSUS and LASPCA who could have told the story did not. Everyone knows what they put out was complete propaganda. God I got emails from SPCA and HSUS asking me for money the entire time. Even today the websites give no clear idea of what went on acting like they "saved the day" They tpok out a few thousands dogs at a cost per animals that is going to be insane and have now lost most of them. HSUS- Stop sending me donation requests in my email every 4 hours.

2. Please send me your pictures and video. I will copywrite them to you and publish to get the story out.

3. Email me so I can compile all your emails for long term communication. ericrice3@comcast.net

I am back in Baltimore but have resources to pick up all the "call ins" of owners that want animals rescued. All I did was organize some people. Plenty of people still on ground to go look at specific addresses. An animal lawyer tells me they can do nothing to stop a request from a private citizen to have a rescue group check on the house and even break in. Don't worry committed people on ground. I can do much here because I have the contacts to get information out. Today I want to focus on getting owners and pets reunited which is a serious problem given the ridiculous user interface of www.petfinder.com and Lamar Dixon /HSUS/LASPCA total lack of a way to allow owners to search. Let them comment that they have a way and I will counter with 100's of people who went in search of a pet only to be told "we don't know" where it is. I have testimony from the actual people doing intake saying it is a mess. And the assistant state vet Dr. Marth Littlefield ( I want to know by the way if this woman went on a single animal rescue?) has the gall to be rude and condescending to me and to tell me that all is "ok" with the Tracking System. Get on the internet Doc and read the posts of thousands desperate to find pets that WERE rescued. I will soon post all the places an owners should start looking.

If you took Animals out of state you MUST contact Anita at 302-668-8614 as we are compiling a list of every shleter that has animals. THESE ARE NOT YOUR ANIMALS AND MANY OF YOU ARE ACTING LIKE THEY ARE OR THAT YOU CAN PLACE THEM WITH PEOPLE BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS OWNERS. The goal here is reuniting owners and many people I met have the attitude that these owners do not deserve them back. I will write more on this topic later.

Posting on Petfinder is NOT good enough. You need to actively search and you need to foster these animals for months. Owners do not even know where to start looking. I heard that the state is saying owners have until October 15th and then animals adopted out? Ridiculous. Owners don't have a clue where to look and until it is organized by HSUS and LSPCA and private rescue orgs no animal should go to any permanent home.

If you have any info at all (phone, address pulled from, etc) we have people who know how to locate the owner. I found an owner in 6 hours yesterday and all I had was a nonworking phone number. I have databases that match that phone number with address and the deed owner of the house and vice versa. It is pretty easy. Once you have a person name you will eventually find them. When is LASPCA going to have a number to call to match rabies tag # with owner?

I could write for hours but I want to focus on our owner reunites just for yesterday....

State of The Reunion

My little team was so scared of the system that we rarely turned over any animal we thought we could find the owners on. I can say that one thing we did right was track our animals. WE KNOW WHERE VIRTUALLY ALL OF THEM ARE. The ones we don't got lost when we turned them over to other rescue groups. Totally lost.

Yesterday we found Joss's owner. Josh is the black lab. These are his new friends. I have had him with me for 15 days. Cute black lAB. Owner turned out to be 76 man desperate to find him. Had him since puppy. Son in law tried to ride out storm. When evacuated he had no choice but to put Josh in a church. How Josh he ended up 8 miles away who knows. These animals have stories. The man an his family are in Houston and estatic and driving to get him (in the save place I have him) on Wednesday. I am sad to see him go. He was my buddy. I got him out of the YMCA, he then was with me for days, I had a nice lady with some Kennels foster him for a few days, then he rode out the storm with me, then I moved him to the Rite Aid location we had until I found a location near Baton Rouge for him. Now he is going HOME. I found his owner by using the crisscross directory to find the owners name, then going and breaking into the house and getting a bunch of old mail. One piece of mail was the owners son. We found the owners son and the owners was living with them. They have spent hundreds of hours looking for Josh.

Reunited with owner Cute Dashund Mix(spelling?) dog. We left note for owner who called us yesterday and went and picked up the dog at Matt's house. Matt was a rescue volunteer and felt that this person would be home any day so he fostered the animal. So cute this little guy, notice to feet, they are almost backwards ---

White poodle -- owners sent a friend to confirm dog was dead after 29 days in house alone with 3 days food and water. She found dog alive but it was confused. She got FBI on street to come in who pulled over Lacey's rescue vehicle. Damn dog was alive and as soon as she got some water she was fine. Owner could not believe it and neither can the vets. She wrote the dog off weeks ago and just now found Dog was driven by film crew making a documentary to Morgan City two hours away and reunited.

We found dogs left in a cage with NO FOOD AND WATER ALIVE AFTER 21 DAYS. NO FOOD AND WATER. NONE. The worthless owner stopped us just 2 miles from his own house and asked us to "check on them" We rescued them and lost this guys number. They survived but look at the condition. This was Mom and puppy. This is why people are still rescueing. Animals like this still trapped Mr Mayor and they are not dangerous or delerios. Billy went through the door like a tornado with his sledge hammer (had to hit the steel door lock at least 40 times) and found them still in the cage in bathroom. It was a horrible and depressing scene until we heard they would live. Of course when WE WENT TO LOOK FOR THEM AT LAMAR DIXON THAT NIGHT WE COULD NOT FIND THEM EVEN THOUGH WE HAD THE ADDRESS THEY WERE PULLED FROM.

"Jaws" owner returns home and calls my note. I have been feeding Jaws a very cute brown dog at his house on Lasalle St. Feeding worked. He didn't need to join a pack and he stayed very healthy. The owner came home to a healthy and happy dog. See all the notes painted on house and him sitting on steps waiting for owner. This dog was rescued by "Lee" and his team at the YMCA who invented in place feeding that was later adopted by HSUS and allowed thousands of animals to be fed at their own homes. Great job Lee.

I have so many pictures. I will be posting all to one site in the coming days and weeks.

The Mayor's Conference

2005-09-30T16:50:00.000-05:00
I am telling you this place is just nuts. Some body from Homeland Security just came by and she got me into the mayor's conference. FBI, ATF, the National Guard, all sorts of security seemingly not knowing who was protecting who and none of them really seemed to care.

My question to the mayor was “Do you support or are you aware of a concerted effort to rescue animals trapped behind closed doors?” And his response: Didn’t answer at first about his support. Then he made some ridiculous comments about those animals being delirious. It was painfully obvious that he has no idea on this issue. It’s not at all important to him. He then commented that the LASPCA told him that animals are delirious. No one understood whether that meant that they would or would not be rescued. Went up to the mayor’s press person and she said that all they know they is that the state vet says to stay away from animals because they are delirious. I assume they mean vicious.

Let me tell you people. We get into houses to save these animals and they are begging to be rescued. They jump into your arms. Even the pit bulls. I have talked to 100s of rescuers. And they all confirm that these animals have a will to survive. A strong will. And they know that we are there to rescue them. Almost none are ever vicious. And if they are we go to the next place until we have the appropriate tools to deal with the more difficult ones. This state vet in Baton Rouge, not in the field spouting some garbage from a textbook saying that the animals are delirious. What the heck does that means? And this vet is potentially shutting down these rescue efforts. Time = life. Every day that goes by means another potentially dying pet.

From what I have seen here there is absolutely no way that they will stop rescuers tomorrow. I would just tell anyone to continue. The police, FBI, and National Guard are not going to stop on the street rescuers. But please be aware and careful to not take animals from people that have returned home.

Just a couple of things this morning.

2005-09-30T12:29:00.000-05:00
Just a couple of things this morning.

Yesterday, I gave everyone a heads up about things that had happened at the school that our team went to. You can see that our team’s info is good. We are on the ground and have the most up to date intelligence.

I am sitting here with Kim, who many of you saw on CNN last night. Here's a perfect example of how many of us who came down here made a real difference. If she, I or any one of a dozen people hadn't come down, this may not have been discovered. Information started with a simple pet owner call into us. Once we got into the school, we saw that there was a problem. We’ve known about a second school which you will hear about soon where something similar has happened. We kept it under wraps under advice of the state’s attorney, who is doing a full fledged investigation. They say its one of the worst atrocities that they have seen from this event. I won’t describe anything in detail but the scenes are more horrific than you can imagine. It’s as if this was a game to whoever did this. These animals were posed, tortured. Every one of these animals would have lived with all the food left by the owners. Anyone who goes to St. Bernard parish says it’s like a Steven King novel. They say “there’s a lot of weird stuff”. I don’t want to go into detail at this point but it’s similar to what happened in the school. And animals are being taken from rescuers. I have talked to people and there is no exaggeration. Everyone is so emotional about all that is happening. There are news trucks in and out of St Bernard's parish. You will be able to follow this story on the news for days. I have gotten several calls from people who specifically know who did this. That info has been turned over immediately to the State’s Attorney’s office.

I have had a good rapport with Bernie from HSUS. But 5-6 days ago, a young lady who was here, sent images from this tragedy to the HSUS showing the atrocities. One of the top persons replied with promise of direct action. As of yesterday the states attorney hadn’t even heard of this. How could the top animal rescue group not take action? How could a small group here get this ball rolling with just a few calls?

Animals are being pulled out alive even still and they have been locked in houses since the storm. I am looking at 2 animals in from of me that were pulled out yesterday. Alive and healthy! Their owners who called us are so grateful and ecstatic. Be warned, though, the LASPCA is flexing its muscle and seems to be ready to suspend the rescue actions. Complete state of confusion here. Even HSUS isn’t sure what will happen. LASPCA has made statements saying this rescue effort is over without even listening to those in the field telling them that animals are still being pulled out!

LASPCA had better have a plan to feed the 1500-2000 animals in houses from the list maintained by Jane Garrison. And what about those like us that are saving from simple call ins?!

$5000 reward offered for dog shooters.

2005-09-29T16:36:00.000-05:00
$5000 reward offered for dog shooters.

Start watching the news! ABC and CNN should be running stories on what we saw yesterday in Beauregard School Middle in St Bernard parish. Our team was asked to respond to the school to check for an owner to see if her dog was ok. (This was an evacuation center that the owners were forced to leave. The dogs were all left on the third floor with plenty of food and water. And all dogs were clearly labeled with owners name and contact info.) Our team found all dogs shot. CNN has been with the team all day and shooting video. One owner was told that her dog had perished. Just got off the phone with a guy from CNN; he told me it was the most horrific scene.

$5000 is being offered right now for any information given directly to me that leads to the conviction of anyone involved. The states attorney has been involved and is currently investigating.

Many people including those that I have talked to at the States Attorney ( remember that there are 50-100 shells casings. Many say ‘tactical’ on the side. I don’t know what that means but it doesn’t sound like something found at a local ammo shop) are looking into all the details.

Sheriff Jack Stevens better get his act in order down there cause although he acts like god in that neighbor, he is not. This is a national tragedy. The story may be on Anderson Cooper.

Amazing tales of survival and despicable behavior by people

2005-09-29T09:47:00.000-05:00
We went on over 40 calls yesterday from people who found us on the internet or from lists that we are working on. Did a lot of feeding for people who are on the way home and whose pets are still alive. Found one poodle that hadn’t had any food water since the storm. Very much alive. The owner is an elderly lady who called us, thinking her “little girl” probably hadn’t made it. But in fact she was alive and well in the house!

I caught my little black dog! This is the one that has been stuck behind his house with his dead buddy, who I have been trying to rescue for weeks. I spent an hour with some wet food and finally coaxed him over to eat from my hand. He‘s here – cute and happy.

Got a cockatiel for a gentleman. No food and water but still alive even though the other birds in the house didn’t make it. The owner is surrendering the bird to us since he cannot care for him now.

Unfortunately, we did find many deceased animals on our calls yesterday.

Let it be known that the St. Bernard parish has barely been touched by rescuers! The police are uncooperative and constantly asking what we are doing with these animals.

Someone needs to call the LASPCA - who is taking over all the rescue operations on Saturday (who knows what this means) including from the HSUS (not of their choice) and ask these questions:

1. Will the current feeding and watering efforts continue? Will the volunteers who are familiar with the plans be allowed to assist?
2. What the heck is going to be done with St. Bernard parish? Why can’t water trucks be sent in? It seems so simple! We are taking every one we have this afternoon to St. Bernard’s after our calls to get as many animals as we can. But we only have a bit of room. Many of the dogs are running in packs. Need traps, sedation, etc. We can’t pull this off but LASPCA can. Why has nothing been done after a month? While we are working in St. Bernard’s we hear shot gun blasts every 15 minutes - what can this be? Its like a 3rd world country

Bad News!

Not going to go into detail at this point but our team found one of the most horrific scenes imaginable. Everything is completely documented in video and pictures Some one needs to go to jail. We treated it as crime scene though we didn’t feel comfortable calling police but we did call HSUS and other officials. Put it this way, once this breaks this will be potentially one of the biggest news to come out of this situation regarding animals. We're hesitant to reveal the facts now in case the individuals responsible came to clean up scene. Facts to find and convict are available! Any one with top level access who can deal with this should call me directly. We are not sure who to call because of lack of communication channels.

Thanks for everyone's support

Eric

Some More Pics From New Orleans

2005-09-28T09:56:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Update and Responses

2005-09-28T08:55:00.000-05:00
HELP!!!!! POLICE SENT TWO RESCUE TEAMS OUT OF THE CITY TODAY TELLING THEM THEY WOULD BE ARRESTED TOMORROW. Call New Orleans Police Department and give them your comments on this one. I do not have a phone number. If you get a good one for the main office and the captain’s name call me with it. 443-421-0000. This is scary. If I don’t get in the dogs I left in houses will starve.

KEEP SENDING VOLUNTEERS TO JANE GARRISON AT Lamar Dixon. SHE PUTS THEM IN THE FIELD FIRST DAY. THEY NEED ALL THE HELP THEY CAN GET.

I’ll let you all decide on Wayne P’s response from HSUS. I might write when I get back.

We do not take in 50-60 dogs a day because we are taking owner call-ins only. We are the only place you can call and get someone to check the house within 24 hours and usually on the same day. These people are desperate! Many thought HSUS had already rescued their animal. No, not the case. Many are dead or gone out of the house but not rescued. SAD! The National Guard left many doors open. Rescuing 7-8 live animals is like scoring 140 in a high school basketball game. When you find a live animal and call the owner it is the most amazing call of your life. But most calls are not like that. We can’t collect 100 dogs. We don’t have anywhere to take them nor a way to transport them. We get 10-15 in plus the ones rescued for owners and then we start pleading for someone like Pasado to take them.

Response to Various Comments:

HSSM – not exactly what we were told. Tara did have people working. What she needed most from us was supplies. I collected the original money of about 4.5k and gave her gift cards to buy supplies. I also sent her computers. Sent dozens wire instructions for donations directly to HSSM. Beyond that not much for us to do. One trip to New Orleans and you could see that you could make a difference from the time you hit the ground. I spoke with Tara and she understood.

Curfew – You have to be here to understand. Whatever you can talk your way into or out of is what goes. Many police and guard see Animal rescuers as part of the team. However in recent days city became unsafe to work after dark. Several teams doing it anyway. Shootings are heard near the YMCA and the Winn Dixie. We even got called to a murder scene to take out a pitbull. Lots of thugs coming home. It is a wild place. Cops don’t care if you are out after dark and the city is packed again. They can’t stop every car. Some streets are down right busy.

Money – this site was meant for family and friends. It clearly states if you are not one of those that I do not want your money. I appreciate the people that sent a few bucks anyway as I am over 15k in the hole and collected about 4-5 k.

Blog – this is my first time at a computer in 3 weeks. I have never read the blog. I call it in when I get a few minutes to my friend and coworker Melanie. Who would have thought thousands of people would turn to it to get the inside scoop on the plight of animals in and around New Orleans.

Going home – I've spent 3 weeks here and that is 2 weeks more than most people do. I am sick about going home. Everyone that goes home is having major emotional problems. This is the most discouraging thing I have ever done. Saving a few thousand out of a hundred thousand animals with many still in need of help. Lexi and Lee went home and came right back. They were going crazy worrying about special little friends they left in specific houses. We all have special ones that we can’t get out of our minds. What is going to happen to mine, a little black lab under a house with his buddy dead in the back yard rotting away. I have tried to get him everyday but he is scared to death…can’t get him more than 5-6 feet away. He scoots over towards me then runs back. Then peeks his head out. How am I going to just forget him like this never happened? It is heartbreaking. Almost impossible to reconcile that I have to go home.

WORK WILL NOT STOP WHEN I LEAVE. By staying lean, all we need is a list of owners who want pets checked on. One person takes the calls and directs a team of 4-8 cars in the field to the locations. Along the way they pick up any really sick animals or ones that look like they are NOT sitting on the porch waiting for owners. I still have 4 solid days here anyway. Just come and you to can make a difference. People knocking me for going home is crazy.

Photos and VIDEO – KEEP CHECKING BACK! After I get home, all will be uploaded for you to see.

Your comments – I look forward to staying up long nights when I get back, answering questions and comments.

Why we abandoned the YMCA – 1) National Guard pulled out of area. Area is totally unsecure. Went back after storm to set up and looters and criminals lurking everywhere. Gunshots fired around corner. Thank god Lacey,the little blond ROTC girl, went and got her hidden .38. It was that scary. We literally backed our way to our cars and headed out of the city. We found the Rite Aid parking lot.

Some girl’s posts -- Not sure what she was expecting? She just came from Lamar Dixon where they spent 10 million to rescue a few thousand animals. Perhaps she wanted us to have stacks and stacks of unneeded supplies (we could as we get offers for a truck load about once an hour)? We don’t need it. She said Rite Aid parking lot was a joke.

The reality is you could do it from any piece of ground you can house a few animals on. We cut out all the unneeded garbage. We take calls and we go to houses and we feed and water a lot of animals on the streets. She somehow got the idea I had asked for money for $100,000 in supplies or something. I never did. Anyone that calls me to donate I say I don’t need it…just get your friends to Lamar Dixon. She called me and said her comments were totally taken and ran with by “internet” mania. I think she really was sincere. Her friend she talks about came in today and was appalled she had written it. She worked all day.

The picture of the dog is a hoax. Folks, call Russ at 678-524-0008. His entire team was with us. He thought I was nuts at first to offer the guys $250 to drive the poor guy home.
But it was worth every penny. I would have paid a thousand. That dog was not staying in the area. This was in the real toxic area—10 ft of water in all houses.

Not here? Don’t even attempt to understand what it is like here. NOBODY HAS EVER BEEN IN A SIMILAR SITUATION. 1) EVACUATION OF AN ENTIRE AMERICAN CITY 2) TOXIC MOLD AND CHEMICALS EVERYWHERE 3) 100,000 ANIMALS IN NEED OF RESCUE. 4) 4-6 DIFFERENT AUTHORITIES NONE KNOWING WHAT TO DO 5) No appropriate safety equipment. You accomplish in this city exactly what you talk your way into or out of. My team and I are good talkers.

Pics and video – tons of amazing stuff when I get back. Lack of internet access makes it impossible to get the stuff out.

An update and a response from HSUS

2005-09-27T11:43:00.000-05:00
Things are picking up more than ever. We finally found a list from thehorse.com to work from. These are people who called weeks ago and still haven’t had their pets rescued. This is a great list. We have basically 8 teams in the field and this is enough to cover the call-ins and to work from the list. Too many people makes things more difficult to organize. Yesterday, we found 6-8 pets alive. Some owners are coming to get them and some are going into foster homes until the owners get back on their feet.

Below is the response from HSUS from yesterday's post. The head of public relations called to talk to me for at length last night and told me that HSUS is committed to the long term. I hope this is true. I know my time is winding down here. That’s going to be really hard when I have to leave on Friday or Saturday, because I have animals in houses that I am going to have to trust others are going to care of them.

From HSUS:

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to some of the comments in Eric's blog. We're prepared to meet any criticism that's offered in a
rational manner.

I've been at Gonzales for two weeks, side by side with dozens of HSUS staff members deployed in Louisiana (with equivalent numbers of staff active in Mississippi and also now working in western Louisiana and east Texas).

Let me first acknowledge that the impact of this disaster exceeded our capacity to respond. We are not embarrassed to say this. We have trained hundreds of people who deployed to Mississippi and Louisiana through our Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) program, but we did not have the capacity to respond to a disaster of this magnitude. I would say our greatest shortcoming was our communications and database management. We stumbled on this, and it did hurt our effort. That said, we have thrown everything we could at the disaster and our people are working around the clock. We are learning some lessons the hard way, but we've never had to respond to a crisis of this order. I will mention that our staff -- who work in our regional offices, government affairs, companion animals, investigations, and many other sections -- put aside their regular duties and deployed to help, whether in the field or organizing at our headquarters office, and every one of these people is passionate about the cause and got involved in our response with a tremendous sense of responsibility and purpose. I'm proud of what we have done.

I want to reply to some of Eric's allegations and criticisms.

1) We may have stopped the flow of volunteers.
Fact: We have maintained our call for volunteers consistently for weeks. This was briefly interrupted by Rita, since the Lamar Dixon facility manager and the police instructed us very specifically to evacuate most of our people. We deployed only emergency personnel during the storm, and we also suspended rescue during the period when we were under the storm warning. We have been critical of people who did not prepare for the hurricane, and we felt it would not be proper and right for us to send people into a storm. That was our decision, and we'd make it again. We had 1,000 animals at the shelter to protect, and we focused our efforts on that task. The only other hindrance to our call for volunteers was the hostility of the Lamar Dixon management, and their constant hectoring that we had too many people at the site and that if we didn't turn things around, they'd lock the gates. Even in the face of that threat, we've been calling hundreds of people every day and urging deployment. We've contacted humane societies and animal control staff and asked them to respond.

2) "It's almost impossible to be a rescuer with HSUS."
Fact: This is really a wild exaggeration. Everybody who comes to the briefing at 5:30 a.m. can get out into the field if they agree to play by the rules and can function normally. We are sending teams out every morning, and we have called in animal control personnel from around the country who are core participants with the rescue operation. Of course, we'd like to have highly skilled people for certain elements of the effort, but we've tried to absorb all kinds of volunteers into the effort, and we'll continue to do so.

3) "They [HSUS] will only take critical animals."
Fact: In very specific areas, where people are allowed to return to evacuated areas of New Orleans, we are advising that rescuers only take the critical animals. Healthy looking animals can be fed, and the feeding documented, so we can get back to them in a week's time. This will allow us to focus on the animals that must be rescued in areas where residents are not coming back any time soon. Of the thousands of animals taken to the Gonzales facility, only a small portion have been critical, refuting in flesh and blood the claim that we've restricted the rescue only to animals in critical condition.

3) "HSUS is looking to wind down the Gonzales operation."
Fact: There is a measure of truth to this, but it's not by choice. The property managers want us out of there, and they have waged a campaign of harassment to drive us out. What's more, we operate under the incident command structure of the State Veterinarian's Office and meet with the state team every day. They have asked us to cease intake of animals by September 30th. We are beseeching them to let us continue for a longer period, and we are cautiously optimistic we'll persuade them to extend our rescue operations through Lamar Dixon.

In addition, we are working with the Louisiana SPCA to ready their new operations site. On Saturday, October 1, we expect that facility to be operational in Algiers (which is within New Orleans). Some days ago I spoke to Eric about getting a staging area near New Orleans, so presumably he'll be happy about this.

4) petfinder.com and 1-800-Humane-1

Fact: Petfinder is not "a way of acting like they have a plan for these animals." It's the software that was available when this disaster hit. We all wish that there was something better out there, ready for immediate use, but there wasn't. As crucial as the data management challenge was from the beginning, it was only one of a dozen serious and
urgent problems we faced.

Working with others, The HSUS tried hard to improve this existing software to make available a comprehensive, user-friendly database that would achieve multiple goals: that all animals rescued be identified according to the location from which they were retrieved; that their immediate location, condition, treatment and other factors critical to their immediate and long-term care be recorded; that their movements from the temporary emergency shelter at Lamar Dixon to locations around the country be tracked; and, most critically, that they can be reunited with their owners as promptly as possible.

The reality of the situation is that no single database or software system that could accomplish all of these goals existed prior to August 29, and the process of developing, testing, improving and utilizing such a system has been compressed into a short timeframe in the midst of an emergency. That process continues right now, involving not only The HSUS, but also the ASPCA, Petfinder.com, and others. We expect that petfinder.com will be much more user-friendly for the public within days.

In the absence of an existing database system sufficient to meet all of the competing demands, the HSUS and all other animal organizations involved in the animal search, rescue, care and treatment effort did rely on paper forms. That was often -- and in some cases continues to be -- the most practical and efficient way to record information on the large numbers of animals treated. Information from more than a thousand intake forms has since been uploaded to the petfinder.com database, by a corps of HSUS staffers working around the clock. Information about the transfer of animals to other shelters, again recorded in paper form because of the exigencies of the situation, are in the process of being included in Petfinder. HSUS staff and volunteers are double-checking the location of animals transported to other agencies and the national organizations are actively encouraging receiving shelters and agencies nationwide to promptly and accurately update Petfinder with information about animals in their temporary care.

The process is not perfect; everyone at The HSUS wishes it was. However, suggestions that it should be perfect are simply unrealistic and reflect a poor understanding of the complexities and demands involved. Nonetheless, we believe the system is improving, has already assisted owners to reunite with their pets, and will continue to do so.

With regard to people who called the HSUS's number (or that of other animal protection organizations) for help in rescuing their pets, all of the information provided by each caller was recorded and the information transmitted to rescue teams in the field. We certainly wish that we had the resources or even the physical ability to respond to each request immediately upon receiving the call. For reasons that are apparent to anyone viewing the situation on the ground in an objective fashion, that has not been possible -- although efforts are continuing to reach every address where an animal was reported to have been left behind or is otherwise in need. All rescue teams involved did and continue to work to rescue the greatest number of animals possible.

I am not personally aware of any individual who was told by The HSUS that their animals had been rescued but later found that was not true. Our policy has been, since the inception of our emergency call center, whether the call was handled by HSUS staff, volunteers or contractors, to candidly advise callers that neither The HSUS nor any other organization is in a position to guarantee the rescue of their pets and
that they should explore all other options to accomplish that goal.

5) "HSUS has taken on a strategy that we feel will allow thousands of animals to starve in their houses."

There's no single strategy that should be at work in a disaster like this. In some cases, we are proceeding with a straight rescue plan: get into a house, capture the animals, and transport them back to our staging area so they can receive medical care and shelter. In other cases, especially in areas where residents are scheduled to return and where the animals look healthy, we are feeding and watering and keeping the animals in place. There, they can survive, and not be subjected to the stress of capture and transport. We then make note of the feeding and revisit the site and feed the animals again or pick them up, depending upon an assessment of their condition. The idea of feeding and watering also was more attractive when our staging area was nearly full of animals, and we had to make a judgment on which animals to bring back. But we won't let any animal starve to death or subsist indefinitely without rescue or the return of somebody to a given house. Going forward, we'll revisit every one of those situations, and we'll bring out more animals as necessary.

6) "I hear this list is over 20k and could be much larger."

Fact: The list of rescue requests has not topped 5,000. There were duplications eliminated when we got to work on the database and that's my best estimate for what we received. But from the day our people hit the ground, there were other lists in circulation, and we lost no time in acting to save animals identified for rescue. Every truck coming back from New Orleans to Gonzales was full of animals, and the job was getting done.

Here's the bottom line:

1) We will get through every address for a trapped animal provided by any group active in relief and rescue efforts.
2) We have already been involved in the rescue of more than 7,000 animals. There have been nearly 500 reunions of animals with the families that love them.
3) We have transported thousands of animals to local humane societies and other safe areas, including to a major prison in Louisiana, where the animals are getting exceptional care.
4) We are committed to helping to rebuild the shelters throughout the Gulf States region.
5) We will learn every lesson from this disaster and be stronger and better the next time a response is required.
6) We have worked with members of Congress to initiate legislation to mandate that government authorities incorporate animals into their disaster plans, and we will press this case until we get a positive outcome. No non-profit organization should be saddled with the responsibility to save all of the animals in a disaster. It's just too big a job. We don't tell or expect the Red Cross to go out and save all of the people, but to help the government in its efforts. The same should apply for animals, who are threatened by the millions when a disaster strikes in a large area.

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
(202) 452-1100
Fax (301) 258-3077
wpacelle@hsus.org

Monday Update

2005-09-26T13:27:00.000-05:00
Hard to understand what HSUS is doing. Some of their actions do not support what they say their mission is - which is to be here for the long term. Previously I said go to Gonzales. But at this point just call me until I get clarification on whether or not they will accept volunteers: 443.421.0000.

Unlike almost any other group, we worked right up until Rita came at us full force. We got in almost a full day of work - working up until 6pm with very little rain and wind. We actually had a great day that day and put in almost nine hours. It wasn’t that difficult to talk to the police dept and other officials to find out when we should get out. We were all safe and secure. Went to Gonzales to try to sleep there. They now have a password to get in. A girl at the shell station gave it to us so we could get into the gate. We were quickly told that we couldn’t stay in Gonzales and what came along with those statements was despicable behavior; we were told we would be arrested if we rescued another animal. And some lady, like a rabid animal, was ripping animal rescues signs from our cars in 70 miles wind. I had one little dog whose owner I had located. They were trying to take that dog. There was no way I was giving that dog to the flawed tracking system that they have put together. These people have made enemies out of the hundreds people who put their lives on hold and spent thousands of their own money to help reunite pets with their owners and save other lost animals.

Here’s a fact, I have tried desperately to follow HSUS directions to a tee - to be official with their rules. The rules change every day; so in the end, it’s almost impossible to be a rescuer with HSUS. Jane Garrison, a person of good intellect, responsible, street savvy who uses common sense, is the only person that I have run across that will help you. But in many cases, her hands have been tied. I can see it.

I sent 4 volunteers to go to the 6 am meeting. Just as it says to do on Jane’s voicemail. They got in the night before but they were harassed and treated rudely. Luckily they got to Jane and she hooked them up and got them in the field to help with rescue efforts.

RUMOR HAS IT (I state rumor anytime I have totally accurate info) that HSUS is looking to wind down the Gonzales operation. I predicted that they would use this hurricane Rita to move out lots of volunteers and then wind down. They can dispute that right here with a comment or they can call me. They can prove me wrong in 30 seconds or give me a press release to post. I know that they read this bog.

HSUS has taken on a strategy that we feel will allow thousands of animals to starve in their house. Unless things change, they will now only take critical animals. Other animals in the thousands have been fed in their houses. Now HSUS premise is that those owners will soon be home and that there will be a big fat happy reunion. It seems that in their fairy tale world all these animals are in Victorian houses and the owners will be riding in in any day in their Lexuses to get their pets. The reality is that in almost every house that we are dealing with an animal inside is that the likelihood of the owner of ever coming back is very low. These people left without vehicles, think their pets are dead, and have been moved to new locations. With new accommodations and jobs, they may never return. If I leave an animal in a house there are major problems:

1. I have to be assured that HSUS will continue to feed that animal for months to come. I have absolutely no confidence that that will happen OR
2. I have to be completely sure that that owner is actually coming home. My personal opinion in many houses that they are not coming homes. These houses are disgusting. You seen mold all over the walls, dry wall wet and falling in. 3 weeks of feces, urine on the floor. So this policy of feeding these animals and this situation and expecting the owners seems a little far fetched. These animals must be pulled out but they aren’t.

I’d like HSUS to explain their tracking system. It seems that no one there has heard of an electronic database - something that every 8th grader has been taught. I have sent 5 owners to Gonzales - all have come back saying that they are simply told “You can start walking around looking for your pet.” Could HSUS please describe in detail their tracking system? And don’t say petfinder - that’s just their way of acting like they have a plan for these animals. In a concise document, explain the tracking system for the owner who wants to search for their pet. I know owners who know their animals were sent there but after days of trying have no idea even which state their pet was sent to. Seems like everything was done on paper; I hope I am wrong

HSUS you need to absolutely tell the truth because there are too many people there who saw the inner workings and are ready to tell exactly what they saw - good or bad. Honesty in the best policy. Animals were pulled from specific addresses. Why is it when people try to find their pet that they can’t simply say “My animal was pulled from xyz address” and in some database, this info is quickly pulled telling exactly where the animal is at this time. As far as I can tell neither petfinder.com nor HSUS has a way to search by specific address. Both need to remedy this immediately. Especially petfinder.com who has been pushed as the place to go to find their pet. You simply cannot expect people to click on New Orleans and click on 10,000 entries to find their pet.

Next, can we get a complete anthology of what happened and what is being done about the list of owners who called the 800 number. This is your chance to tell the truth about that list because I have specific people at HSUS who have volunteered who know day by day the status of the list, what happened to it, and why it wasn’t used. And we are putting together a timeline of the list, which is not going to make HSUS look like the shining savoir of those owner call ins. We have been in houses where the owners were told that their animals were rescued by HSUS but when we got there the animals were dead, dying or perhaps in good shape depending on the amount of food left out.

Next, I have a group ready to run a ½ to full page USAToday ad to alert the thousands of pet owners who called that 800 HSUS number that their pets have not been rescued and that they should take other measures to rescue their pets. I’ll give HSUS the courtesy of today to contact me before we place that ad. I don’t talk to lawyers. There has got to be someone with some common sense there at HSUS that is interested in a serious conversation about how to continue this operation in order to save the thousands of animals that are still out there. Anybody who has been on the street understands that this crisis hasn’t even slowed down. I was in St. Bernard parish yesterday and there were 20-30 dogs and cats every 3 to 5 blocks. What happened to the idea to get a couple of water trucks in there to water these animals in kiddy pools? Most of these animals were obviously people’s pets and not strays.

Hey HSUS! I met a guy yesterday who came by your facility and no one wanted to listen to him. He has 20 acres plus the biggest rodeo pen and stables just a few miles from Gonzales. Don’t cry about space. Anyone with a brain could get space here. I have been in 3 locations and have never been turned down once. Doug's number is 985.513.0287. Call him.

Lastly could every one please go to www.oilydog.org and please find this poor dog so everyone can know he’s ok.

Are you coming? There’s a ground swell of support now responding to everyone’s requests to come help!

2005-09-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

What to do.

1. Fly into a local city and rent a big SUV, minivan or budget rental type of truck. Many times the budget type or hauling trucks are cheaper than card. I have been driving one for two weeks. Check local yellow pages for moving trucks. I got mine at Jackson mini storage. G
2. Get to the Gonzales Lamar Dixon expo cent for the 6 am meeting and get supplies. It’s extremely confusing about what you should be doing. Many don’t go because we’d rather be in the city working at 6 o’clock. They have a volunteer boot somewhere that you can chick on. I never did that. If any one from HSUS is reading this, sign me up
3. Come to the YMCA on Philip St off St. Charles. Come with a lot of patience since many people are rally stressed. Our place is going to look like a disaster zone after this hurricane but someone will put it back together and get rolling again. Day after storm.
4. Here are directions to YMCA: 10 east to the causeway south to the Jefferson St exit. Left on Jefferson toward New Orleans. Jefferson turns into Claiborne. A few miles down you are looking for Phillips you’ll see 1, 2, and 3rd before you seen. Take a right on Phillip and go up to Simon Bolivar continue on Philip (a little confusing as Philip seems to be a little disjointed. But you are within two blocks or so) you are looking for the 2000 bloc of Philip. Try to bring feeding supplies with you. Lots of dry and canned cat food and dog food, bowls, leashes and collars which can be gotten at the Gonzales supply center.

We are trying to work with the HSUS to use the YMCA as a drop off point to process animals and not have to drive them all the way back to Gonzales every couple of hours to feed and drop off animals so we don’t have to spend all day driving instead of rescuing animals. HSUS doesn’t seem to want to listen but I am going to keep talking to them about it every day.

Post Rita

The first day back after the storm we are going to start blasting the list of the owner call ins. This is the list of thousands of people who called the much published HSUS 800 number to report a trapped pet. Many of these people probably think that HSUS, with all their money and support, got the list into hands of rescuers. They have not. Finally, people who were so amazed about this, took the list and started to get it data processed and put into simple mapping programs. I told them to do this two weeks ago and even offered to direct them to db companies who could help! Think about this. HSUS virtually promised on ads and internet marketing that they would try to rescue their pets. I hear this list is over 20k and could be much larger. These are leads for rescuers to go directly where there is a pet. Will we ever get it? Who knows at this point? But if you called them and think that your pet has been saved, think again. You’d be better off just calling local groups like us on the ground and giving us the information again.

What we need from HSUS to succeed. (Most of the people at the YMCA are savvy HSUS volunteers who just got sick of the bureaucracy anyway. They are getting the job done anyway) But if we had these things we could really go to town next week.)

1. 10-15 laborers as they are using at Gonzales which is really a mess after these many days.
2. The list of call ins for GOSH SAKES! I told them 2 weeks ago that I could have it data processed and mapped in two hours. I finally got them to give the list to dogdetective.com and she’s doing it for them. I am not even sure if she has the entire list though.
3. Shuttles to get animals to Lamar Dixon from the YMCA. Rescuers need to rescue from dawn into the night and not have to worry about driving an hour and a half to drop off a few animals at Lamar Dixon - what a complete waste of time.
4. Experienced intake people to take the animals as they come into the YMCA. This insures that a total record is kept so that they are processed and owners can locate them. We need this experience from HSUS.
5. Just a few people to help us to handle the animals once we get here and before they get on the truck: vet techs, bathers, feeders and walkers.

We can still save thousands of pets.

Nothing is slowing down. We are still finding many alive! An incredible story from yesterday. A pit bull mother and her puppy were found left in a crate in her house with no food and water, still alive after we broke the door. They were in horrible shape but from what I hear, once they got water they perked up right away. Case in point we had to get two people to take them back to Gonzales. And their day was basically over. This is a game of logistics and the people in the field have proven this by saving 1000 upon 1000s of animals that they are capable. We try not to do anything to take us away from rescuing. We rescued last night with spot lights until almost 10 o’clock. The police and guard pull us over and say “Great job. Get it done.” We simply need more hours and more people to get these lists done.

Please HSUS get us 150 spotlights. We have got plenty of people to work late into the night or at least until dark. Most innovation like this comes from the field. Thousands of people have come down here and innovated with success but HSUS simply doesn’t want to see this success in front of their eyes.

Why don’t you all start emailing HSUS about what is going on on the ground? Not at Lamar Dixon but in the field. I have never seen a single person from HSUS except Jane. I have never heard an HSUS higher up ask a rescuer what exactly they need. I’ve camped out on their doorsteps to tell them but eyes are rolled and nothing is done. These people should come work the field for one day. All we are asking for is their help and we will get thousands of animals out next week. Many people are getting the feeling that HSUS is ready to wind down and use the hurricane as an excuse. They should prove with their action that this is simply not true. HSUS’ problem right now is that in the age of the internet they simply cannot get away with hiding anything. Everyone says that my information is right on down here. I have been fair to all parties - giving credit where credit is due. Looked for ways to improve. Everything I have put in this bog is very accurate. None of it is second hand. Most of it I have seen with my own two eyes

Would you believe that 20 of us came into the city today to rescue after going to Gonzales to hear rumor after rumor about the weather. Its 3 o’clock, it has barely rained and the police and guard know we are here and just asked that we leave about hours before dark. We got another days work in just by being proactive. We are not even at risk we have a direct contact at the police dept and at that guards and two people watching local weather and news constantly. Doesn’t take much smarts to know when a hurricane is 200 miles away to know when it will be here. Police said just give them a call and they will escort us out. The rumor mill at HSUS was that the city was under water so no body came in. The entire little guerrilla people seem to have the best intelligence.

I am going to go now. An hour or so to go before we can get out of the city – time to rescue a couple more animals still. But we will be back the second the weather permits. You simply don't understand the determination of the feet on the street rescuers Met a guy last night who a slept in his boat for two nights in St Bernard’s parish where the water had been as much as 30 feet high.

Any one who can get the word to HSUS to get us the simple help we need - please do so!

We all plan working at night next week so someone buy or deliver to us those spotlights.

More News Before the Next Storm

2005-09-22T13:42:00.000-05:00
Update for Thursday September 22nd.

Note 1: Several people have said that they want to volunteer but don’t see themselves roughing it is as I have. Please let people know that I have chosen to “rough it “ - live without the standard amenities so that I can get more done each day. You DO NOT have to live like that. The staging area in Gonzales is like a military base. Hot showers, food, ac, tents, very nice. You can go in and out of the city daily from there – that’s what most people do. I go out there every other night too.

Note 2: If you are a rescue group reading this - Use www.infospace.com to search for owners’ names when you have the address or phone number from a pet tag. One piece of info and you can get started. And notes can be placed on owners’ homes letting them know where their pet is.

More people! HSUS has more volunteers today. Our campaign is working. The new storm will shut us down for just 2-3 days – then we can ramp up to full force again. HSUS finally, after weeks, has delivered the list of owner call ins – rumored to be over 18,000. HSUS will have lots of explaining to do. This is the first time this list has been touched and it’s still only a rumor that they have it out to rescuers. Let’s hope it’s true. HSUS is virtually a database marketing company. How could they set up an entire call center, promote that center as the place to call and then drop that list?! They should have been able to massage that list and had it out into the field right away. Have they heard of technology? I personally told them about this the second day I was here. I won’t say who it was but she was high up. A simple database scrub/analysis and mapping software could have had that list in the filed to rescuers much more quickly. If they are still having problems with this list then they need to get a professional database person on it immediately. Wayne Pasillie’s colleague Bernie was to give me a call – he didn’t. These people have a lot to show me. We had a great idea on the corporate marketing thing and Wayne actually posting on craigslist.com about what's going on and to defuse some of the rumors. Wayne said it would happen but I made multiple phone calls yesterday with no returns.

I have 50 volunteers committed for next week. Today, I recruited 8 volunteers out of the local pop of Jefferson parish. Billy and I took two cute little dogs that we rescued to a biker bar to have a quick beer – the first in a while - and people were all over us on how to help. Two off duty police and other locals are going to help to check on the animals tomorrow before we have to leave town for the next hurricane.

Yesterday's rescues! Akita mix that was guarding a 6 month old yellow lab from other dogs that were following them down the street. They literally came running over to us from 200 yards away. The yellow lab has burnt feet from all the chemicals. He is so cute. Many of the dogs have this problem. Why don’t I have a video camera? The akita with no help jumped right into the truck and into a kennel on his own. We put the y lab in with him.

Found a lab mix behind a house, perfectly healthy but there was another dead dog in the back yard, he wouldn’t come all the way to us but we will try again today. He does have food and water.

Several more rescues yesterday. But for the most part we are feeding and rescuing in the area before we leave for the hurricane.

More Pictures from New Orleans!

2005-09-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

WE NEED HELP NOW . READ YESTERDAY'S POST.

2005-09-21T11:24:00.000-05:00
WE NEED HELP NOW . READ YESTERDAY'S POST.

Just met with HSUS folks and they seem more ready to be streamlined and to do whatever it takes. We worked on some things that I think are very important and if we can implement. Don't believe everything you read on the internet about the Gonzalas site.

HSSM Update: Yesterday afternoon I drove to Gulfport and delivered all the donations to Tara High. They totaled approximately $4000. $950 was directly from my paypal account specifically for the Gulfport shelter. My friends and myself put in the remainder to get them some much needed supplies. We also think others are donating as much as $10,000, they are just clearing it with necessary committees. That shelter is just days away from having electricity and being up and running.

All my predictions are coming true.
I. HSUS would quickly need many phase two volunteers at all levels as all phase one volunteers return home. Few people can commit a month to this project so we are having a real shortage of staff here at Gonzales. I have met with people at HSUS and they are not denying it. Remedy: A volunteer advertising and marketing campaign, a full page spread in USA Today. And more press! Tell America exactly what's going on down here and at the same time ask for volunteers! In fact why haven't we seen a full page spread from HSUS? They have collected a ton of money and its obvious the government isn't going to help out here. HSUS marketing teams are incredible database marketers when it comes to collecting money. Move those marketing teams into full campaigns to get volunteers. They need people for months and they have already lost at least 1/2 of the volunteers in Gonzales.

II. No major government would announce that this is a true crisis. Solution: none. This is why these people are politicians and not entrepreneurs. No decisions, no guts. Can someone please recruit Donald Trump and have him give me a call? He'd have this problem solved in a week! I am not kidding (please let him know I plan on winning the apprentice one day) - give him my direct line 443.421.0000.

III. To do this job right, 5-10k rescuers were needed. I am working a 20 block area with a team of 4 and we don't even cover 10% a day. Solution: get more volunteers! Massive volunteer campaign and onsite training just like HSUS was doing this morning.

IV. Feeding and watering works on the street and HSUS would eventually do it. We started feeding like this from almost day one and it took HSUS days to figure out what they we're doing even though we went to daily meetings. But now they are doing it.

V. HSUS would need 1000 volunteers just to cover calls in from people to get animals out of specific houses, etc. HSUS is basically dropped the list. Right now that list is not being worked on . I know that for a fact. Luckily as they are doing their feeding program , many of these pets are being taken care of anyhow. Many people find me and others like me and we pull out their animals daily from these calls.

VI. Neighbors will help neighbors. As people come into the city, we see them acting as volunteers. They see these animals and many are taking on the responsibility to feed their neighbors pets. All it would take from the mayor is for him to mention to take dog food and water when people (after figuring out what Rita will do) and check on the dogs on their block. Has this mayor even mentioned this crisis? How could he not when 50,000 -70,000 pets were trapped in homes in the city?

VII. Emotional toll on people who have lost pets would be 100 times greater than those who have lost homes. I meet dozens of people every day who have lost everything jobs, house,... These people are not devastated; they are coming back and planning on rebuilding but for the most part they aren't depressed. They have their heads up and they have a job to do. They have smiles. On the other hand, the people who you meet who are searching for lost pets are destroyed, so distraught that they can barely speak, severely depressed, and hopeless. They beg, plead, cry for us to help find their pets. They are going to be the ones with long term emotional problems.

VIII. Private rescue organizations go around HSUS bureaucracy and get the job done. At a cost of almost zero per animal because all time and supplies are donated. these groups have saved 1000s of pets. At the YMCA, 350 animals were saved by just 8-10 people who met online and got organized.

New prediction: within days , HSUS will implement a watering program in these new open parishes that includes water trucks and small childrens' plastic swimming pools Why do I think the they will do this? Because I told them our team was doing it and we are days ahead of them. Who can get me water trucks? Some pools? We have some committed but we need more.

I have met some talented people. They were always held back at many levels. Today was a breakthrough day. I met with Wayne Paselli and then 2 other go getters who seemed to be much more fluid and flexible in what they are doing. Wayne assured me that any volunteer who came to Gonzalas would be used.

Check back later for more pictures.

Success!

2005-09-21T10:52:00.000-05:00
Before

After

People Needed!

2005-09-20T09:09:00.000-05:00
Corporations and businesses are now sponsoring two to six people evacuation teams made up of their own employees. I didn’t want to do it but I am really going to play on your sense of adventure. The police and national guard are jealous of our day because there is so much adventure to be had. Every hour out on the streets is something new. Yesterday two dogs were brought in that must have been in a swimming pool for days; they were in bad shape and rushed off to vet care. I don’t know if they will make it. Every day for every search team brings a dozen new adventures; the stories at night when everyone sits down are endless. Get your company or friends to sponsor a 2-4 person team. This is war and it feels like it when you are on the ground except you don’t have to kill any body. We estimate that we will need people thru the next 45 days. But we would like to see people here immediately. Forward this to your manage and your ceo and show them that giving a few people time off and a little money can make a real difference. We estimate that a 4 person team working for a week (or even better two weeks) can save 150 animals per week. Fly into Baton Rouge or Jackson, MS and rent an suv. Forward this blog to all of your adventurous types of friends, ex military, retirees, and any others that can come down and make things happen without a lot of direction. All the local police and national guard are on our side. I was driven around for several hours by the military yesterday in an humvee, seaching for more animals in need of rescue. Call me for now but check back here later this week. I am looking for a person on the outside to help coordinate with people who are heading now with specific directions and instructions. For now get your flight and vehicle lined up. Doesn’t matter if you like pets or not, if you come down here and have access to a city and all the supplies you need and have the adventure of a lifetime . we have all the supplies of a well stocked rmy sent by concerned citizens. The company is even offering 40 atvs and 40 flat bottom boats . all we need is people, we don’t have enuf. No experience necessary - we will train you once you arrive.

Also we need road map types of GPS. So that we can plug in an address and go. We spend lots of time lost.

Yesterday’s update. We moved to the Winn Dixie to join forces with the other group. We are now 100 people strong and that’s not near enough people. Evacuation teams are now going into recently opened parishes and are reporting dogs on every corner. One team picked up 30 dogs in a short time frame. Water rescee teams still finding dogs alive on roofs. And one floating on a TV. No one knows how they are still alive so far past the storm. They want to live so badly -- come help them.

Look back here for more updates later this evening or tomorrow morning.

Transcript from Friday's Piece on CNN with Anderson Cooper

2005-09-19T17:30:00.000-05:00
Last Friday, Anderson Cooper talked with Lee (Bergeron) about all the animal rescue efforts here. Here's the transcript:

Plus too many animals, not enough shelter. What happens now to the pets stranded by Katrina? And is there something you can do to help? Stick with us. We'll show you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: You know, we continue to focus on the plight not just of humans here but also of animals. Nearly three weeks ago when search and rescue teams were plucking people in the Gulf coast from their homes and their rooftops, most were not allowed to bring their pets. A lot of people stayed for that very reason.

The Humane Society says that about 50,000 animals were left behind in New Orleans alone, 50,000 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We decided to look at what is happening now with those abandoned animals. Here's what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER (voice-over): In New Orleans you stumble on heartbreaking scenes, this one in the Garden District. A dog dead, decaying on the sidewalk. A scene Humane Society volunteer Lee Bergeron can't put into words.

LEE BERGERON, ANIMAL RESCUE VOLUNTEER: It's hard for me not to cry when I look at it.

COOPER: Cruising the streets for stranded pets, Lee finds two dogs, hungry, exhausted, but for them it's not too late.

BERGERON: Come here.

COOPER: Lee radios for help. This is exactly why he made the trip all the way from San Diego, to save animals' lives. It's not always possible, however. In the next house Lee finds dogs barking wildly inside, too scared to even show themselves. With no place to put dogs who come peacefully, there's nothing Lee can do but leave food and some water.

BERGERON: Sorry, dog.

COOPER: It's been like this for weeks now. The first days after Katrina we found dogs stranded in trees, dogs on walls, pacing, surrounded by water. This is what helpless feels like. Motoring in a boat, we found animals everywhere, adrift, abandoned by their owners, alive or dead.

(on camera): There are so many dogs which you find that are just starving. And you try to feed them as much as you can. But there's too many of them roaming around. It's going to become a health hazard.

(voice-over): Since then teams of animal rescuers from all over the country have waded into dirty, diseased water trying to coax stranded pets into crates and onto boats. The Humane Society says the operation has led to the rescue of some 5,000 abandoned animals.

Little Chip here is lucky. Cradled in the arms of an Army flight surgeon, rescued with his owner and airlifted to safety. This Shih Tzu taking shelter at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where some 1,000 rescued animals remain.

New Orleans now struggles with the staggering numbers of animals rescued in shelters, how to house them, how to feed them, what to do with them. The Agriculture Department's animal health inspection service says of the 5,000 animals rescued, fewer than 700 have been reunited with their owners.

For those animals that didn't make it to safety, left in houses without air-conditioning, left roaming or chained, there's not a lot rescue workers can do for them now. They just leave them some food and some water, trying to alleviate a few moments' suffering.

BERGERON: Two weeks without food and water a lot of these guys went. We're just trying to get as many of them fed as we can so we can buy time and rescue them later or maybe they'll open up the city and let the owners come back in and take care of the pets.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Bottom line is right now there's not enough room at these shelters for all the animals that need to be helped at that. And there are so many of you out there who have e-mailed us saying look, you'd like to help, you want to come here.

We're honored to be joined by two volunteers right now who came on their own dime to come here, Lee Bergeron and Lexy Montgomery (ph). You were in New York. Lee, you were in San Diego. You were watching on TV, you wanted to come.

BERGERON: Right.

COOPER: But when you called up the humane societies, they said don't come.

BERGERON: Right. Exactly.

COOPER: What -- why?

BERGERON: They said they had enough, they were fine, they didn't need any help.

COOPER: Is that true?

BERGERON: No. No.

COOPER: So you just came here on your own. What did you do?

BERGERON: I found a place where I could be used and went to the shelter in Gonzales, realized that things weren't being done like I'd like to do them. So we came into the city on our own.

COOPER: What's the problem, Lexy, at the shelter? I mean, you know, there are good people working there but they're just overwhelmed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Totally overwhelmed. And if everybody could help on different levels wherever they can, we just found within area where we could be useful on a different level.

COOPER: So basically, what you've done is you picked an area of New Orleans. You didn't really know New Orleans. You just came here, you have your own car, you picked it, and you just -- you're not trying to pick up the animals anymore. Only the ones who are really hurt you're picking up.

BERGERON: Right.

COOPER: What are you doing with the rest of them?

BERGERON: Feed and water. We go to each house, we listen down the street. We see them on the road. We put food and water on the side of the road and we come back. We get to know the dogs. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep them alive. Buy some time, keep them alive.

BERGERON: We stay in a certain area. That way we learn the dogs in the area, we learn where they are.

COOPER: Because the official policy is pick up ones, drive them to the shelter, get them registered and all that. You're saying it's overwhelming. You're saying there's thousands of animals you're seeing.

BERGERON: Every other day they shut you down, they don't let you deliver animals to them. So the best thing to do is just staying alive.

COOPER: They don't let you deliver animals to the shelter?

BERGERON: Three days now they've turned us back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No room.

BERGERON: Yes.

COOPER: So you set up your own little shelter. You put them on petfinder.com because you want people to find them but you're trying to keep feed them where they are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Petfinder.com. Keep them alive.

BERGERON: They're better off in their neighborhood or in their home and being fed than being shipped around and using all these resources to process these dogs.

COOPER: I appreciate you guys coming down here. You're doing it on your own and you're doing a great job. Thank you very much.

( Here's the url: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/16/acd.01.html)

It's true!

2005-09-19T15:32:00.000-05:00
Several people have called me, incredidulous that we are still bringing in healthy animals. My answer: "They're everywhere."

We got ten just this morning and hadn't walked more than two blocks from the shelter. Everytime we turn around, some neighbor or police officer comes to point out another animal that needs rescuing. AND this parrish has been covered heavily since the storm while others are not covered at all. This crisis is going to go on for months!