New Orleans pet rescue effort gathering steam

New Orleans pet rescue effort gathering steam

CTV.ca News Staff

With progress being made in evacuating people from New Orleans, some are
turning their attention to other living creatures affected by the flooding:
pets.

"I'm just hugging him," said Jane Broussard, who is working as a volunteer in
an animal shelter, of one dog. "He was scared, not eating. They need help. It's
sad."

People left thousands of dogs, cats and other family pets behind in the rush to
escape either Hurricane Katrina or the flooding that followed.

Many of those animals sit forlornly on the rooftops of flooded homes, slowly
starving to death as rescue boats ignore them, looking for people instead. Some
have even tried swimming to boats, only to be rebuffed by the rescuers.

"A lot of these animals are pit bulls, rottweilers. We're not approaching the
dogs if we can help it," says Jitm Metza, a U.S. Coast Guard searcher.

One fear is that after seven days in the hot sun, with no food and drinking
nothing but polluted water, the dogs might be dangerous.

On dry land, stray dogs have formed packs to scavenge the city for food.

Help for animals, however, is coming.

"There are hundreds of people on the ground now, who are trained in emergency
animal rescue disaster response, just waiting to get into the areas hardest
hit," Betsy Saul, president of Petfinder.com, told CNN on Monday.

Michael Skidmore, a New Orleans resident, told CNN that pets were one reason
many people had stayed behind.

One man "refused to leave even at gunpoint when he was ordered to leave by the
patrolmen in our boat," said CTV News Toronto's Paul Bliss, echoing Skidmore.
"He said no because he had seven dogs that he want stay and take care of."

CTV's Jed Kahane met another couple that turned down a ride out to wait a few
days and walk out of the flood zone with their dogs and other pets.

"They're dependent," Adrienne Price said, a snake around her neck. "OK, if I
had a little kid, it'd be different. This is my kid. These are my babies."

Many people who did evacuate were forced by authorities to abandon their pets
before being whisked off to a different city or state.

On Monday, someone had chartered a bus for people and pets that was on its way
from Baton Rouge, Skidmore said.

Saul said there is information available at katrina.petfinder.com, "and
certainly if they want to contact us directly ... we can get make sure they
have the information they need to get to the (bus)."

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also has a
searchable online database to help reunite pets with their owners. Volunteers
who want to help can register at the society's website.

Several temporary animal shelters have been set up around southern Louisiana
and Mississippi -- some next to shelters for human evacuees so people could
visit their pets, she said.

Louisiana State University is providing shelter for hundreds of dogs and cats
in an arena. One such shelter in Gonzalez, La. is taking pictures of every
animal and uploading them to the Internet.

Besides pets, the flooding has damaged some of New Orleans' animal attractions.

The electricity failure meant no ability to pump oxygen into the water at the
New Orleans aquarium, resulting in the deaths of about one-third of the 4,000
fish there.

At the zoo, 12 people are trying to take care of about 1,400 animals. After
seeing what Hurricane Andrew did to Miami's zoo in 1992, the New Orleans
facility upgraded its hurricane preparations, so losses there were minimal.

With reports from CTV's Jed Kahane and CTV News Toronto's Paul Bliss

Oscar Holt muttered:

> People left thousands of dogs, cats and other family pets behind in the rush
> to
> escape either Hurricane Katrina or the flooding that followed.

That clip of the poor dog left on the roof when his owner was evacuated by
boat moved me to tears. If it were me, I'd be still waiting with my dog,
hoping rescuers with more compassion would come by.