Saving Animals in New Orleans

(photo by Clay Myers, Best Friends Animal Society)

--Gregory Castle just returned from the Gulf Coast
I was there for a week and it is a stunning experience to visit the affected areas. Horrific, unbelievable, hellish, sickening, pitiful, mind numbing, but also the work we're doing is exhilarating, moving, fun, inspiring, miraculous and ultimately fulfilling. It's hard to absorb and contain the miles and miles of total devastation. You see things you can't believe are possible.

Of course for us it is all about saving the animals' lives. Just a few days ago I went on a rescue mission to one of the worst hit areas - we brought back 30 dogs, 15 cats, a pot-bellied pig, 2 pet pythons, and a 3ft long Iguana.  That's typical for a day so we have to find organizations and individuals who will foster the animals while their owners try to locate them.

It's staggering that after four weeks so many of these creatures are still alive. I found a young female dog  crouching in an upstairs bathtub with no food or water, emaciated and so weak she could barely raise her head. Yet she wagged her tail as I approached and gingerly lifted her to safety.

At another house we met a distraught lady who was back at her destroyed  house looking for her three dogs. She couldn't get in the front door because of all the sludge piled up inside. We pushed the door in and searched through the ghastly mess of mud, upturned furniture and mold, and eventually found two small corpses, drowned or crushed by floating cabinets. Her third dog had escaped. Maybe he was one of the many dogs we've picked up straying on the streets - or maybe not.

Later, driving through the almost deserted streets, a woman waved us to a stop, thanked us profusely for what we were doing, then told us of a couple of cats she knew of in the neighborhood, then added, "Do you take pigs?".  An 80lb pot-bellied pig had wandered up to her in the street out of the blue. She'd found a nice patch of black mud to wallow in and as I went up to her she rolled over to have her belly rubbed, grunting contentedly. No human contact for four weeks. We took her back with us and will find her owners if we can.

So far we've reunited about 40 pets with their people, and what a moving experience that is, seeing them come together after weeks of hopeless separation - with an eruption of relief and joy.

Comments

[Joy]

Hello,

I'm writing because I'm wondering if you received Katrina rescues who are not listed on your web site? I have been trying for several weeks now to help a few folks find their animals, and we are at our wit's end. The animals aren't to be found online anywhere!

May I describe to you briefly who I am looking for, to see if these dogs ring any bells?

I am looking first for a nine-year-old yellow female lab. She would be distinctive because she has two fatty tissue cysts -- one on her left side and one on her belly. I have a old picture of this dog, for futher comparison if it's necessary.

I am also looking for a very small -- 10 pound -- male Boston Terrier with only one white paw, on his right front foot. He has near perfect Boston markings, other than that. I have a puppy picture of this dog, if it would be helpful.

I am also helping two other Boston Terrier owners look for their dogs, but I don't have good descriptions because neither of these ladies have electricity, computers or phones -- it sounds like they are going from family member to family member's houses. I am communicating with them through VERY sporadic e-mail and the U.S. Postal Service via relatives' addresses. I believe both Bostons are male and are purebred. One was lost in New Orleans, the other lost in St. Augustine, TX around the time of Rita.

If you have any insight on these four animals, or you think you might have had one come through your shelter, would you let me know?

Many thanks,
Joy Mullholand Leong

[virginia mann salazar]

My son is an emergency vet in CA, and I think you are the group he told me about. My cat was brutally killed on Sep. 7, 2005. I want to help other pets in her memory. Please let me hear.