Hurricane Katrina Pet Rescue - Utah

A Grand Welcome

The vans from Texas rolled into the No More Homeless Pets parking lot just before 7pm on Monday.  The tired people and restless dogs and cats were greeted by the applause of more than twenty volunteers as well as four television news crews. 

The doors opened and the fresh volunteers got immediately to work.  Each dog was walked, each cat was cuddled, and the rescue team was finally able to relax. Some team members went right home to get some much-needed sleep, but others stuck around, reenergized by the excitement of the crowd.

It really was a sight to see...28 dogs getting their first sniffs of Salt Lake, 18 cats being adored, and a swarm of volunteers eager to do whatever it took to make sure these dogs and cats felt welcome.  Several people had already agreed to foster animals in their homes, but when others met the sweet dogs and cats, they wanted to get in on the act, too.  As darkness fell, the parking lot emptied, and the dogs and cats were on to the next stage of their adventure.  We hope that all of them will find homes at the Pet Super Adoption, so they can finally settle in to a safe and loving permanent home.

We are being bombarded by offers of support, and we are overwhelmed with gratitude.  It is wonderful to see so many people opening their hearts to these pets, and we hope that it will inspire more and more people to get involved.  Sadly, there are still more than 30,000 dogs and cats being euthanized in Utah each year.  Hopefully, these refugees from Texas and the Gulf Coast will bring Utah's own homeless pets some much-needed attention and love.

Gulf Coast Felines

Lynn and Char, from Spaymart, were supposed to meet our van in Baton Rouge with the cats, but their transport van had to be taken to New Orleans to get more cats out of the Camp Street Shelter, so Julie and Ty decided to drive to Mississippi. It was reported to them later that since the Hurricane hit, the cats in Camp Street Shelter were being taken care of by a man in his eighties and that the shelter was flooded. 

When our van reached the small shelter in Picayune, Julie and Ty weren't prepared for what they saw. A damaged shelter, barely standing, no running water, no electricity...eerily quiet surroundings. They were greeted by Char (pictured), who has been caring for hundreds of cats, as well as her young son Chris and his friend.  By the light of the van, they  all loaded 30 cats gently into crates and stacked them carefully in the van's cargo area.  The process took four hours, and they finished after midnight. 

The shelter was running critically low on supplies, so Julie and Ty gave them absolutely everything they had...from cat litter, to veterinary supplies, to Raisinettes and Goldfish crackers.  Chris and his friend were thrilled with the snackfood.  "All y'all have to be some of the nicest people I've ever seen," said Chris.

Reluctantly, Julie and Ty hit the road.  Said Julie, "I think if we would have had more time to stop and think about what was actually going on and the conditions, it would have been difficult to go home and not stay and help out."

There was nowhere to stay in Picayune, so Julie called her husband Gregory and put him on the task of finding a hotel.  But hotels are booked solid well in from the coast, so Gregory had to think outside the box.  He checked a website that had been set up to help hurricane evacuees, and called a man named George (that's him pictured here) in Baton Rouge who had listed an available room at his house.  By this time, it was extremely late, but George was nice enough to wait up for Julie and Ty to arrive and had a room all made up for them.  Julie reports that he was very kind, showed them the best way to get to Denver, and made killer coffee. 

In the morning, they took the cats to Staring Plaza Veterinary Center, a very nice clinic in Baton Rouge.  Dr. Lucy Berryhill (pictured), who very generously volunteered her time, gave all of the cats a check-up.  She and her staff were incredibly nice, and Julie and Ty were once again astounded by how kind, welcoming and generous everyone they've met has been.

Health certificates for 30 cats in hand, Julie and Ty are once again on the road.  They should arrive in Salt Lake City tomorrow.

A Long-Distance Reunion

Just as Julie and Ty were preparing to leave San Antonio, Kathryn, the Executive Director of the shelter, got a call from Suzette, a nurse at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.  Suzette had gone in to work the day before Hurricane Katrina struck, with the intention of working through the storm.  Before going to work, Suzette evacuated her two dogs, and they eventually ended up with Kathryn at the Humane Society / SPCA of Bexar County.  Since their arrival, the shelter staff and volunteers had kept the dogs safe, showered them with love, and reassured them countless times that they would eventually see their mom again.

Just two days before calling Kathryn, Suzette had finally been rescued from Charity Hospital, and she was now ready to be reunited with her dogs.  And they were more than ready to be reunited with her.

Ty and Julie offered to take the pooches with them to Baton Rouge, where they could rendezvous with Suzette.  The dogs did great during the 9+ hour drive, but when they saw their mom, they went a little crazy and absolutely smothered her with kisses.   

Sadly, Suzette also had two cats which she left behind because she didn't anticipate the flooding.  She opened a bag of food for her cats and left a bucket of water, but it's possible that the flooding was higher than the spot she left the food.  Last we heard on Sunday, Suzette's friend was planning to make his way to her house to check on the cats.  We pray that her cats are okay, and we hope we can report good news soon.

Like so many others in the region, Suzette is now faced with starting over.  Her house is under about 6 feet of water, she's very worried about her cats, and she's not sure what to do next.  Despite all of this, Suzette made Julie and Ty take a $50 donation.  Generosity in the face of incredible adversity seems to be a recurring theme in the Hurricane Katrina saga.

New Friends, Both Two-Legged and Four-Legged

The team reached San Antonio on Saturday, and were excited to meet several employees of the Humane Society / SPCA of Bexar County.  They toured the facility, which everyone agreed was "incredible," met several of the cats and dogs who had been evacuated from the hurricane zone (including the adorable pup pictured here, who is being held until her family can claim her), and then went out for a nice lunch with Kathryn Bice, the Executive Director of the shelter.

Kathryn (pictured below, front row, white tshirt) and her staff have already reunited dozens of hurricane pets with their families, and have found homes for many more by holding special adoption days for the pets who were already homeless before the storm struck.  "The animal community has really         pulled together to help these people keep their pets," says Kathryn. "It's a small part of the developing story, but         it's a part we're glad to do to keep people and their pets together."

On Sunday morning, after waiting out a torrential downpour, our team loaded up 28 dogs and 18 cats, and four of the five vans hit the road for Utah.  They are planning to drive straight through, and should arrive back in SLC on Monday late afternoon.

The fifth van, manned by Julie and Ty, headed toward Mississippi.  Instead of meeting Lynn from Spaymart in Baton Rouge (see previous posts), they are going all the way to her facility in Picayune, Mississippi.  Lynn has been working night and day to help cats left behind when their families evacuated, and she simply couldn't break free to make a trip to Baton Rouge.  In one particularly sad case, 80 cats were left in an empty house in New Orleans, where no one checked in on them for 10 days.  Tragically, by the time Lynn and other rescuers were called in to help, several of the cats had already passed away.  But Lynn was able to rescue many of the cats, and they have now joined the hundreds of others being sheltered at her facility.

Julie and Ty hope to be back in Salt Lake City by Tuesday. When they return they'll have stories to tell, new friends to think about, and approximately 50 lucky cats and kittens ready to start new lives in safe homes with loving Utah families.

Julie Checks in From Texas

a report from Julie about Friday, Sept. 9th and the morning of the 10th:

We headed out Friday morning from Phoenix and drove 14 hours to Sonora.  We stopped for dinner in small town called Ft. Stockton and it was true Texas.  The only restaurant that had cars in front of it was K-Bob’s so we stopped for dinner.  I ordered a veggie fajita and the woman looked at me like I was crazy---she asked if that meant I didn’t want chicken or beef.  After much laughing from the team, she finally got the point.

As we got our check from the waitress, two women stopped by our table and asked us if we were the people that had the ‘animal’ vans outside.  Initially I thought they were going to ask us to move them, but when I told her we were with the vans, one of the women, Rachel, got teary-eyed.  She told us she ran a local rescue group in town and was also a teacher at the middle school.  She shared with us how she taught all of her students to love and care for animals, and that unconditional love from animals was the real teacher.  She was overcome with emotion that someone was driving across the country to help, as she put it, ‘those that can’t help themselves.’  She was upset that folks were not allowed to evacuate with their animals and wondered why, when folks had lost absolutely everything, they would be denied possibly the only thing they had left in their lives, their pets. 

She thanked us again, got out her checkbook and made a donation.

We left Sonora at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday after getting to bed around 1:00 a.m.  As we rolled out of the Days Inn, I pulled one of my usual driving maneuvers and exited through the entrance.  The driver of a large white pick up truck with Texas plates began to blare his horn.  Annoyed, I turned around to see what he wanted from me and the silhouette of a cowboy hat moved toward the driver door to get out.  “Crap,” I thought to myself, “I’ve really pissed this guy off.”  He walked to my window and leaned in, “Are y’all goin’ to help animals from the Hurricane?”  I had to readjust my reaction from justifying my horrible driving to being pleasant to this cowboy dude.

He tilted his head and said, "I wish I could help, too.  I love animals and it makes me sad to see them stranded.”  He pulled a $50 bill out of his wallet, handed it to me and said, “God be with you people.”

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The walkie-talkies in the vans are a great way for all of us to stay awake and bond on these long stretches of highway that seem endless.  Lots of dumb jokes, swapping stories about people’s tatto’s, and a ton of inquisitive questions from Bev…ah to be 21 and curious about the world again—-Do cacti grow in Texas?  Who was Stephen Austin?  What is the name of that mountain range? 

As we near San Antonio, the excitement from the team is mounting…this is the real deal now, this is why we drove all this way, to rescue homeless animals from this nearby Texas town, to make room for the hundreds or thousands that will soon be in need of a loving home.

On the Road

Julie Castle, our Executive Director, is leading the team which is headed south.  She called today to report that they were all doing great, and had made it all the way to Phoenix last night.  Julie reports that George Scherer, who used to be a race car driver, is driving their "pace car," so they are making good time.  Of course, we're quite sure they're not breaking any laws  :)

The people joining Julie and George on the trip are:  Teresa Wilhelmsen, Tracy Miller, Beverly Ausick, Kathleen Robinson, Winnie Woodford, Ty Weisenberger, Barbi Carroll, and Kerri Pitcher.  Most of them just met one another, but after a 45 hour road trip, we're sure they'll all know each other well...for better or for worse.

The team expects to arrive in San Antonio by noon tomorrow, at which point they'll finally get to meet the dogs who'll be traveling back with them to SLC.  Then, after a good night's sleep, they'll load up four of the vans early Sunday morning and start the long drive home.

The fifth van is going to head to Baton Rouge.  Julie and Ty are planning to meet Lynn, who is a leader of a non-profit organization called SpayMart.  She has been caring for hundreds of cats who came from shelters devastated by the storm.  Her facility, located close to the coast, was without power and running water for a week and a half, and was flooded during the storm.  She has been valiantly taking care of these cats, and is in desperate need of assistance.   

Lynn is bringing 50 cats and kittens from her facility to Baton Rouge, where they will be examined by a veterinarian.  All of the cats and kittens were homeless prior to the storm and have no families with whom to be reunited.  Julie and Ty will take as many of the healthy cats and kittens as can comfortably fit in the van back to Utah for adoption.

In addition, Lynn is receiving help from No More Homeless Pets Atlanta  and from other rescue groups in the area.  With lots of luck, and even more hard work, all of the adoptable cats in her charge will be safely transferred to new facilities or foster homes.   This is wonderful news, and is a real testament to the power of networking.  And, once Lynn catches her breath, she'll be able to help other cats who will be picked up from New Orleans and other affected areas, and work to reunite them with their families.

The Journey Begins

After a great deal of work, planning and talking with many people in and near the disaster area, an initial plan for the No More Homeless Pets in Utah coalition to help relieve the pressure on shelters impacted by Hurricane Katrina has been solidified.  In addition to our current rescue operation, which I'll describe below, we hope to be able to do much more over the next several weeks and months to help.  As more plans are solidified, we'll post the details here.

Our van, and a van on loan from Summit County Friends of Animals departed from Sugarhouse Petco in Salt Lake City just before 11am today.   Eight people with experience handling animals are on their way to Kanab to pick up more people as well as another three vans, which Best Friends has agreed to lend to us. 

By late this afternoon, the team will be heading in the direction of San Antonio to pick up dogs from a local shelter.  Many dogs and cats have been transferred from Louisiana to San Antonio and other towns in Texas.  Several shelters there, including the one we are working with, are trying to free up space in their facilities in order to accommodate more animals from storm-ravaged areas, and to hopefully reunite more displaced pets with their original owners.  Our vans will pick up as many dogs from the Texas shelter as they can accommodate, and then return them to Salt Lake City for next week's Pet Super Adoption.

In addition, we are networking with other groups to connect with pets who are ready to be transferred out of Louisiana and Mississippi.  Sadly, many people who lost their homes in the storm are now having to turn over their animals to shelters or rescue groups because they simply don't have the means to care for them. We are endeavoring to have dozens of these animals transferred to Texas, with the intention of bringing them back with us to Utah as well.

In closing, I'd like to say thank you to the people and organizations who have stepped forward to help make this operation possible.  We have had a huge outpouring of support from volunteers, friends, and supporters over the last few days.  There have been many donations of supplies, including from Summit County Friends of Animals and PETCO, who allowed us to take anything off their shelves for the animals. Our thanks also to the dozens of animal lovers who have donated in person or via our website.

Finally, a very special thank you to friends and family of Gail Benjamin, who have donated so generously in her memory.