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ASPCA and Others Caring for Animals Evacuated for Hurricane Gustav
From a press release I received:
The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is helping to care for more than 800 pets belonging to evacuees of Hurricane Gustov, with ASPCA teams working in tandem with other humane organizations in 12-hour shifts to conduct intake and escort pet owners to the dog and cat areas at the Louisiana Mega Shelter in Shreveport, La.
“We’ve seen everything from puppies, kittens, dogs and cats to rabbits, hamsters, birds, snakes and other reptiles,” said Sandy Monterose, the ASPCA’s Senior Director of Community Outreach who is on site in Shreveport. “Our team is working 24/7 with other agencies to assure the pets belonging to evacuees are cared for.”
The ASPCA deployed a team of 10 disaster response experts on Friday, August 29 at the request of the Louisiana State Animal Response Team (LSART), which serves as the volunteer animal emergency response partner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry under ESF-11. The ASPCA’s Disaster Response Team of ten includes a veterinarian, veterinary technicians, disaster responders and sheltering professionals.
This picture is from the ASPCA website. It says, “ASPCA Forensic Veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck checks a puppy who was born at the Louisiana Mega Shelter in Shreveport. The puppy is the runt of a litter born just this morning! The litter of four was born to a dog whose owner lives in New Orleans.”
Other agencies besides the ASPCA that are assisting LSART’s efforts include United Animal Nations, Code 3, American Humane Association, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), International Fund for Animal Welfare, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (they have some great information and updates on their website), Noah’s Wish and numerous other humane and disaster response groups.
This picture is courtesy Kathy Milani at HSUS. It says, “New Orleans Evacuation Center: Puppies are cooled down with water as they’re waiting to be loaded on refrigerated trucks to safety.”
You can check ASPCA Hurricane Gustav updates on the group’s website. Or if you were involved in the evacuation or got separated from a pet, click here for a list of pet-friendly shelters for evacuees. In addition, all of the rescue organzations mentioned above have updates and/or diaries on their websites.
I send a HUGE thank you to all the groups involved in saving these helpless animals, especially the ones who get left behind by their owners.
Jaime
Thankful to all of the people that have hearts big enough to help the helpless!
we have been sending many healing purrs and prayers to all those effected and the furries. we dropped off cat and dog food to our local Red Cross who is taking donations. they said we were the only ones who brought animal food!