Posted by DARCY
on September 12, 2008, 12:07 pm
24.97.250.218
As of Sunday, September 7, after the ASPCA Disaster Response Team spent 10 days caring for evacuated pets in Gustav-torn Louisiana, the last of the animals at the Mega Shelter in Shreveport were on their way home. Discharging more than a thousand animals was an arduous four-day process, with evacuees and small pets boarding buses back to their parishes—34 of which were declared federal disaster areas by President Bush. “Many homes have been destroyed and many others don’t yet have power,” says ASPCA Director of Disaster Response, Allison Cardona, “but it was decided that it was best to start people on the road to recovery.”
The bright spot in the middle of Hurricane Gustav's rain and 110 mph winds was that, thanks to Louisiana's new disaster response protocols, most evacuees and their pets were able to remain together until the storm had passed. Cardona, who was present in Louisiana during both Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav, comments, "We encountered so many people who had lost their animals in 2005. After witnessing the utter devastation left by Katrina, what really struck me was the grateful way in which Hurricane Gustav evacuees responded to having their pets with them.”
Please see our Hurricane Gustav Rescue Diary for photos and stories of Louisiana residents who were able to remain close to their pets during the storm. We met Arthur Anglemier who, after being separated from his three cats during Hurricane Katrina, swore he’d never leave them again—and didn’t have to this year. Another pet parent, Red, whose house was destroyed by Hurricane Gustav, said, "I'm not sure what I'm going home to, but I still have my dog, Smoky, and I'm forever grateful for that."
Jesse Winters, ASPCA Senior Director, Community Outreach, shares how she felt after the ASPCA's work at the Mega Shelter ended: “On Saturday, as our skeleton crew was winding down, I ran across innumerable daily care sheets on which owners had written quite touching thank-you notes for the special care shown to them and their pets. The genuine compassion and respect given to the animal and human evacuees made all the difference. The notes they left us said it all.”
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