Kelsey (Pet Rescue) Speaks.
1:36 AM, September 12, 2005
If this were yesterday, I'd be getting up in 2 hours. I got home and discovered that my husband and eight dogs feel neglected, so now that bellies are full and butts have been scratched- I can go spend time with my...dogs. Even on very little sleep I'm still not that funny.
I believe it was Debra in Portland, OR that I think gave us some GREAT karma. I spent the afternoon on a boat with 4 National Guardsmen: 2 from Portland, 1 from Eugene and 1 from the Beaverton area. Great guys. I hope they'll be there still when I get there tomorrow. Tonight I brought 2 dogs to my parents and 1 cat. Temporary holding. I think Cheri, from ARFLA, wants to adopt one, maybe both. The cat has an owner to contact.
OK. The report I got from Dr. White who has been rescuing in St. Bernard Parish is that even though he has brought at least 40 dogs, 1 squirrel (a pet) and a Muskovie Duck-Saturday night and another 35 Sunday night, It is a DIRE problem.
His words: "There is an unending supply of dogs in St. Bernard Parish and they are dying." The shoot to kill order has been given, by local officials, but the National Guardsmen don't want to do it. He asked me to put out a plea to ALL ANIMAL RESCUE GROUPS...WE DESPERATLY NEED YOUR HELP. COME DOWN AND GET SOME.
I have seen other groups, but why are they not going to where the greatest need is? Please contact St. Bernard Sheriff's Department about housing some, and we mean lots, of these animals. I saw a load of Min-Pins and Skipperkees-I know it's spelled wrong-Saturday. These are pure bred small dogs. Our housing capabilities locally are stretched and the State animal shelters that were set up for the Katrina survivors are filling up quickly.
Please spread the word to any animal rescuers and potential foster families that we need them.
I thank each and everyone of you for your prayers and blessings. I'm lucky to be here and be able to do this. I have been working with some wonderful people who are there all day in the heat just to help these little gifts.
Wish me sleep!!
Kelsey R.
posted by TAG at 11:58 AM
22 Comments:
Washington Post (9/12):
Texas oil tycoon Boone Pickens charted a Continental Airlines jet for $50,000 and brought 80 dogs to San Diego and San Francisco. Pickens' spokesman Jay Rosser said, "The goal was to rescue 200 dogs. They're (Pickens and his wife) overjoyed that they were able to rescue 80, but clearly disappointed and dismayed at the bureaucracy, which prevented them from taking the full 200."
The article goes on to say that there's maybe 50,000 dogs and cats in New Orleans that need to be rescued.
Read more here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/11/AR2005091101112.html
Where can we find out information abour fostering pets?
Yes, I would consider fostering a pet also. Just need info on how to go about it.
Hi,
I will consider adopting/fostering a pug or a mini dachshund.
Please let me know if there are any available and how it could be done.
Thank you.
cyberianatheart@yahoo.com
This is Debra in Portland, Oregon again. AGAIN I want to say THANK YOU a million fold to you rescuers on the front lines. If you see those good Oregon National Guard boys again, you tell them WE LOVE THEM! We are donating money (I gave my entire money market acct) to the pet rescue efforts, we are calling the White House and Governor Blanco's office (I've called so often I'm on a first name basis with several volunteers now) and we know how HARD you are working! I have created several postings on Craigslist (in New Orleans and Portland sections) about the situation, and have listed your blog website for people to refer to for daily accounts of the rescue efforts & difficulties there. I've also done postings urging people to get down to New Orleans & Mississippi tp help - and I've had responses from people as far away as California & TX that are loading up and are on their way! I strongly urge you to make postings on CRAIGSLIST, in New Orleans, under Volunteers and under Pets. I am certain you would receive more help in St. B Parish if you could have someone, who is present and can give first hand accounts, do some posts on Craigslist. Again, THANK YOU, WE LOVE YOU and are SO eternally grateful for your concern and your exhausting, selfless efforts. XOXO your friend in Portland, Debra
Where can people go to pick up animals to help? We heard no one can get through.
Give me address that can be map quested to as coming from Ohio.
Again, I would like to foster at least two pets (we live in a gated community and two pets is all they will allow) here in Leesburg, FL. Where in central Florida can I get the pets?? I have donated money for care and food. Thank you Joyce Halvorsen tomjoy9@comcast.net
24415 Amberleaf Ct Leesburg
phone 352-365-4395
I work for a cageless dog daycare and boarding facility in Washington, DC. We want to foster some animals and have many other families who want to foster as well. If you have information on how to go about fostering please let me know. The local shelters and other agencies are bogged down and not returning emails or phone calls (as they are extremely taxed right now).
Thanks,
Brandi
brandi_msu@yahoo.com
Hello,
If anyone is interested in providing Foster care for pets left homeless by Katrina - there is now a website up where you can offer such assistance:
http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/
Go to "I want to Foster" and fill out the form.
This is the only site I have found so far where you can offer to Foster - so please spread the word to anyone else interested in fostering animals.
It is my understanding that www.Petfinder.com is going to be the primary Website - being used by ALL rescue organizations - to post pictures and descriptions of lost and found pets in an effort to reunite the pets with their families. This site will likely get an enormous amount of traffic over the next few weeks & I hope that the Katrina survivors will be pleased & relieved to find many many offers of good loving foster care for their animals.
Thank you all for your kindness.
My brother got video footage of some of those killings.
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/photography/2005/katrina_video/straydogs.html
I'm just sick about the order to kill these precious creatures...just read about it. I just called the Governor's office and asked them to please pass on a message to continue rescuing...we have plenty of National Guard troops there now to handle it. The toll free # is 1-866-310-7617. Also sent an email to about 30 of my friends asking them to call. I live in CA, so I'm too far away to help in any other way. I'm going to start emailing all the major networks as well. We need to publicize this...NOW!!
Blessings to all of you wonderful people that are helping!
Linda
http://www.1-800-save-a-pet.com/
There is a place on their website you can offer to put a pet or pets displaced by the hurricane.
If you cannot house a pet but can transfer them from New Orleans you can also sign up there.
Hope that helps!
Hello everyone, this is Deb in Portland yet again. Please note that the shootings of dogs, mentioned in a previous comment and as seen on that Dallas News website, was not committed as a result of a SHOOT TO KILL order or mandate. The officer who took it upon himself was Sgt Mike Minton of the St. Bernard Parish. Thousands of people called the Gov of Louisiana, as well as the Senators, as well as the President of St. Bernard Parrish, Mr. Henry Rodriguez, to protest this rogue Sgt & his minions `shooting the dogs before they eat us'. Enlightened fellow, by the way, isn't that Sgt Minon? That video is 2 weeks old, and according to all officials that I have been able to reach in the Gov's office, in the office of the Senators, and at the National Guard office, there is no shoot to kill order. The Gov's office went further, and condemned the behavior and said that they put an IMMEDIATE stop to it and are disciplining Sgt Minton. Whether or not any of this is true, I cannot verify. But frankly, there has been such poor national media coverage of the animal rescue efforts in NO & the gulf, we should be directing our anger at the News affiliates like NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the rest. EMAIL THEM EVERY DAY AND DEMAND MORE COVERAGE OF THE ANIMAL RESCUES. It really does work, to wit: Anderson Cooper on CNN, just today, mentioned the hundreds of emails they have received about animal rescue, and then they did another segment about it. So, I suggest that on a daily basis at the very least (I call at least 3 times every day), every one call the Gov's office to demand, now that the urgent human rescue is finished, that the Governor assign MORE government resources to the rescue of the animals. At the very least, several National Guard units! GOVERNOR BLANCO'S OFFC #: 1-866-310-7617, manned 24/7. And I suggest that you all get busy emailing those news channels, via their websites, every day! And most of all, keep supporting the superhero rescuers down there on the frontlines. PEACE TO YOU AND ALL YOU THOSE LOVE! Deb
Deb from Portland, how do we get you down here to run a command post? Right now we need additional shelters, since the ones in Baton Rouge are full. We need the E.O.C. to send us supplies to set up temporary shelters in the N.O. area. We need a centralized animal rescue operations center--C.A.R.O.C.
In the case of this situation, I think Crock of S*@% is appropriate.
I'm going out again tomorrow, but the rescue requests have increased by 4 fold. I need on the ground help to rescue then shelter.
Thanks to everybody who's e-mailing
and thanks to those who are donating. We are a low-tech, shoestring operation and every little bit helps.
Kelsey, you poor wonderwoman, I know you must be exhausted and our hearts or with you. I know you all are so busy trying to rescue that also trying to organize & communicate is an overwhelming challenge. But it's very important to do this so that there is limited redundancy of effort. So I have a suggestion. I am not a search and rescue person but I have some ideas, not to insult your intelligence or tell you guys how to do anything, because YOU are the experts here. But my idea is truly not high tech. Every evening you all must lay out a battle plan for the next day's work. Plan on where you'll concentrate your efforts, whether you'll need boats or if it will be dry land, etc. Just to the best of your abilities get an idea of what's happening the next day. I know it's hard to take 30 minutes to do this, but this is similar to what is done in hospitals at shift change when the new nursing shift comes on. After making a brief plan, PUBLICIZE YOUR PLAN! By this, I mean post your blog like you do every evening, BUT INCLUDE THE NEXT DAY'S PLAN. ASK THOSE WHO WANT TO HELP, TO MEET YOU AT A CERTAIN PLACE AT A CERTAIN TIME IN THE MORNING. That can be your morning's rescue team. And again, I would stress, ALSO POST THIS BATTLE PLAN FOR NEXT DAY'S RESCUE TO www.craigslist.com, under New Orleans, under both the Pets and the Volunteers section. There are SO many people who want to help but they don't know where to turn. I know you are a small, grassroots organization and you are exhausted. But taking the time to do just a bit of planning and MORE communicating on those plans, I believe, will result in a better return on your labor. You need to have SOMEONE willing to help you all communicate, and it seems like your office in Iberia would be a good place. They could take names & numbers of volunteers, and those volunteers could come out the next day (or whatever day they agree to) to help. That's my 2 cents worth for now. So sorry this is so longwinded, I'm just very passionate about this. BLESSINGS TO YOU, and you MUST take care of yourself or you won't be any good to others. YOu have to get some rest too! You can email me at home, MyDogRudy@comcast.net. I'm happy to help in any way I can, even from Oregon!
Hi, I would love to adopt a snake or 2 if there are any that need a home.... I love the lil reptiles, and would be happy to save them. I also have friends that love snakes and any over our other cold blooded friends.
Please contact me at evilbikerchick@aol.com
put snakes in the memo
If you want to adopt or foster a dog, check with your local shelter to see if they have taken in any Katrina dogs. They may have gotten dogs who were in local shelters before the hurricane hit and were later moved to another shelter in order to make room for Katrina dogs. I know the SPCA in Houston has dogs from NOLA and North Shore Animal League in NY took some from Gulfport. Some dogs arrived in San Francisco and San Diego today, and I know the SPCA in Los Angeles will soon be getting 300 of them.
Keep up the great work, Kelsey!
While I am unable to foster animals myself(I would if I could)I have emailed my local gov. animal control about possibly taking some and the Busch Gardens in Williamsburg...maybe some of you who are like me can do the same.Get the word out to those who can...if they really want to.
It's not about saving humans OR animals. Save humans AND animals as well!!! BOTH!!! I can't believe such a cruelty! Even some persons have taken some time off before they started on doing something about this horrible disaster, do things in a right way now! THANK YOU to all of you that are working ALSO for those that can speak and ask for help. I'm suffering for people and animal from a distant country. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
Our local Cincinnati SPCA received 30 evacuted pets last week and they were adopted within a couple hours. These were pets already in a shelter prior to Katrina. Now they are starting a new program to foster pets found since Katrina. If they are not claimed then they will placed up for adoption. See article below:
SPCA Answers The Call For Relief Help
LAST UPDATE: 9/12/2005 10:58:06 PM
Pets that survived Hurricane Katrina will be up for adoption in the Tri-State.
2,500 animals are being housed in a convention center in Gonzales, Louisiana. The SPCA left Monday to pick up 200 of them, and bring them back to the Tri-State.
"How we treat our animals is paralleled in how we treat each other," said Harold Dates, Cincinnati SPCA.
"We'll have a veterinarian medical team to go over them," said Dates. "We'll have groomers. We'll have people decontaminating them, we're going to do it right."
Organizers said each pet will get "microchipped" and have a digital photo taken. The pictures will be displayed on a website for hurricane families who are missing any pets. Any animal not claimed by October 15th will be up for adoption.
"They're the nitty, gritty animals from the streets of New Orleans, and we're going to be asking the public to shelter them in their homes."
Until the deadline, each animal simply needs a foster family.
"If we show these animals compassion and respect, in turn, we'll show it to each other. That's what needs to be done."
If you're interested in fostering a pet: registration starts at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday at the SPCA. That's located at 11900 Conray Road in Sharonville. You can ask for a dog or a cat. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Department will be there confirming addresses.
You can contact the SPCA at (513) 489-7387.
I am so impressed, touched and relieved to read about the efforts of all the people working so hard to save animals. Wish I could help but I am far away living in Europe. God bless you and thank you in the name of civilization.
I've forwarded Kelsey's words to info@uan.org. UAN/EARS has been doing a tremendous job in the relief effort for the abandoned animals in New Orleans. Having just moved away from N.O. myself just over a year ago, this catastrophe has personally touched my life through family and friends, a couple of whom are still unaccounted for. Thank you for sharing such detailed info...it's a lot more comforting than the confused distortion that tends to come from the national media!
~K
kmclain77@gmail.com
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