Pet Rescue... Fighting On.

First the accolades.

Michael Lohr, a civilian from Los Angeles, who finessed his way to the front lines specifically to help in the pet rescue worked his ass off today. He is EXTREMELY upset with major nationwide animal rights groups who are still to wary of potential security issues to come down here and help.

Everyone needs to realize, most of these rescues are being done by various Louisiana Humane Societies, people who are determined enough to come in individually from around the city, the state and the country who are what I've been classifying as animal radicals, and your average New Orleanians who are horrified by the stories trickling out of the desparation and plight of these animals... and trust me, we're not talking hundreds of people here.

You don't even want to begin to hear the horror stories percolating out of St. Bernard Parish.

We have not seen a whit of any national groups down here at our site. None at all. And are not hearing about much outside assistance throughout the devastated parishes and coastal Mississippi.

I'm a civilian and I'm starting to rant... back to accolades.

The Animal Rescue Foundation of Lafayette, Louisiana moved in today and brought some much needed assistance.

Dr. Martha Gomez of the Audubon Institute, a research vet who primarily has been studying cloning and actually cloned some type of cat (I can't remember) has been helping onsite with direct and much needed care.

Kelsey is basically killing herself. We have convinced her to take the morning off - I just got off the phone with her at 11:02 pm and she is not even home yet, she left New Iberia at 3:00 this morning. She is also being hampered by individuals who have tracked down her phone numbers and are calling incessantly. Please curb your behavior people. It is already chaotic as hell down here. Follow our instructions. See below.

But most loudly - everyone wanted to yell out thanks to the Oregon and Wisconsin National Guards and California Rescue. These guys, whether supposed to or not, have started taking rescuers out on their watercraft today.

Unfortunately though, today's efforts did not result in too many wins. 4 dogs and 3 cats.

There were some malfunctions with a few boats, in fact one of our dedicated search boats broke down in that wasteland and had to be rescued themselves.

But this fight will continue first thing tomorrow. Families are trickling in and delivering first hand information on where to find their trapped pets. It gets very emotional, and these people are desparate. We're going on 15 days since the storm.

If you have a pet which needs to be rescued please follow the instructions on this link. Also a good bet is to contact Best Friends of New Orleans (I'm working on that number). Realize that the group that I have been following are primarily working in the flooded areas of the Lakefront and to some extent Mid-City. Feel free to fax in your alert, but do not stop sending it to other groups. If we can get to them, we will try and realize we are doing our best with limited resources, limited command structure, and NO outside assistance.

Again, if you would like to contribute financially, please visit the following sites. These are the hands on groups and individuals who are wading through that foul water, feeding, caring and housing these animals. Thanks.

• Iberia Parish Humane Society •
• Animal Rescue Foundation of Lafayette, Louisiana •

Below: Michael Lohr taking down information from a desparate pet owner.
















Below: The Decontamination scrub down area.