Katrina Dog Rescue Updates

(Update: September 24, 2005)

Hello once again fellow dog lovers,

We left for New Orleans at 6:30am on the 19th and returned on Wednesday 21st at 7:30am.  We drove most of the night and stopped only to shower and get a couple hours sleep.  This trip was a successful rescue mission as well.  In total we got back 12 dogs and 4 kittens.   There are 8 dogs at Roswell Animal Hospital.  Kat Brown and Angela Bailey of GVS have taken the 4 dogs and the kittens that they rescued to their vet and are now housing them at Kat’s home.   

The dogs we brought back are in fair condition.  Most all are heart worm positive and eaten up by fleas.  They are scared and some are so traumatized that we can not approach them even to bathe them.  Roswell Animal Hospital and Dr. Decker are taking care of them till they go to Animal Action Rescue. Animal Action Rescue will be the organization that will handle all the adoptions and fosters of these animals we have rescued.  The adoption and foster applications will be on my web site soon.  The pictures of the dogs will be on www.atlantadogtrainer.com soon as well.

The trip was very hectic, we drove 1750 miles in 2 days.  We drove all over the coast trying to find a shelter that needed the horse trailer full of donated supplies.  We went to Tylertown, Mississippi first, then  Covington, Louisiana, then on to  Gulfport, Mississippi.   Our next stop was Lafayette, Louisiana and finally on to Gonzales, Louisiana to the Lamar Expo Center, a huge staging area for animals of all kinds.   Most shelters could not store anymore supplies.  They did not have the room even though they would need more supplies soon.  The make-shift shelters [tents] just had to wait till their supplies were depleted before they could take anymore donations.  We just did not have that kind of time so we kept searching.  We finally unloaded the supplies at an animal shelter in dire need in Gulfport, Mississippi.

In Gulfport, Mississippi, I met a lady from “Project Halo” a rescue group out of Charlotte, NC.  She told us about a “kill shelter” that was so over-loaded and that they were putting dogs down everyday.  She said that they had just gone and rescued 15 dogs.  We jumped right on that and drove from Gulfport, Mississippi to Lafayette, Louisiana. 

When we arrived we explained who we were and what agency we were licensed under and that we were trying to rescue dogs.   They would not let us take the dogs because they wanted to give the public a chance to view the dogs on Tuesday and Wednesday between 1:30 and 5pm.   I asked when the dogs were going to be put down and they said this Thursday.  I begged them to let us have the dogs.  I pleaded with them to let me adopt them and pay all the adoption fees $65 a dog and still they refused.  It was heartbreaking.  I told them “The whole southern region was in an evacuation because of hurricane Rita and no one was going to adopt a dog by Thursday”. They still refused.   It made no sense and I could not argue anymore nor would it have done any good.  Hopefully, by some slim chance, one dog made it out alive but I sincerely doubt it.

I finally got in touch with a HSUS volunteer in Gonzales, LA.  Her name was Gigi [we named a dog after her]  she told me they were releasing dogs due to the hurricane and that the dogs were now logged, micro chipped and ready to go to a suitable shelter or rescue group.  The large organizations are doing the best they can to reunite the dogs with their owners.  Most dogs did not have tags nor were they micro chipped, of course, due to the impoverished area from which most of the dogs came.  They had a lot of owner-turns in because the people could not care for them anymore and did not want them back in the future.  Some owners just needed a holding area to keep their dogs till they found a place to take them. Those dogs were tagged and taken to a certain area.  A lot of dogs were strays and you could tell they had been on the streets for sometime.  Some dogs were emaciated beyond belief with horrible skin conditions which did not happen in a month.  I saw so many poor Pit Bulls that were so scarred up and so skinny their ribs pushed out through their skin.  I thought one was a brindle but the closer I got I could see it was scars and not natural markings.  The dogs are scared and depressed and any attention brings them back to life.  It is heartwarming and terribly sad at the same time to see that little bit of hope when I went to their crates to say hello.  They need help badly now!!

The Lamar Dixon Expo Center was filled to the brink and they had hordes of dogs coming in.  Every minute someone was dropping a dog off.  I was searching for which dogs were vetted and ready to go with tears in my eyes.  These poor dogs need care, love and homes from anyone right now!  A lot of ASPCA and HSUS volunteers were going to the “kill shelters” and getting dogs out and bringing them to this center.

The dogs that are being released are micro chipped, photographed and logged to which area they are going and with which rescue group.  All rescue groups that were allowed into the center had to have clearance, be registered and licensed with the agricultural department.  It will take sometime like everything else in a disaster situation to get the dogs up on HSUS and ASPCA web sites.  We are all aware, especially being dog caregivers ourselves, how important our dogs are to us and that the healing process is much faster when you have your dog with you.  We all are trying to get dogs back with their owners.  The organizations are all run by volunteers who in this staging area were all sleeping in tents and taking showers with hoses.   The rescue groups are trying to hold the dogs for 30 days to give the owners a chance to find them.  Holding the dogs for 30 days makes it impossible to care for all the dogs that were affected by this catastrophe.  There is just not enough space in the staging areas plus  not enough people or supplies for all the dogs that need help.

I would just die if I lost anyone of my children Elijsha, Ezeekiel, Isabella and Barbnabus; I am now going to get all my dogs micro chipped.   

The dogs are better off now being cared for by other rescue groups than if they were left in the shelters and animal control holding area where eventually they would just be killed.  There are just too many of them for the animal control agencies and animal shelters to handle.   Animal control was overwhelmed before the hurricane hit and were having to put dogs down so they could get new dogs in.  It is all horrible.  I just want everyone to know that we are all trying to unite animals back with owners but the welfare, health and care of the animal has to come first or they will die in the shelters and holding areas while waiting for their owners to find them. 

There was a huge holding area for horses.  The horses looked so sad and lonely.  They were trying to scrub the mud of one horse as I walked by.  A man in tears was cleaning out a stall.  I felt I needed to talk to him.  I asked if there was anything I could do to help him and he just started crying.  He had a horse farm two weeks ago with 100 horses and all drowned but 10.  He was volunteering for his gratitude to HSUS and the ASPCA for taking his last 10 horses in. They are housing, vetting, and feeding them till he could get on his feet to find a place to put them.

This is a very sad time for everyone who was touched by Katrina.  I want to thank all the people who have donated their time, given cash donations, picked up donations and taken them to the storage area, set up fund raisers, school drives and all the other way they contributed to the cause.  Roswell Animal Hospital and all the doctors that have donated their time for the care of these animals have gone above and beyond and we are so very grateful to them for the generosity and impeccable service.  This last trip I want to thank Robert Skaggs, Kat Brown and Angela Bailey for helping bring this group of dogs and cats back to a safe and secure place.  As most of you know Mitzi Carroll is the coordinator, Holly Haynes is the Graphic Designer and Web Master for the entire web site Katrina K-9 Rescue Rebels and Ana Coscodar is the best dog walker/gofer in town.  Thanks so much ladies for all your long hours and patience with these missions and me!

The next trip down is scheduled for October 10th.  We are renting two cargo vans and a transporter [Jackie] with Animal Action Rescue will follow me down.  I might need an experienced driver to help me drive.  Contact me at atlantadogtrainer@yahoo.com  experienced drivers only please.  You will not get very much sleep at all.

The main things the staging areas need are FANS and lots of them.  Large fans to put in front of every dogs crate.  The plug-in kind with long heavy duty extension cords.  The dogs are hot and dehydrated.  We need crates, food bowls, slip leashes and regular leashes, collars.  We also need help with the expense of renting the cargo vans $300-$400 a trip and the gas is the killer $500-$600 a trip.  If anyone knows of a company that will donate a van for the cause that would be great.  Please give to HSUS or ASPCA they are doing a remarkable job with all the animals rescued.  Not just dogs but cats, horses, chickens, sheep, goats and any other animal that has crossed their path during this crisis.

We need dog walkers who can commit to the same times and days every week for about a two week period.  It is too difficult to randomly schedule people to walk dogs.  All dogs must be double leashed.  With a collar connected to a leash as well as the animal hospitals slip leashes.  The animal hospital is on a very busy road.  Mitzi is trying to coordinate the dog walks and she needs help.

Thank you all so much for everything,

Susie, Elijsha, Ezeekiel, Isabella and Barnabus Aga

(Update: September 7, 2005)

Hello again fellow dog lovers,

Here is the up-date on our dog rescue trip to Louisiana.  We got thirteen dogs rescued! Count them, 13 dogs in a +9 ft van on a 9 hour trip back safe and sound!!…. Wow for a first time kamikaze trip that was great.

The plan started on Saturday, September 3rd with a wish to rescue a dog from the nightmares I saw on TV.  I started the ball rolling by contacting one of my clients Howard Shore who used to be the intake coordinator for Golden Retriever Rescue. He made calls, I made calls, then we found veterinarian, Dr. Will Magum. He was in a small town outside of New Orleans and he said he desperately needed our help.    

We left on Monday and arrived at 7am on Tuesday in Franklinton Louisiana.  We went to the fairgrounds where the grounds were a make shift holding area for the rescued dogs. Dr. Will had been sleeping in his car for a week and he had his vet tech with him, sleeping in her car too. The garden hose was their shower, with a rap around plastic bag hanging as the shower curtain from a metal pole. Their clothes washer was the hose as well and their dryer was the sun.  They had their washed clothes drying on a wall. It was all a sight to see. The dogs were in pens that were held together with ropes and chicken wire. The floors were lined with shavings from a barn. They were all exhausted but were overjoyed to see our rented Budget van making its way through the downed trees and power lines. We quickly summed up which dogs we thought we could get adopted and that were not to sick to make the journey home. We kept seeing more dogs; we wanted to take them all with us, and the number kept growing from 5 to 10 to 13. We stacked crates on top of each other held them down with bungee cords. The vet tech was running around trying to catch some of the strays so we could take them as well. Dr. Will was administering the shots and it turned into an assembly line of the dogs getting a shot, then a short walk and up into the crate for a long journey home to Atlanta. This lasted about 3 hours then finally we were off. 

We went through unbelievable devastation. The roads were covered with downed trees, houses demolished, strips of metal roofs everywhere and even bushes were torn up from the ground tossed into trees. The cows were in knee high water in a pasture that was raped by the winds. I will never forget what I saw. My heart broke at every turn. Large lines for food and water on the corners in small towns and people with blank stares everywhere. I just pray that these people can come back from this and live a normal life. 

We arrived at Roswell Animal Hospital about 7pm on Tuesday night. We drove like maniacs to get back in time.  Dr. Debbie Decker was holding the entire vet tech crew till we arrived. They were all so gracious and kind.  The dogs did great.  Not one of the 13 dogs had a fuss the whole 9 hours. I think they knew we were there to help.  We could not stop for them to pee or poop. We had so many bungee cords all over the back of the van that it would have taken hours to get them out and back in the van. We finally got all the dogs out and walked them around for a bit in the parking lot of Roswell Animal Hospital. The dogs were all so excited. Roswell Animal Hospital is housing and medically taking care of all the dogs. We are so grateful to them for all their help..  Please if you want to walk them, email me and I will set up a time for you to go to the animal hospital. It is too hectic this week, so if you would wait till next week that would be great.

So far we have gotten one dog fully adopted and 5 have gone to “No More Homeless Pets Atlanta”.  There are now 7 dogs left. 

The adoption day is on September 17th from noon to 4pm at Roswell Animal Hospital 770-993-9031 the address is 1112 Alpharetta Street Roswell, Ga 30075.   Please come and support Atlanta Dog Trainer and Roswell Animal Hospital.     

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has contacted me to do a story on our trip.  I will let you all know when it comes out.  Hope this can raise the awareness of what help is needed for the animals to survive this catastrophe.  Please everyone pass this on to your company and clients.

Special thanks to the volunteers Holly Haynes, Mitzi Carroll and Anna Coscodar that are helping Atlanta Dog Trainer with picking up donations of food, crates, leashes, collars, bowls etc…. If you need us to pick up anything please email Susie at atlantadogtrainer@yahoo.com and we will forward your email to our volunteers.

Also another special thanks to HP and Verizon Wireless for their special offers and donations.

Thank you so much for everything,

Susie, Elijsha, Ezeekiel, Isabella and Barnabus Aga