The HSUS has been in the field in Louisiana and Mississippi since the day after Hurricane Katrina struck. During the past few weeks, a coalition of groups, led by The HSUS, has saved nearly 8,000 animals (including more than 1,000 chickens from a destroyed poultry confinement facility). While that's a significant number, there are many animals we haven't reached yet—and, frankly, may never reach before it's too late. But our goal is to support efforts to rescue animals until every home on every list of rescue requests has been visited.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS, was on site in Gonzales, Louisiana, for two weeks ending September 25, and since his return has remained fully engaged with Katrina-related rescue and relief work in the impact zones.

We've heard that The HSUS has stopped animal rescues, or is planning to stop rescues on September 30. Is either true?

The HSUS didn't stop anything. The state of Louisiana decided to restrict intake of animals at Lamar Dixon Expo Center beginning on September 30, allowing only animals in critical condition to be accepted there and establishing the state's leading humane organization, the Louisiana SPCA (LA SPCA), as the agency to credential rescuers in Orleans parish. The HSUS sought a more permissive animal intake policy, but the state was firm in its resolve. As a technical matter, the entire operation in Louisiana is subject to the authority of the state. The LA SPCA will open an improvised facility in New Orleans on Saturday, October 1, rescues will continue under its auspices, and we'll do all that we can to facilitate its work.

What's going to happen to the HSUS operation at the Lamar Dixon facility?

We're going to extend our operations there through Saturday, October 15, assuming the property managers accept that plan. The VMAT veterinary care groups will be leaving by Wednesday, October 5, so we'll have to make other arrangements to provide solid medical attention for animals at the facility. That's going to be an urgent priority, obviously. We're sending animals out in large numbers every day to shelters and credentialed rescue groups around the country. We'll wind the operation down in an orderly way while assessing the need for another temporary facility in the region.

Will the animals remaining at Lamar Dixon be euthanized?

The VMAT groups have euthanized animals in grave medical condition, badly injured, or highly aggressive and thus unsuitable for re-homing—a very small percentage of animals of the total number that have been processed at Lamar-Dixon. We're going to be doing what we started out to do: to reunite as many animals as possible with the people who love them and to adopt animals who currently have no home.

Why isn't HSUS supporting rescuers in the field?

The HSUS is supporting rescuers in every way possible. We are providing equipment, lists of addresses, food, and other necessities for volunteers and animal control workers from all over the country. We have to modify our approach as the LA SPCA launches its new operations, but we're going to back its rescue efforts and offer our wholehearted assistance.

One of the challenges we faced with rescue work at Gonzales is that the owners of the Lamar-Dixon facility restricted us from keeping more than 1,300 rescued animals on the property. So every day, we have to move hundreds of animals out to shelters before we can bring any more in. At the times when we have reached our capacity, we ask rescuers to bring in only the most critical animals who need immediate veterinary care; for the other animals, if they appear to be healthy, we give them food and water so we can go back for them later. What's more, if pet owners are about to return to New Orleans (as many are about to do), it's better for the animals if we do not subject them to the stress of capture and transport. 

If you are trying to move animals out of Lamar-Dixon, why can't rescuers take them?

Rescuers are taking some, but we are not set up for adoption screening and post-adoption visitations. That's why our first priority is to move animals to animal care facilities in Louisiana (so reunions can readily occur) or to move them to large humane societies in other states.

These humane societies are set up not only to care for animals, but also to screen individuals for fostering and adoption. Before any out-of-state shelter accepts animals from Lamar-Dixon, each must sign an agreement with us to return animals to their original owners if they are claimed. The HSUS has offered to pay for the transport of any animal reclaimed by an owner, regardless of where the animal and the person are. 

If The HSUS has raised millions of dollars, why can't you do more to help?

Our actions are not limited by cost. We are prepared to spend money to help animals. But there are some things money can't buy. We are balancing the demands of the state, with the demands of the federal government, along with the property managers at the Lamar-Dixon facility. We were criticized the other day, for example, for not buying spotlights for rescuers—but there is a curfew in New Orleans, and people are not allowed into the city after 8 p.m., so there's hardly a need for spotlights. If we violate the rules, we risk our entire rescue, sheltering, and export options.

The HSUS is spending millions on the rescue effort, including expenditures on transportation, food, medicine, deployment of paid staff and volunteers, crates, temporary workers, computer equipment, and so much more. Take just a couple of small examples: We are paying for nine 18-wheel trucks, and each is $1,500-plus per day. We've upped our staffing from a Louisiana temp agency to help us with animal care on the ground. The additional 50 people per shift will cost $40,000-$50,000 per week. And we are committing millions more for capacity building and reconstruction efforts, so that the humane infrastructure along the Gulf Coast will be stronger than it ever was before Katrina pounded the area. We intend to help rebuild every shelter damaged by Katrina.

Why have you moved animals from Lamar-Dixon to a prison?

We are seeking creative solutions to keep space available at our facilities for the import of rescued animals. We had a meeting with the wardens of two major prisons in Louisiana, and they said they wanted to help. They have space and a ready supply of labor. Our veterinarians, vet techs, and volunteers are teaching inmates and prison personnel the basics in animal care, and it's a win-win for the people and for the animals. When the crisis finally subsides, we will go back to these institutions and see whether it is possible to develop some long-term programs where they can be of use to the work of animal care in the Gulf.

Did you scale back your operations after Hurricane Rita?

No. There was a brief pause in direct rescue efforts in Louisiana over the September 23-25 weekend because of Hurricane Rita's approach. We dropped down to emergency staff levels, secured more than six 18-wheel rigs for possible evacuation, and hunkered down at the Lamar-Dixon emergency facility in Gonzales, making sure the 700 animals there at the time were safe. Direct rescue resumed as soon as the tropical storm winds and sheets of rain receded.

I want to volunteer. What is the best way to do so?

We are encouraging volunteers to help at both the Gonzales facility and at our Hattiesburg, Mississippi operation, which is a facility we established to deal with the animal care and rescue operations in that devastated state. We do need volunteers, and urge people to self-deploy if they can come for even just a couple of days. Whatever they decide to do, however people need to know some fundamental facts. Conditions are primitive, and volunteers need to bring a sleeping bag and some provisions. They also have to understand that we're in a disaster scenario there, and that it's not going to look like a local veterinarian's office. It's a quasi-military operation, and it's stressful. And it's hard work. Even if you are a skilled rescuer, don't count on rescuing in the field. As we mentioned earlier, all rescuers in Orleans parish must be credentialed by the LA/SPCA.

Especially when it comes to the animal sheltering and veterinary care components of our work in Louisiana, we prefer that volunteers register on our website, www.hsus.org, so that we can track their skill sets and schedule their deployment.

We hear people are stealing animals at Lamar-Dixon. What is security like?

There are many rumors on the Internet about animals being stolen. We are constantly on guard for this, especially because we have rescued more than 300 pit bulls, and these animals are sought after by criminal dogfighters. We erected a perimeter fence and hired a private security firm. The security firm is present on site 24 hours a day, every day of the week. It's safe for both animals and people.