As America marks the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's ruinous landfall Aug. 29, and the tragic sequence of events that followed, the disaster's impact upon animals remains one of its most compelling elements. Tens of thousands of domestic and wild animals perished from drowning, starvation, disease, and misfortune, while many others were separated from the people who loved them.
Katrina was a signal episode in the history of animal protection, and a transformative moment for The HSUS. Our ability to deploy personnel, expertise, and supplies, to dispense emergency funds, to draw public attention to the plight of animals, and to secure legislation to guarantee their safety in future disasters pushed The HSUS into the center of the humane movement's response.
A year later, the hurricane continues to generate substantial challenges for The HSUS and its many partners, both small and large. As a result of all of our efforts, however, the conditions of tragedy that epitomized Katrina have given way to progress -- progress in law, policy, and practice that will have lasting impact within and beyond the Gulf Coast states. Together, these changes promise to dramatically lessen, if not entirely prevent, the disproportionate, deadly impact of disasters on animals.
A new political and public policy landscape
"Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have forever changed this nation's thinking about the importance of taking animals into account during an emergency," says Wayne Pacelle, HSUS CEO and president. "Preparedness at all levels is essential in a world where natural disasters, emergencies, war, zoonotic disease outbreaks, terrorism, and other threats are ever-present."
The most important national outcome of The HSUS's year-long response to Katrina has been the rapid advancement of a federal bill that would guarantee the incorporation of animals into disaster planning efforts, and lay the groundwork for a transformation of public policy approaches to the handling of animals in emergency situations. As a direct result of The HSUS' leadership, the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act was passed by both the House and the Senate and is expected, after the two chambers iron out some differences, to be signed by President Bush.
The HSUS and its many partners in the animal care community have also made substantial progress at the state and local levels, and in direct interaction with disaster response agencies around the country. With an enhanced Disaster Services division, led by Randy Covey, who participated in Katrina relief as a representative of the Oregon Humane Society, The HSUS has strengthened its own capacity to respond to a range of emergency situations, including natural disaster, man-made emergency, and large-scale animal cruelty scenarios.
"Katrina was a seminal event in disaster response involving animals, and we're doing all we can to learn from the experience," Covey said. "At the same time, our job is to look forward, and to make sure that we are even better prepared for the range of threats animals face, and to help communities all over the United States to develop their own capacity to respond."
The Road to Recovery
Of $34 million dollars received from nearly 300,000 generous donors in response to our 2005 disaster appeals, The HSUS has spent or committed more than $30 million thus far. Much of it we spent during the emergency itself, and in the immediate aftermath.
Most of the remainder will be spent on long-term initiatives to restore and enhance the capacity of the animal care community in Louisiana and Mississippi, and to curb the historic problems of animal overpopulation and heartworm in the region. This account highlights some of our major expenditures.
 |
Unloading homeless pets rescued in
Katrina's wake. |
Rescue and Support Operations
Nearly $6.3 million of the funds donated to The HSUS supported our direct response to the crisis in the Gulf Coast states, encompassing:
- rescue, relief, and rehabilitation of more than 10,000 displaced, hungry, and frightened animals during the emergency phase of operations;
- co-operative management of several emergency sheltering facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi;
- pet reunion efforts at on-site locations and at our headquarters;
- travel and field expenses for hundreds of volunteers;
- animal rescue vehicles and trailers; and
- logistical support to convey supplies and services.
Reunions
The HSUS dedicated more than $800,000 to the operation of a reunion center – to assist or confirm the reunion of displaced animals with the people looking for them – and the transportation fees necessary to effect such reunions.
Trapping and Rescue Operations
The HSUS spent almost $225,000 on high-volume trapping and other rescue operations focused on homeless and feral animals in Louisiana and Mississippi in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Legislative Efforts
The HSUS spent a little less than $563,000 in its efforts to secure passage of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, legislation that promises to transform the landscape of disaster relief work when it comes to the handling and treatment of animals.
Reconstruction Grants
To date, The HSUS has given away or committed $8.35 million—to approximately 45 organizations in the Gulf Coast states—for the reconstruction or replacement of hurricane-ravaged animal shelters and wildlife rehabilitation centers. The centerpiece of this investment was our $4.5 million grant-and-aid package to the Louisiana SPCA, which, aided by the Houston SPCA, transported 260 shelter animals to safety two days before Katrina destroyed its facilities, and rebounded to play a crucial role in emergency response and to reestablish itself as the principal entity for animal care and control in Orleans Parish.
The Humane Society of South Mississippi, whose facilities were also devastated by the hurricane, received $965,000. At least seven other organizations received $50,000 or more in building grants.
Reimbursement Grants
The HSUS has made close to $2.3 million in reimbursement grants to approximately 130 local humane societies, animal control agencies, and rescue groups from 29 states (as well as from Canada and the District of Columbia). These groups were the backbone of on-the-ground rescue and relief operations during Hurricane Katrina, sending staff members to the stricken zones, accepting and caring for Katrina animals, and working to reunite displaced animals with the people searching for them.
Spay/Neuter Investments
The HSUS has invested more than $2.8 million on spaying and neutering campaigns in Louisiana and Mississippi, to address the Gulf Coast region's intractable animal overpopulation problem, exacerbated by the disaster and its aftermath. The HSUS approach includes support for aggressive spay/neuter initiatives in the short term and a long term follow-up effort. The latter will combine programs to strengthen institutional capacity for spaying and neutering in the region with a public education initiative that targets misconceptions, lack of awareness, and reservations concerning the costs and benefits of spaying and neutering animals.
The goal of The HSUS in supporting these efforts was to ensure that Gulf Coast animal organizations could return to their full range of activities without having to devote their post-Katrina resources to an unmanageable animal control challenge caused by a surplus of homeless animals. And it is paying off well in the form of tangible gains from spaying and neutering programs in Louisiana and Mississippi, and the creation of lasting partnerships to benefit animal care and control work in the region.
As an added benefit, this spaying and neutering program ensures that there will be fewer homeless animals on the streets, minimizing the potential for animal suffering when another disaster strikes.
Disaster Preparedness Grants
The HSUS has spent or committed $563,000 on the disbursement of disaster preparedness grants to animal care institutions in the Gulf Coast region, so that they will be better equipped to address their most immediate needs when the next emergency hits.
Additional Partnerships and Programs:
Overflow Facilities in California, Louisiana, and Texas
During the hurricane, the Dixon Correctional Institute (DCI), a medium security prison in Jackson, La., approximately 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, allowed The HSUS to bring more than 100 dogs and cats to the facility, where they were cared for by inmates and trustees under the supervision of DCI and HSUS staff. Caretakers took responsibility for feeding, watering, walking and cleaning cages, and socialized the animals to increase their chances of adoptability. Building on this experience, officials of DCI, Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, and The HSUS have agreed to collaborate on the establishment of a permanent, short term holding facility and surgical suite at DCI. The HSUS plans to commit $500,000 to this project.
The facility will house, on a rotating basis, companion animals from local area shelters and humane organizations, and will be incorporated into the off-site rotation schedule for LSU veterinary medical students. At DCI, under the supervision of LSU faculty, future veterinarians will perfect spay/neuter surgical skills and experience shelter-based medicine. The HSUS will have no management or financial support role, but should another emergency necessitate the evacuation of animals from elsewhere in Louisiana, our disaster personnel will be permitted to house them at the facility.
In addition to our project with DCI, The HSUS has committed an additional $750,000 toward the construction of short-term overflow facilities, to provide animal housing capacity during future disasters and emergencies, at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas and The Fund for Animals Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Ramona, Calif.
Disaster Services
Drawing on the lessons of Katrina, The HSUS has also moved to enhance its own Disaster Services division, committing $4.7 million spread over the next three years to developing the humane movement's most comprehensive disaster response team, with experts in rescue, sheltering, logistics, technology, and veterinary services. Now, our expanded Disaster Services team is leading The HSUS' response to large-scale cruelty and hoarding cases as well as to wildfires, flooding, and other disaster and emergency scenarios. In anticipation of future emergencies and disasters, the division is also focusing on animal-related preparedness planning and training at the federal, state and local levels.
Non-Katrina Disaster Work
The HSUS and its global arm, Humane Society International, played a crucial role in response to other natural disasters during 2005, devoting $238,000 to relief work in Florida and Mexico after Hurricane Wilma, in Pakistan after a horrendous earthquake struck, and in India when flooding endangered animals.
The forced mass abandonment of thousands of animals in the vicinity of New Orleans, and the other animal-related emergencies that followed in Katrina's wake, created a crisis of unprecedented scope for the humane movement. Thanks to the outpouring of support from donors across the land, and the extraordinary effort of many volunteers in Mississippi, Louisiana, and around the country, The HSUS has been able to save thousands of animals from certain death, bolster the recovery and reconstruction efforts of the Gulf Coast animal care community, underwrite a substantial spaying and neutering initiative, and strengthen its capacity to provide for animals whenever and wherever disaster strikes in the future.
