The Aftermath of Devastation
When the levees that protect New Orleans broke in late August last year, and the city realized the worst consequences of living below sea level, Hurricane Katrina's widespread devastation affected not only people, but also their pets. Dogs and cats were stranded on roofs, on cars, and in waterlogged homes. When Americans witnessed the animals' plight on television, they donated generously to save these pets. And The HSUS responded in kind.
We opened two massive emergency shelters, one each in Louisiana and Mississippi. We flew in volunteers and staff by the hundreds. We bought supplies, trucks, and trailers. We did everything we could to help rescue and shelter an estimated 10,000 animals along the Gulf Coast.
Then we moved into the reunion phase, devoting countless staff and volunteer hours to help people reunite with their pets. Those efforts have paid off; more than 2,200 animals have been reunited with their families, through our efforts and those of other organizations. But our work continues—we're rebuilding shelters along the Gulf, creating spay/neuter programs, and launching a humane trapping program to deal with the ongoing homeless pet population in Louisiana. We're also backing new public policies to ensure that government emergency responders are accountable for animal rescues during future disasters. Our Katrina work, in short, will continue for years to come.
Friends of The HSUS
HSUS supporter Sam Hall wanted to help in as many ways as he could. In addition to making a large cash gift to our Disaster Relief Fund, Sam also paid for an expensive engineered grid map of New Orleans for rescuers to plot the locations of animals in 
need. He also left his Florida home to join 200 other HSUS volunteers at our animal-rescue staging area in Gonzales, Louisiana, and spent several days floating through the fetid streets of New Orleans on an HSUS rescue boat.
On one particularly memorable day, Sam worked as part of a four-person crew that went in search of a veterinary clinic after The HSUS learned that no one had been able to reach it for two weeks. After launching two boats from a highway ramp, the crew spent hours navigating past downed trees and flooded cars, finally spotting the clinic. Sam described what happened next:
"After we tore open the door, it was Dante's Hell. The smell of death was indescribable. Two cats and seven dogs were already dead. We had no light, except one small flashlight and my flash attachment on my camera. We saved two cats and eight dogs. We emptied the clinic in less than 15 minutes, loaded up, and rushed to a pet triage location, complete with a veterinarian, waiting at our launch site."
One of the donations The HSUS received to help animals affected by Hurricane Katrina was from lauded actress Ellen Burstyn. Ellen, who also received a Genesis Award for Within These Walls, a 2001 movie about training dogs in a women's prison, said she was motivated to give, like so 
many others, after viewing incidents on television.
"It was heartbreaking to see the footage. I was appalled that authorities would not allow people to take their pets to hurricane shelters with them. I hope that Congress passes the legislation, which The HSUS is championing, to allow people everywhere to bring pets to disaster shelters. The government should not be forcing people to abandon their pets. For people whose only family are pets, leaving behind companion animals is out of the question."
The star, who is very concerned about the treatment of chimpanzees and other animals used in research, said she chose to make a significant disaster relief donation to The HSUS because of our "fine reputation."
Burstyn shares her life with four pets: Zoe, a "wonderful mix of pug, Chihuahua and a touch of terrier"; Abu, "an outgoing and personable Abyssinian cat"; JazzPurr, "a loving but reclusive striped cat"; and Furio, a young German shepherd who is the newest addition. "There's not a chance in the world I would ever leave them behind in a disaster," she said.
Though they live hundreds of miles away from the Gulf Coast devastation and face no danger of broken levees while living with nine dogs on a mountain crest in the Blue Ridge, Linda and Gary Richmond of Bakersville, North Carolina, knew they too had to do something to help. Donating their spacious motor home to The HSUS's Disaster Animal Response Teams was an excellent option. The RV will serve as a first-line deployment vehicle and command-and-control center during HSUS disaster 
responses nationwide. The vehicle also will house employees, volunteers and supplies whether The HSUS is responding to hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, or floods.
The Richmonds were motivated to give after watching post-Katrina television coverage and being moved by stories about HSUS efforts to help animals in distress. "So many animals were left with nothing: no shelter, no protection, no livable home, no food, not even drinkable water. It hurt us deeply to see the conditions but pleased us to know so many animal lovers were there to help," Linda said.
The Richmonds decided to donate the RV to The HSUS because "we share the organization's beliefs in creating a more humane world for animals," explained Gary. They both look forward to the passage of federal legislation permitting pets in disaster shelters nationwide because they subscribe to Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy on animals: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
When New Orleans resident Lynda Woolard saw the weather reports showing Hurricane 
Katrina bearing down on her city, she knew it was time to pack up her station wagon with her three dogs, Whisky, Charlie, and Dixon, and the cat she was fostering, Bob. Though she had never evacuated during previous hurricanes, Lynda knew that someday "The Big One" might strike, and she had purchased the station wagon for the express purpose of being able to take her pets with her—or to allow someone else to rescue them for her. When she went to Ireland last summer, for example, the very last remark she made to her pet sitter was, "Here are my car keys; if there's a hurricane, get my dogs out of New Orleans."
Lynda spent two and a half months with family in Wilmington, Delaware. While there, the Woolard Family Foundation asked Lynda to select a charity working on hurricane relief to receive a $10,000 donation, and she chose The HSUS. "I like the breadth of the work The HSUS does and have been able to see first-hand what the efforts can yield," said Lynda, a long-time supporter and a volunteer at one of The HSUS's rural veterinary clinics. "I knew The HSUS would be on the front lines of the disaster relief for the animals and would be the group to organize all the smaller groups gathering for rescue efforts."
While Bob the cat permanently relocated to Wilmington to live with Lynda's sister, Lynda and her dogs returned to New Orleans to discover that the flooding had stopped just two blocks from her house. After several weeks of searching, Lynda was relieved 
to learn that all three of Bob's siblings, who had been adopted by other families but—for various reasons—had been left in New Orleans during the storm, had also survived. "New Orleans has been forever changed," said Lynda, "But for those of us who can be here, we are so grateful to be home. I hope, if anything, that this experience has taught people to plan ahead for their pets and never assume they will be able to fend for themselves."
Donations to help Katrina's animal victims came in from around the globe. "We contributed to The HSUS after seeing footage of dogs left behind after Katrina hit. Our intent was to get the money into the right hands to expedite the rescue effort ASAP" said Judy and Ron Quigley, from Calgary, Alberta. "It doesn't matter if you are American or Canadian; if you're an animal lover you just wanted to help. We hope that The HSUS will encourage FEMA to make a stronger effort to shelter pets during disasters and to make provisions for farm animals before life-threatening disasters. We don't want to see so many animals harmed and abandoned during future evacuations."
On the other side of the world, Karen Walker of Queensland, Australia, also sent a gift to The HSUS after seeing Gulf Coast 
devastation on television and reading about HSUS efforts on the Internet. "I am a firm believer in karma and doing what you can to help others less fortunate than yourself," Karen said. "I decided to help the animals in New Orleans as there was so little they could do to help themselves. Thank goodness The HSUS was there to help them."
Though Hurricane Katrina struck months ago, our work along the Gulf Coast is far from over. To contribute to our ongoing relief efforts, please contact us at gifts@hsus.org or 1-800-808-7858. And for more information on our ongoing efforts in affected communities and on including pets in your disaster plans, visit www.hsus.org/disaster.
Posted June 16, 2006
