6/10/07: Still Homeless In Katrina’s Wake

6/1/07, from yepitsme770@yahoo.com — Yesterday marked one year since the animal rescue world lost one of its most dedicated and hard-working volunteers. If you would like to sign Shannon's Memorial Guest Book, it has been extended by Capt. Ron through July 2007. Here is the link: www.legacy.com/NOLA/Guestbook.asp?Page=Guestbook&PersonID=18017409

Other sites are still available for viewing:
Pics of Shannon: www.flickr.com/photos/yepitsme770/sets/72157594155834244/
Memories of Shannon Blog: http://memoriesofshannon.blogspot.com/

Rest in Peace, Angel. You are dearly missed. LeAnn

5/30/07, from Leigh Schmitt, leighschmitt@bellsouth.net — The Cat Help Desk has several urgent requests to relocate cat colonies. We are racing against the clock to spare the little hurricane survivors from a death sentence at Animal Control. We can only save them if we find a barn or other suitable location with someone willing to feed them.

If you have any leads on places in Louisiana and surrounding areas, please forward to: leighschmitt@bellsouth.net or info@cathelpdesk.org

6/8/07, from Lynn Chiche — EVERYONE INTERESTED IN HAVING THE VOUCHER PROGRAM THROUGH LA/SPCA CONTINUED: Please note that, as of August or early September, the present voucher program will have exhausted itself and will terminate. This will leave many people (including caretakers of feral cat colonies) in a desperate situation securing low-cost spay/neuter services.

As we all know, the city is presently overrun with homeless, free-roaming cats and dogs, whose only hope of sterilization is having the present voucher system extended. If you would like to see this happen, it is mandatory you take the time to write a letter to the ASPCA, stating in your own words, why it is necessary for the present program to continue. Otherwise, come August, all of us will have to pay the going rate (normally $50 to $75 at low cost facilities), or, even worse, abandon the issue altogether, at the expense of our homeless animals.

Please let folks know www.petswelcome.com shows hotels/motels that accept pets and even has a large dog search engine.

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Living With Animals, http://livingwithanimals.tv/ — The world's first on-line video magazine focusing on the relationship between people and animals. With subscription access you can view all of these top stories:
• MuttShack Awards Knights of Katrina
• Refused Rescue
• No Vacancy for Pets
• Unsung Heroes
• The PETSBill
• Harley's Story

See - Knights of Katrina Award Now! Amanda and Martin St. John present the "Knights of Katrina" award to Louisiana Senator Heulette, "Clo" Fontenot and Legislative Researcher Cathy Wells. Senator Fontenot introduced and fought for a pet evacuation bill in Louisiana that would ensure that animals are included in evacuations during a disaster. See it LIVE: http://livingwithanimals.tv/

ONGOING, from Ramona Billot, ramonabillot@yahoo.com — P.A.W.S., the only no-kill shelter in Plaquemines Parish, is COMPLETELY FULL. They seek OUT-OF-STATE, no-kill shelters that can take animals in. Depending upon location, P.A.W.S. can assist in transport to safe a place. As long as P.A.W.S. remains full, animals go to the pound, where they are killed.

PAWS is a tax deductible 501(c)3
Donations should be sent to: P.A.W.S. Relief Fund; P.O. Box 83; Belle Chasse, LA 70037

More information about P.A.W.S., www.petfinder.com/shelters/LA25.html

5/24/07, from stopcruelty11@gmail.com — Apparently, the majority of St. John Parish council members have little or no interest in enlarging, improving, or rebuilding the decaying St. John Parish Animal Shelter, located in LaPlace, Louisiana. Even though the population of the parish continues to expand due to the changing demographics after Hurricane Katrina, the parish council refuses to vote to either expand or rebuild the local animal shelter. The vote to rebuild the animal shelter has been on the council agenda repeatedly over the past eighteen months, but action has always been deferred. The shelter is overcrowded and lacks proper ventilation, heat, and even adequate protection from the elements. The original brick structure, which is presently used to house dogs, was built in the 1970s to house spare parts and equipment.

Councilwoman Cheryl Millet, District 7, email: cherylmilletdistrict7@yahoo.com
Councilman Ronnie Smith, District 6, email: Ssmiths@rtconline.com
Councilman Sean Roussel, District 5, email: rouseel@rtconline.com
Councilwoman Jaclyn Hotard, District 4, email: jhotard@bellsouth.net
Councilman Richard Wolfe, District 3, email: d.wolfe@sjbparish.com
Councilman Lester Rainey, District 1, email: Lraineyjr@aol.com
Councilman Steve Lee, At Large, email: s.lee@sjbparish.com
Councilman Cleveland Farlough, email: c.farlough@sjbparish.com
Councilman Allen St. Pierre, cell: 504-559-0293

RUSTON (TV8), Shannon Peoples, TV-8 News — In another part of Lincoln Parish animal control officers have arrested a man for animal cruelty. His case is one of two dog shootings in the parish. TV-8's Shannon Peoples has that story.

This stray dog is recovering at a Lincoln Parish animal hospital from buckshot wounds to the face. Hospital workers call him Old Yeller. The Humane Society does not know who shot Old Yeller, or why. The Humane Society wants you to know that it is never ok to harm an animal if you do you will be prosecuted under the law. Rebecca Kaase says, "It is a thousand dollar fine possible six months in jail for animal cruelty."

Kaase says the shooting of Old Yeller is the second recent attack on a dog in Lincoln Parish. Eighty-three year old John Lee of Choudrant was arrested by an animal control officer on Sunday for shooting another dog. He's charged with animal cruelty. Lee told the arresting officer he shot the dog because it was dangerous and aggressive. The dog survived, and has since been returned to its owners.

Lincoln Parish Humane Society President Rebecca Kaase says that penalty should serve as a deterrent to anyone who would harm an animal. She wants people people to know there are other ways to treat an unwanted animal, or one that's a nuisance. She says, "You know hopefully it will teach a few people that it is against the law to treat animals this way there are other avenues. If you have a problem with your neighbors pet, talk to them. If you have to have a mediator call the sheriff’s office or somebody. But do not take it upon yourself to shoot an animals or kill and any animal because you fell it is a nuisance to you."

Old Yeller, meanwhile is recovering from his wounds, and looking for a place to call home.

5/25/07, from katrinalifelineprograms@CompanionAnimalNetworkTV.org — All of the 35 puppies we brought up on April 2 were adopted at the state of the art facility of our rescue partner, North Shore Animal League America. Six different Louisiana parish animal control agencies, rescue groups, veterinarians, and independent rescuers contributed to the April transport. Congrats go to the animal control agencies of Terrebonne, St. Bernard, St. Johns, and Jefferson Davis parishes (and their volunteers who acted as liaison), as well as to Animal Rescue Foundation, two independent rescuers and two compassionate veterinary practices.

We invite all southern Louisiana parish animal control agencies (with the exception of Lafayette Parish's animal control agency), rescue groups, and even independent rescuers to participate. The transportation costs are pre-paid by Katrina Lifeline’s major national rescue partner, North Shore Animal League America. All you need is to get a rabies shot for the puppy if has 2 or more adult teeth (approx. 12 weeks old) and a State of Louisiana health certificate for travel. Puppies up to 15 weeks are sought.

The medical protocols require that litters NOT be intermingled with other litters in order to prevent cross-contamination of parvo, distemper or upper respiratory diseases. We will need pictures of the puppies to be entered into the attached Word database as well as the other information requested. That’s all there is to getting southern pups a new life in and around the Big Apple!

AND DO NOT FORGET THAT WE HAVE A FREE HEARTWORM TREATMENT AND RABIES SHOT AND TRAVEL HEALTH CERTIFICATE PROGRAM FOR SOUTHERN LOUISIANA ALSO.

Garo Alexanian, Coordinator, Companion Animal Network
P.O. Box 750214 • Forest Hills, NY 11375 • 718-544-PETS (7387) • www.CompanionAnimalNetworkTV.org

NOTE FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE: Since original ARNO initiated its food/water program to cover 650 square miles in Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes — controversy has surrounded the notion of sustaining stranded animals in minimally repopulated areas. As recently as February 2007 when Kinship Circle’s 5-person team fed in the Upper 9th Ward East/West and Plaquemines, we received a negative letter from the City of New Orleans... The original food/water program was Jane Garrison’s brainchild. She mapped the New Orleans area into sections and assigned feeders from her trailer at Lamar Dixon in Sept/Oct. 2005. Is an organized system of food/water stations STILL NEEDED nearly two years post-Katrina?

Read resident and longtime ARNO volunteer Lise McComiskey’s rationale below. http://animalrescueneworleans.org/ Visit ARNO’s site to read about their Feral K9 Enrichment Program. Both represent viable reasons to responsibly maintain food/water stations for animals in post-hurricane New Orleans.

5/30/07, from Lise McComiskey, lmccomiskey@SHERGARNER.com — <<Feral Dog Project.wmv>> [KINSHIP CIRCLE cannot attach this file, due to its large size.] Attached is slideshow of feral dog socialization project undertaken in New Orleans between March 14, 2007 and May 28, 2007. The slideshow depicts socialization-in-place, capture and rehabilitation of a feral dog pack, mother and her three pups when lack of resources delayed trapping efforts by animal control personnel. You can also follow the link to Animal Rescue New Orleans' website to read more about the new Feral K9 Enrichment program which ARNO has recently started. http://animalrescueneworleans.org/

Nearly two years after Katrina, my own experiences have indicated that many individuals are supportive of ARNO's continued efforts to assist these animals, however, there are those who oppose continued "feeding" and/or care of animals that continue to live on the streets of New Orleans and the argument is that feeding only creates more litters.

This particular dog pack was already a pack when encountered and without the controlled feeding to keep them centrally located, along with the 65 hours logged to socialize this pack in place and actually reverse the feralization process which had already begun with the pups, this pack would have continued to avoid capture by doing what they do best, roam.

It is because of the controlled feeding of these dogs that three reasonably socialized juvenile dogs are currently safe, continuing the socialization process with amazing results and no longer breeders on the streets. For me, it also proves that no-kill is attainable if we are willing to let go of cookie-cutter solutions from the past that just don't work...all those empty buildings on so much vacant land can also be thought of as the cheapest Rehabilation Tents around for unsocialized dogs.

Feeding and supportive care of these animals until such time that they can be removed from the streets are not the causes of new pups and kittens, the estrous cycles of the animals which continue to roam remain beyond our control, the ability to prevent particular roaming behaviors are however attainable.

Please help Animal Rescue New Orleans with their continued efforts by donating money or your time or by sharing this information with others. http://animalrescueneworleans.org/
Thank you, Lise McComiskey, ARNO Volunteer, lmccomiskey@shergarner.com

Advocates struggle to deal with animals whose owners can no longer care for them, and offspring of cats and dogs lost in the hurricane I By Ann M. Simmons, ann.simmons@latimes.com, 5/29/07, NEW ORLEANS — Hank, a strapping purebred golden retriever, is typical of the second wave of pet problems here in the 21 months since Hurricane Katrina hit. The first crisis was those lost, abandoned or killed in the storm and its immediate aftermath. Now there are pets like Hank, who stayed with his New Orleans East owners for the first 10 months after Katrina, which submerged their home in 7 feet of water.

After moving several times and struggling to rebuild their lives, Hank's owners realized they could no longer cope with owning a dog. So they surrendered Hank to Animal Rescue New Orleans, or ARNO, a grass-roots group that cares for animals that were left behind or separated from their owners.

The dog bounded with joy as ARNO shelter coordinator Robin Beaulieu entered his pen one recent afternoon. Hank flipped onto his back for a tummy rub. "He loves to be petted and groomed," Beaulieu said.The dog has lived at ARNO for the last eight months while he waits to find a new home.

Animal advocates say many pet owners living in trailers and tight on cash while they rebuild their flood-damaged homes opt to give up their animals because they don't have space or can no longer afford to keep them. "So many people out there need help with their pets," said Charlotte Bass Lilly, ARNO's executive director. Beaulieu estimated that the number of families surrendering their pets to shelters had gone up between 45% and 60% since Katrina. ARNO was founded shortly after the storm.

Laura K. Maloney, executive director of the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that although some of the animals being put up for adoption by her agency these days could be the offspring of animals separated from their families since the storm, most were pets that had been relinquished by their owners.

According to LA/SPCA statistics, about 259,400 families owned pets in Orleans Parish before the storm. As many as 104,000 were left behind after Katrina; about 15,000 were officially rescued. An estimated 3,000 have been reunited with families, and at least 88,700 pets remain unaccounted for, Maloney said. Thousands of pets unaccounted for are believed dead, she added.

ARNO and other animal advocacy groups believe many of the strays that remain on the streets are "Katrina pets" and their fourth- or fifth-generation offspring. And most have not been spayed or neutered.

Bass Lilly said that unscientific counts by ARNO volunteers who manage the group's 3,000 feeding stations throughout Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes indicate that there could be as many as 40,000 cats and 5,000 dogs on the streets. "There are still dogs out there with collars," Bass Lilly said. She added that although the presence of stray or abandoned animals was not unique to New Orleans, "what makes it different is that these animals are homeless, with no food, water and no garbage to forage. They're basically in a stress situation."

University of Pennsylvania researchers surveyed six areas of Orleans and St. Bernard parishes on behalf of the LA/SPCA six months after the storm and found that "relatively few" homeless animals remained. Maloney said that feeding stations were not "in the best interest" of stray animals and made it more challenging to capture them. "We are taking animals that are left there, and we are sustaining them," she added. "That really doesn't solve our problem. We are helping create more homeless kittens and puppies, and we need to stop."

ARNO's food sites cover a 685-square-mile radius, Beaulieu said. Volunteer trappers try to capture the animals for sterilization. Feral cats are trapped, neutered and released. Bass Lilly said that over the last nine months, her group had found new homes for an average of 200 animals a month. And since Katrina, the volunteers had helped reunite between 50 and 70 pets with their original owners, Bass Lilly said.

Reunifications are still crucial almost two years after the storm, animal advocates contend. "Every day, animals show up," said Laura Bergerol, a volunteer with a grassroots online group called Katrina Animal Reunion Team. The animals are featured in newspaper ads, on sites advertising missing pets, and even on Craig's List, said Bergerol, who is based in Palo Alto.

There are about 200 animals living at ARNO's shelter, housed in a warehouse in Jefferson Parish. Bass Lilly said the group had a "no kill" policy. ARNO survives on donations from volunteers, private sources and other nonprofit groups.

One day last week, a cacophony of barks blended with the occasional purr as Beaulieu showed volunteer Ray Forrester how to trap five kittens that he had recently spotted in his Kenner neighborhood. "You line the cage with newspaper and put food on it," Beaulieu said. "The best thing to use is sardines. And Popeyes fried chicken works wonders." Cats are typically trapped in cages, dogs often with a noose. It can take several months to win an animal's confidence so that it is willingly captured.

With the population of New Orleans down to half its size, and thousands of people across Louisiana living in cramped trailers, there are fewer local takers for Katrina pets. So the group is working with partners nationwide to find new homes for the animals. "Katrina animal celebrity is a way to make people feel they are directly helping with Katrina," Beaulieu said.

Kinship Circle, a nonprofit organization, can accept donations on behalf of key NOLA volunteers devoted to animal recovery.

Jeanette Althans / Lakeview
333 Vinet Avenue • Jefferson, LA 70121 • 504-734-7771 • jalthans@chnola.org

Ramona Billot / Plaquemines Parish/Belle Chasse
102 A Omega • Belle Chase, LA 70037 • 504-606-3116 • ramonabillot@yahoo.com

BY MAIL: Send check made out to Kinship Circle to:
Kinship Circle / A.R.K. Effort
7380 Kingsbury Blvd. • Saint Louis, MO 63130
memo: Animal Rescue After Katrina

Kinship Circle, nonprofit, registered in the state of Missouri
Charter number: N00071626 * Certification number: 7789294
[Federal] Employee Identification Number (EIN): 20-5869532

• You recognize your cat, a friend or neighbor's cat, or if you would like to foster or adopt a cat.
• You can help by taking care of a feeding station in your neighborhood, or at your house. To ensure the cats are fed on a regular basis, we ask that residents assist with feeding.
• Kathy Sweeney - kathybsweeney@yahoo.com
• Jeanette Althans - jalthans@cox.net

Dogs were left at shelter; family sued for custody after pets’ rescue 5/22, 2007 The Associated Press, TAMPA, Fla. — A custody dispute over two dogs lost in Hurricane Katrina ended Tuesday when the Florida women who adopted them after the storm agreed to give them back.

“This is what we wanted from the beginning, our dogs being back home,” Doreen Couture said at an emotional news conference. She, her husband, Steve, and their two children lived in St. Bernard Parish, La., when they lost almost everything they had in the storm in 2005. They had dropped their dogs off at a temporary shelter before fleeing.

In the chaos that followed, the animals — a St. Bernard and a shepherd mix — ended up at a shelter in Pinellas County, Fla. They were adopted into two different homes. The Coutures eventually learned where the dogs were and sued last year to have them returned. The new owners claimed they adopted the dogs in good faith and vowed to fight. A trial date had been set for this July.

Going home
On Tuesday, Pam Bondi, a local prosecutor who adopted the St. Bernard, said she decided to give him back after getting to know the Coutures and visiting them in Louisiana. Bondi said Rhonda Rineker, the Dunedin woman who adopted the shepherd mix, also agreed to return her dog to the Coutures. Rineker has not commented publicly on the dispute.

A tearful Bondi said she would be able to visit the dog she called Noah and the Coutures call Master Tank. “Thanks to these good people, I will be a big part of his life. ... I promised to love and protect him and keep him safe his entire life, and that’s what I plan on doing,” Bondi said. She had said she spent thousands of dollars for the dog’s health problems that predated the storm, while the Coutures denied that his health had been neglected. Steve Couture said the family, now living in St. Tammany Parish, planned to pick up the dogs later Tuesday and then head back to Louisiana.

One of the dogs, Princess, an 11-year-old chow, was abandoned at her home after law enforcement officers prevented her owners from retrieving her after Katrina hit. Volunteers from the Humane Society of Louisiana later rescued the dog and, after it was temporarily cared for in Kentucky, it was returned to her owner. Princess has suffered from severe eye infections that left the dog blind. One eye has already been removed and a second eye needs to be removed, but the family doesn't have money needed for the second operation, estimated at $600, according to the animal advocacy group.

Another survivor of the storm, a mix-breed named Missy, was abandoned by her owners after the storm destroyed their junk yard, and the Humane Society of Louisiana is defraying expenses for an elderly neighbor that is caring for the dog. Missy, about six years old, has been diagnosed with advanced heartworm disease and ongoing treatment is expected to cost $400.

Dorson said his organization has spent $500,000 on veterinarian care for animals since the storm and, because of the enthusiastic response Saturday, expects to repeat use of the lemonade-stand idea. "It seems to work when people identify exactly where their money goes," he said. "The feedback we get is people want to invest in the welfare of these two dogs."

By the slimmest of margins, a controversial bill that would require California dog and cat owners to spay or neuter their animals passed the state Assembly Wednesday [6/6/07].

Well, movie star Pierce Brosnan's wife had no small hand in the matter. Then there was the ordeal at Rancho Lotsa Cats. In the end, though, it was the Katrina catastrophe that opened the door for Judie Mancuso to spearhead the bill which would require Californians to spay and neuter their pets if it passes this fall.

But perhaps we should take things a bit slower. Let's begin in 1988. Fresh from St. Louis, Mancuso was sharing an apartment with a roommate on Hollywood Boulevard. Like many 25-year-olds, her life revolved around her computer job and her social life. She went dancing with girlfriends, hit the band bars and ate various forms of chicken without a second thought.

But as fate would have it, her upstairs neighbor was the tomato-planting, earth-protecting Keely Shaye Smith. Smith was a personality on ABC's morning Home Show, producing a weekly segment dedicated to things like health of the planet. One day Smith (a Newport Beach native still four years away from meeting future husband Pierce Brosnan) showed Mancuso a segment she had produced on animal shelters. Viewers got to take that long walk with dogs and cats from cages to the euthanasia table.

She remembers crying for hours. "And then the head just starts spinning. That whole ignorance is bliss thing; that never fit into my way of thinking. Once I have the information, I need to do something with it."

About the same time, Smith had given Mancuso "Diet for a New America," a vegan classic that details the often brutal life and death of farm animals. "I was eating meat; meatballs, the whole deal," Mancuso says. "I'm Sicilian. Hey, man. That's all I knew." Between the dead puppies and the dirty chickens, Mancuso felt compelled to change the way she was living. She quit eating animals and began volunteering at Earth Save.

In 1995 Mancuso moved to Laguna Beach. She took a seat on the board of Animal Rescue Foundation, Dana Point, and began fostering a revolving door of pets, nursing them to health and finding them homes. She also began sending money to Rancho Lotsa Cats. Then one day in 2003 she got a call from San Diego Animal Control; 135 filthy, wheezing cats were found at the sanctuary. Officers found Mancuso's phone number on an old check. The cats were going to be euthanized, they told her, unless someone found them homes.

For three months, Mancuso rallied volunteers and raised money. "We got every one of those cats out of there, and they moved on to better lives." The ordeal led her and her husband, Rolf Wicklund, to have a heart-to-heart. "What is success?" they asked. "Is it about making a lot of money or is it doing something meaningful?"

Wicklund, 39, has a software development company. The couple had already decided they would not have children so they could devote their life to animals. Now they decided that Mancuso, who had just turned 40, would quit her job and become a full-time volunteer. This did not go over well with the family back in the Midwest. Mancuso grew up middle class. Dad was a truck driver, mom a housewife. It was bad enough when Mancuso returned home one day and rejected her mom's spedini, an Italian treat of rolled meat on a stick.

"For me not to want spedinis – holy mackerel!" Mancuso says. Her family blamed it on the bad influence of those fruit-loop Californians. But turning your back on a meatball is one thing; turning your back on financial security is another.

"You should get paid for this!" her mom said. "By who?" Mancuso asked. "What? Are the dogs and kitties gonna get a jar together?"

Her timing couldn't have been better. Shortly after quitting work, Katrina hit. Jane Garrison, a fellow rescuer from Redondo Beach, called Mancuso, crying. She was in New Orleans; dogs were tethered to fences, floating in cages. Mancuso was on the next plane. A week later she returned to Laguna and wrote a computer program for Animal Rescue New Orleans, working 12-hour days for the next six months to reunite pets with their owners.

As the rescue effort wound down, Los Angeles Animal Services General Manager Ed Boks held a press conference, encouraging the public to adopt shelter animals to make room for Katrina pets.

Mancuso knew Boks had a "no-kill" philosophy. The only way to reduce euthanasia is to reduce the pet population. Here was her chance. She showed up at the press conference, introduced herself to Boks and asked if he would do a spay-and-neuter bill with her. Over the next year, the two birthed the California Healthy Pets Act. The bill is making its way through the Legislature. It would require residents to spay and neuter their cats and dogs by the time the animals are four months old. The list of supporters is 320 long and includes rescue groups, the California Veterinary Medical Association and the California Animal Control Directors Association.

But breeder associations are fighting hard. The bill would require people who want to breed dogs to get a permit — every year. Breeders consider it a tax and are pouring millions of dollars into the fight. The American Kennel Club Web site rallies opponents. To raise money for the battle, Mancuso last summer started the nonprofit Social Compassion, which is based in Laguna.

Bill supporters say they're not out to hurt breeders, just curb euthanasia and fiscal waste. In 2005, city and county shelters took in more than 840,000 cats and dogs. Some 430,000 were killed. The cost to taxpayers: $250 million.

"Judie is the campaign chairman for an initiative that could change animal welfare … in California," Boks says. "She's a force of nature. She's a consensus builder. She brings people to the table."

Just don't expect her to serve you a pork chop.

BEAR WITNESS.  SPEAK.   DEMAND.   ACT.
Action Campaigns  I  Literature  I  Voice For Animals
Nonprofit working in animal protection/cruelty + animal disaster relief campaigns
Brenda Shoss, president • Janet Enoch, vice-president
info@kinshipcircle.org or disasteraid@kinshipcircle.org
www.KinshipCircle.org • www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/default.html