IN THIS ALERT:
- News Bits
- Hammond, LA Shelter In Desperate Need
- Workshop/Retreat For Katrina Animal Rescuers
- Gulf Coast: Animal Protection Legislation
- Staying With Animals In Katrina Was A Deadly Choice For Some...
1. NEWS BITS
**KATRINA ANIMALS STILL MISSING**
http://www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/4_28_06.html
**LOST AND FOUND ANIMALS**
If looking for a lost pet, visit:
http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=specialreports&catid=04061773-BDB9-396E-9001EF6EC01318A4&
mode=entry&entry=6BF6DCF0-BDB9-396E-903140C34D162939&stid=1
Animal Emergency Response Network:
http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/
Special update to the Louisiana Animal Welfare Directory:
Contact Julie Becker, julie@spaylouisiana.org, for updates.
List also online: http://spaylouisiana.org/KatrinaLostAndFound.html
Includes contact info for animal control shelters in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Some of these shelters are operating normally or from new temporary locations and are making efforts to recover and reunite animals within their jurisdictions. Others are participating in recovery efforts, in addition to normal animal control duties.
SOURCE: http://www.BestFriends.org
**RESOURCES FOR PITBULLS IN NEED**
AMERICAN PITBULL TERRIER RESCUE / DIRECTORY OF LINKS
http://dogs.about.com/cs/rescue/a/rescue_apbt.htm
1) Second Chance At Love Humane Society: http://www.secondchancelove.org/
2) PA_PitBull_RescueNetwork@yahoogroups.com
(You must join the group and sign up for daily digest)
3) Villa Lobos Rescue Center
Tia: 661-268-0555, In Canyon County, 45 min N of Los Angeles
4) Pit Bull Rescue Central: http://www.pbrc.net/home.html
5) Villalobos Rescue Center: http://www.vrcpitbull.com/
6) Animal House Animal Rescue
13005 Ernesti Rd.; Huntley, Illinois 60142
ph: 847-977-2066 or 847-961-5541; INFO@ANIMALHOUSESHELTER.COM
Began as pit rescue, but now large no-kill shelter for all, especially pits.
SOURCE: Shannon Moore, shann_moore@yahoo.com
**FEMA INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM**
Online certification courses mandatory for animal rescue volunteers in future disaster relief:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIweb/IS/crslist.asp
REQUIRED COURSES:
IS 100
IS 200
NIMS 700
NIMS 800
SOURCE: Shannon Moore, shann_moore@yahoo.com
2. Hammond, LA Shelter In Desperate Need
SOURCE: Melinda Plasse, pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com
LOCATION:
Tangipahoa Parish Animal Control
15487 Club Deluxe Road; Hammond, LA 70403
THIS SHELTER NEEDS:
—Additional portable kennels for set up outdoors
—Money for meds
—MORE PEOPLE to take animals out for adoption and foster
—VISA/Mastercard donations to Lucy Pribbenow's account at the Hutchinson Animal Clinic to sponsor necessary health care for enabling the animals to leave state.
(Contact pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com for details).
—Shell gas cards to pay for transport gas
—Petco and Petsmart gift cards to purchase more shipping crates
PHOTO GALLERY OF AVAILABLE ANIMALS:
http://petlover.smugmug.com/Hammond%20Animal%20Shelter
SITUATION:
Melinda Plasse writes: When I and my associates visited this shelter on March 1, there were approximately 70 new puppy arrivals that day. Each day they get similar loads of animals at their door. It was a nightmare of responsibility for the staff, but thanks to their dedication, the shelter was clean and well organized. Many of the animals in the kennels even wore bandanas! Staff stay on until all hours to maintain care for the animals, on their own (unpaid) time. But the fact that so many have to be euthanized due to overcrowding is emotionally devastating to them. We must buy these animals more time so they can be evacuated through transport to no-kill locations elsewhere in the country.
The population of this parish has grown by 40% from the influx of folks from 9th Ward and ENOLA. They brought pets who now run free or are surrendered due to non-pet-friendly landlords. The puppy situation is still incredible. I would estimate the shelter's annual intake statistic has probably jumped from 5,000/year to twice that this year.
QUESTIONS/MORE INFO:
Melinda Plasse, pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com
DONATE TO SHELTER:
Tangipahoa Parish Animal Control
15487 Club Deluxe Road; Hammond, LA 70403
Ms. Betsy Pittman
ph: 985-543-0215; fax: 985-230-0337
Betsy after hours: 985-429-1877
Betsy email: JNASimmons@aol.com
TO FOSTER/ADOPT:
1. Review available animal list at: http://petlover.smugmug.com/Hammond%20Animal%20Shelter
List updated regularly, but we always confirm availability of animal to avoid confusion and heartbreak.
2. Send a COMMITMENT EMAIL to: Melinda Plasse, pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com
In your email CLEARLY STATE:
1) Your chosen animal’s photo number, caption, time/date of photo, animal description, or some other specific description of animal chosen. Sometimes, especially with cats who aren’t displayed with photo numbers, you may state which column (lt., ctr., or rt.) and how many rows down, followed by detailed description of the animal.
2) List contingencies that would prompt you to NOT accept this animal: Heartworm positive? Neutered/spayed already? Cat-friendly? Dog-friendly? Etc.
If you have criterion that your chosen animal doesn’t meet, we’ll do our best to to find
someone
who suits your contingencies—but may not be the same color as your
original selection. We will call you, if possible, to confirm acceptance of a substitute
choice. We cannot commit to these phone calls, however, due to
pressures Lucy
faces to get everyone loaded and prepared for long distance travel in a single day.
3) IMPERATIVE:
Your full name
Your full street address, state, zip coade
Home phone; Work phone, Cell phone
Email address
*We may be unable to respond to foster/adopt request that don’t contain this information.
4) State in your commitment email:
I agree to surrender this animal back to Melinda Plasse if, for any
reason, I can no longer keep the animal.”
I will somehow find this animal another home. I do not want any animal I assist in
rescuing from the Gulf
Coast to ever suffer in a shelter or be homeless again.
No hard feelings or judgment passed.
5) Send your COMMITMENT EMAIL with all info above: pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com
After you receive confirmation of your chosen animal’s availability, CONTACT: [another Melinda] Melinda, clinic secretary, between 1 pm – 4pm at Hutchinson Animal Clinic in Tangipahoa Parish: 985-748-9160 The purpose of your call is to donate $40 (per animal) to Lucy Pribbenow’s account.
This account is reserved to pay for heartworm test, rabies vaccination, health certificate
required for crossing state lines with your animal.
**Only deal with Melinda, who is senior personnel at clinic desk, and has agreed to manage this account for us. Other staffers are not as reliable and we don’t want to risk mishandling of any transactions.
**IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD THE $40 DONATION,
CONTACT MELINDA PLASSE: 518-527-2772, pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com
Please be sensitive to the fact that the shelter’s director and staff are under incredible pressure in an unusual situation. The parish's normal policy mandates regular euthanasia to control animal population, as do many small parishes with limited resources. I am not in a position to interfere with the practices of other communities. Under the present circumstances, we can be most effective by focusing on the transport of as many Hammond Shelter animals as possible to safe, secure foster/adoptive homes. After that, each of us are personally responsible for diligent review of http://www.petharbour.com and http://www.petfinder.com to search for reunification opportunities.
I celebrate the prospect of helping coordinate/support any reunifications that may emerge. So again, please temper emotional responses you to the euthanasia issue; I can assure you Hammond’s staff and director are working themselves into an early grave to care humanely for each of the beautiful animals in their custody. They do NOT want any animal to die and this is why they are so cooperative with our transport effort.
QUESTIONS/MORE INFO: Melinda Plasse, pixelprincess@nycap.rr.com3. Workshop/Retreat for Katrina Animal Rescuers
SOURCE: Dr. Pia Salk, piapia@adelphia.net
Getting Closure and Building Community:
A Workshop/Retreat for Katrina Animal Rescuers
WHEN: June 4, 2006
(with tentative June 3 evening segment)
WHERE: Arlington, Virginia
COST: $85 per person
Includes supplementary materials & art supplies for therapeutic art activity
FOR MORE INFORMATION, QUESTIONS, REQUESTS:
Email Pia Salk, piapia@adelphia.net
I am happy to report that based on your feedback and interest, I will offer A Workshop/Retreat for Katrina Animal Rescuers. Many of you expressed interest in the workshop/retreat already but I now need to get a better idea on the number of attendees, as this will determine the exact location.
I will send out a more formal agenda once I have secured the locale. Please be clear that this is not therapy but rather psycho-educational in nature with community building and therapeutic activities offered. Below is a more detailed description of the workshop/retreat.
Please let me know if you plan to attend so that I can reserve a space for you: piapia@adelphia.net
Focus of this workshop/retreat: The grief and rage still felt, issues of reintegrating to the world around us, ways to cope, ways to garner support, what to do now, how to get help, how to remain effective and so forth.
The purpose is be multi- fold:
-to provide a safe and contained forum to express feelings
-to offer a sense of closure
-to re-establish our connection to one another
-to re-energize for the work that is ahead and so important to all of us
-to create a memorial for the animals
Some presentations will be more academic in nature (e.g. a speaker or 2 who have published on grief and animals), while others will offer more interactive exercises (voluntarily) and have a healing component using art and journaling exercises as tools. There will also be opportunities to share feelings and coping strategies.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, QUESTIONS, REQUESTS:
Email Pia Salk, piapia@adelphia.net
Important Note: This is not therapy and should not be considered as such. While some exercises would certainly be ‘therapeutic,’ they are not meant to replace actual therapy or the professional services of a psychologist, psychiatrist or other mental health professional.
In Kinship, Pia, piapia@adelphia.net
Pia Salk is a clinical psychologist and co-founded Animal Rescue New Orleans with Jane Garrison and David Meyer.
4. Gulf Coast: Animal Protection Legislation
PUBLIC SUPPORT PUSHES ALONG LA PET EVACUATION BILL
But More Help is Needed.
SOURCE: http://network.bestfriends.org/louisiana/news/3355.html
April 28, 2006, by Claire Davis - Thanks to unprecedented grassroots support, the Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill sped easily through the state Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month. But there is more work still to be done, as legislators now face the challenge of how to fund the progressive bill, with a hearing scheduled Monday in front of the Senate Finance Committee.
“This is one time in my life where I have seen a grassroots campaign really work,” says Cathy Wells, a drafter of the bill and researcher for the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality. “If it had not been for the constant bombardment of letters, emails, faxes and phone calls, we would not be where we are today...”
READ REST OF REPORT: http://network.bestfriends.org/louisiana/news/3355.html
To support the Pet Evacuation Bill, contact:
Jerry Luke LeBlanc, Commissioner of Administration
P.O. Box 94004; Baton Rouge, LA 70804
ph: 225-342-7000 or 800-354-9548; fax: 225-342-5653
email: doacommissioner@la.gov
Governor Kathleen Blanco
Office of the Governor, Attn: Constituent Services
P.O. Box 94004; Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004
ph: 866-366-1121, 225-342-0991, 225-342-7015
fax: 225-342-7099; email: contact@la.govv
LOUISIANA COCKFIGHT BAN DEFEATED
SOURCE: http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/posts/20060428_41.php
Apr 28 2006 - A bid to ban cockfighting in Louisiana failed in the House after a brief debate Thursday that focused more on legislative procedures than the merits of the issue.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, tried to add the ban onto a bill that would expand the list of birds protected by state animal cruelty laws to cover swans, geese, ducks, ostriches and peacocks.
The amendment failed, with 41 votes in favor and 49 against. The measure, House Bill 1146, then won House approval 101-1 and was sent to the Senate. Richmond was the lone “no” vote.
Louisiana is one of the few states in the nation that allow cockfighting, which pits birds against each other generally with razor-like attachments, in a sort of animal combat.
Backers call it an entertaining sport. Richmond and other critics contend it should be illegal. “Let’s finally do away with this barbaric way we treat animals in Louisiana,” he said...
READ REST OF REPORT: http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/posts/20060428_41.php
CATS NOW LEGALLY PROTECTED IN MISSISSIPPI
SOURCE: http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/posts/20060428_40.php
Apr 28 2006 - It was a long process, but cats are now legally protected in the state of Mississippi. Gov. Haley Barbour signed a Senate bill into law Friday, outlining punishments for any person who maliciously kills, maims or wounds a cat.
The law includes the same penalties for injuring a dog, but dogs were covered in previous laws.
It’s the “or cat” — underlined all throughout the bill — Natchez resident Annette Byrne and local Sen. Bob Dearing have been waiting on. Three years ago Byrne learned of a Natchez case in which a man allegedly threw his neighbor’s cat into boiling oil. The man was arrested, went through the legal process and was released without punishment by a judge who said there was no state law against harming cats.
Byrne contacted Dearing, D-Natchez, and asked him what could be done...
READ REST OF REPORT: http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/posts/20060428_40.php
INTERNET HUNTING BAN IN LOUISIANA: HB 49, HB 52, HB 1059
FROM: sltw2005@earthlink.net
HB 49: http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=364682
HB 52: http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=364685
HB1059: http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=374546
Primary Sponsors: Rep. Strain/Rep. Hammett/Rep. Thompson
ASPCA Position: Support
ACTION: Visit https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1949
to contact members of the House Natural Resources Committee and ask them to support HB 49/HB 52/HB 1059.
Internet or remote controlled hunting is a practice that can subject animals to undue suffering by removing the shooter from the scene of the kill, where he or she could ensure a swift and humane death, and has the potential for subverting state laws and regulations that govern a hunter’s age, training, and licensing requirements...
GRANTS POLICING AUTHORITY TO TRAINED ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS
IN LOUISIANA: HB 808
HB 808: http://www.legis.state.la.us/billdata/streamdocument.asp?did=373454
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Hopkins
ASPCA Position: Support
ACTION: Visit https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?id=1951
to contact members of the House Judiciary Committee and ask them to support HB 808.
HB 808 authorizes animal control agencies to designate animal control
officers who have completed law enforcement training as “animal control
investigators” or “specialists of the agency.” These officers will be
granted regular police powers and will be empowered to enforce all animal
related crimes defined by local ordinance or state law including any laws or
ordinances governing animal disease control...
5. Staying with animals in Katrina was a deadly choice for some...
SOURCE: http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/14464093.htm
...And the hurricane left other owners seeking SHELTER FROM THE STORM
People do all they can to keep bond unbroken
By KAREN NELSON, Sunday, Apr 30, 2006, Klnelson@sunherald.com
Roselyn Desrochers was swept away trying to hoist her Chihuahuas to safety during the Hurricane Katrina storm surge that obliterated Waveland. Searchers found her body two months later, three miles from where she had lived in a doublewide mobile home one block from the beach. The dogs died with her. She was 57.
"That's the only reason why she stayed," said her daughter, Josie Brown, who lives in Louisiana. "She said there was no place to take them."
Animal advocates, lawmakers and civil defense leaders now recognize animals figure strongly in the decision to evacuate to safety.
There were people in New Orleans who would not leave flooded houses without their pets, even in the days after the storm. Areas of Florida have long recognized saving animals saves people and includes a place for animals in emergency plans. And now, in the wake of Katrina, Harrison County will have its first pet-friendly shelter in place for the 2006 hurricane season. But for most of the Coast, the issue is still unresolved. Pets aren't allowed in Red Cross shelters because of safety and hygiene concerns.
In Jackson County, Civil Defense Director Butch Loper said, "I don't have enough shelter for the people I have living in trailers. You think I'm going to worry about a dog or a cat?"
But Tara High, executive director of the Humane Society of South Mississippi, said, "Hurricane Katrina made it crystal clear that the human-animal bond is strong. People died."
The relatives of seven who died in Katrina told the Sun Herald their loved ones stayed because they didn't want to leave a beloved pet. Of the seven, four were 60 or younger. One was 81, one was 75 and one was 66.
And there are the many people who almost died.
Veterinarians along the Coast have story after story of clients who stayed and were lucky to live, but only after harrowing experiences. Ava and Ed Carson have a home and three cats in the Pinehurst subdivision of south Jackson County. Many of their neighbors stayed because they didn't expect high water in their area. But Katrina's surge would flood the Carson home. Ava, unable to swim and limited by two neck surgeries, fought to keep her cats dry in pet crates atop a floating loveseat while her husband beat a hole in the ceiling so they could climb into the attic.
Struggling, they dropped the crate holding the youngest cat. "There was four feet of water under my shoulders and I couldn't lift her," Ava Carson said. "He got the other two onto the edge of the attic. He came down the ladder and pulled the pet taxi out of the water, opened it and pulled the unconscious cat out. "She was gone. Her eyes were rolled back," Ava Carson said.
But the cat lived. Ed Carson used CPR and very mild mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Moxie Muffin, the 2-year-old former stray they had adopted.
The times and advice are changing
It used to be pet owners were advised to get themselves to safety and leave their pets at home with enough food and water to last for three days, Tara High explained. "Now the advice is 'If it's not safe for you, it's not safe for your pet,” she said. "Take them with you."
But that brings up the question of how. Not all of 14 hotels in Jackson listed as pet-friendly on the pettravel.com Web site accept pets. A check of eight of those listed found one had only 15 rooms that accommodate pets, two don't allow them... and four require a pet fee ranging from $10 to $75.
Of the 12 hotels in Hattiesburg listed by the city's Chamber of Commerce, only two will take pets with no restrictions. One allows pets weighing less than 30 pounds, one charges a $25 pet fee and one might make an exception during an emergency. Seven do not accept pets of any kind.
But as people moved north from Katrina's predicted landfall, some sheltered leaving their pets in the car and some found help at businesses along the way. Dr. Chris Duke with Bienville Animal Medical Center in Ocean Springs said kennels and vets opened their businesses to displaced pets and their owners all the way to the north part of Mississippi and Alabama. "When all was said and done, there was a lot of compassion shown from people up and down the roads," Duke said.
Coast veterinarians learned the risk of sheltering animals on the Coast. Many have decided leaving animals south of Interstate 10, is not a good option. More than one clinic or kennel was inundated by Katrina and animals were lost.
People who boarded animals at vet clinics or other places, such as the gym at Keesler Air Force Base, which housed 150 pets for employees and families and stayed dry, still had to deal with large numbers of animals in one area with no water or electricity for days or weeks.
And leaving them at home proved to be a sad solution for an untold number of people. Gautier Fire Chief Mike Gray packed Gracie, his 3-year-old Lab mix, in her pet crate and covered her with a blanket because she was afraid of bad weather. "I was home until well after dark on Sunday night. She was with me," he said. "Before I left, I made sure her kennel was cozy and she wouldn't be scared. I left her happy. When I opened the door, she went right in."
He pushed her into her usual place under the breakfast counter, packed a sleeping bag and headed for Central Fire Station to ride out the storm. By midday that Monday of Katrina, he knew his house was flooded and his dog was lost. "We couldn't get very far from Central Station," he said. "In every direction, there was water. That's when we realized."
South of the railroad tracks there were whitecaps in the residential areas. Later, wading through the water and debris around his home, he couldn't even reach the kitchen at first. "I had to climb over things to get in like washing machines," Gray said. "Stuff was in a big jumble."
And Gracie? His worst fears were realized. "She was washed up in her kennel," he said. "Twenty feet from where I left her."
What Louisiana is doing
A Senate panel in Louisiana agreed this month that creating a plan to rescue pets from hurricanes would also prevent the loss of human life, but has not decided how to fund such an effort.
What Louisiana is considering:
*Issue identification tags for pets in case they are separated from their owners during evacuation. The cost is estimated at $2 million to tag animals and run a database.
*Require blind people be allowed to evacuate with their seeing-eye dogs.
*Require the state to identify suitable animal shelters near shelters that house evacuees.
*Use state transportation dept. in part to transport animals to shelters.
To view Senate Bill 607: http://legis.state.la.us/
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pet-friendly
The Humane Society of South Mississippi, Harrison County schools and civil defense have worked together to establish a pet-friendly evacuation shelter for the coming hurricane season. Still, county officials recommend that people use the pet-friendly shelter as a last resort. If you have the means or connections to shelter with your animals elsewhere, that's recommended.
About the shelter:
Where: Near the masonry shop on the grounds of Harrison Central High School.
Provided: The county and Humane Society have a goal of supplying 200 crates to house animals.
Requirements: Pet owners must stay with their pets, supply pet food, transportation, pet supplies and proof of vaccinations.
Suggestions: Bring your own crate. Make sure your pet gets along with other animals. Bring snacks and bedding for yourself.
Restrictions: No reptiles, no aggressive animals, no animals that weigh more than 80 pounds.
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Subject: [GULF COAST] Volunteers Still Needed in New Orleans
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BEAR WITNESS. SPEAK. DEMAND. ACT.
Kinship Circle - Action Campaigns I Literature I Voice For Animals
A nonprofit animal advocacy group working in animal disaster relief and campaigns
Brenda Shoss, president: info@kinshipcircle.org or disasteraid@kinshipcircle.org
http://www.KinshipCircle.org
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