August 29, 2006 – For The Animals & Their Rescuers
By Brenda Shoss, Kinship Circle

August 29, 2006 marks the day, exactly one year ago, Category 5 Katrina cast people and animals adrift in a sea of loss and despair. When the levees broke, a singular scream arose from dark waters, drowning out reason. Erasing hope.  

Who would hear their cries, scattered over rotting roads and toxic heaps?
Who would see their desperation — locked behind doors, bound to fence posts, stranded on rooftops?
Whose hands would heal their anonymous pain?

At least 600,000 searched for familiar faces. But frantic eyes turned cloudy with despair when no one came. Broken bodies collapsed. Huddled inside bathtubs. Hiding behind walls. Their skin, now paper-thin, stretched over bones. A last tail wagged. An unheard purr rose from the rubble and merged with the wind.

Who would hear them?
Our government did not.

Who would see them?
Our law enforcers did not.

Who would return for them?

You did.

And with your eyes, they were seen.

With your voice, they were heard.

With your hands, they knew comfort.

With your conviction, they were fed, rescued, and reunited.

With your resolve, they found new homes.

With your mercy, they saw love before death.

With your empathy, all were cherished and remembered.

You came from California, Canada, Texas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Washington, Florida... even as far away as Sweden. A legion of the compassionate. Shelter workers, veterinarians, students, cops, soldiers, moms, sons, daughters, grandparents... Giant burly men and fierce lean women. You left your jobs, your families and homes to salvage lives forgotten in the wreckage.

August 29, 2005 - August 29, 2006.
Our lives are forever united in tears, grief, chaos and renewal.

August 29, 2005 – August 29, 2006
WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

Pia Salk, co-founder, original Animal Rescue New Orleans
Animal Rescue New Orleans, Magazine Street, NOLA Holly Quaglia leads daily assignments meeting.	PHOTO: Heidi Poor
Paint Face cat coming out.                                                  Jane Garrison, co-founder, original ARNO
David Meyer, co-founder, original ARNO            Jessica Higgins, original ARNO on-site admin director
Cadi Schiffer, original ARNO ground food/water           DirectorPHOTO: Pia Salk
Rescued “river rat” Daisy and her post-Katrina   Bubbles, collapsed in a bathtub 7 weeks pups, a long way from Mississippi, with Kate       after the storm. Rescued by ARNO’s Rob Danaher, original ARNO national volunteer        Stone. A survivor. coordinator
Judie Mancuso, original ARNO      Butterscotch eating Mont St. f/w assignment spreadsheets  and arusa.com development, with Red, Celebration Station
Max, a tuxedo cat found with arrow shot through his body. He survived surgery, but later died due to infection.	David Meyer, Pia Salk, Jane Garrison, Jessica Higgins, Eric Rice. NOLA, 2005
PHOTO: Pia Salk                                                                  PHOTO: Heidi Poor
PHOTOS: Heidi Poor
Shannon Hartwick Moore *July 22, 1969 ~ May 30, 2006 http://memoriesofshannon.blogspot.com/
PHOTO: Rebie & Kenny Levingston, ARNO      Waiting.  1-800-Save-A-Pet.com food/water volunteers

I'll Stand By You - For The Animals     
Oh, why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Don't be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
'cause I've seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you

So if you're mad, get mad
Don't hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now
Hey, what you got to hide?
I get angry too
Well I'm a lot like you
When you're standing at the crossroads
And don't know which path to choose
Let me come along
'cause even if you're wrong

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you

And when...
When the night falls on you, baby
You're feeling all alone
You won't be on your own

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you

The Pretenders - I'll Stand By You

From: Pamela Jo <pamelajowolflady@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006

THANK YOU for the lovely poems and words that best describe how I felt when I rescued animals in New Orleans on both my trips there (October and November).

I am attaching a photo of myself in front of a FEMA tent, December 2005. I am holding Pinky, a Chihuahua/mix that I rescued and brought back to a foster home in California (I brought back 9 animals altogether). We found Pinky's owners, but they couldn't afford the vet bills (Pinky developed lung cancer possibly from the black mold she was exposed to), so the foster mom (Rene Succa) adopted Pinky, giving her a wonderful, loving home until her death last month. Little Pinky survived the flooding, and was found floating on a piece of wood near the docks east of St. Bernard Parish.

...Again, this really hit home. I will never forget the suffering and loss in the eyes of the many many animals that I encountered on the desolate streets of St. Bernard Parrish and East New Orleans. The animals I had to leave behind will forever haunt me. I keep in my mind the animals I was able to bring back to loving homes, and the animals (wolves and wolfdogs) that I rescue in my daily life. This is what keeps me going.
Blessings, Pamela Hormiotis, Lake Tahoe Wolf Rescue

From: Patsy Kruebbe <2many@cox.net>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006

Dear Kinship Circle: Just want to take a minute to thank you for your continued love and care for New Orleans animals, as well as people. Your newsletters are heart wrenching, heart warming, informative and uplifting and I look forward to every one of them. God bless you for all you do.
Sincerely, Patricia B. Kruebbe, President
Support Alliance for Stray Animals, Inc.
P.O. Box 641877
Kenner, LA  70064
O - (504) 305-5013; H - (504) 469-5465
email: 2many@cox.net
web - http://www.supportstrays.com

From: <nikki.morris@wachovia.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006

Hi, Brenda. I need to tell you, now, what a difference you made in helping to guide me to their aid. You were never cross, although I know you must have been tired. You wouldn't say so, but even thru email, I knew. I am just one of the many volunteers...twice to Magazine St and another to Tylertown.

When you lost your friend, Shannon, I sobbed reading what you wrote. But, I know she knows. And I know she wants you to know.

And all the volunteers...the residents, and, of course, the animals in need. YOU made a huge difference, again, in your support and advice on getting us there.

I've been struggling with this, not having or knowing the right words....thank you for leading me to Jane,  Pia, Holly, Best Friends, Mutt Shack, all of it. Brenda, again, I can't thank you enough.
In love and in kinship, Nikki Morris. (AKA, The Pest.)

From: <Therese62@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006

Thank you so much for all your wonderful Kinship Circle E-mails....your group is a miracle in itself and I so wish that I could be there with you to observe the anniversary at your tribal dinner.....I have followed all your blogs, websites, media reports, etc. since the days after Katrina hit—I cried until my heart ached and then wrote more and more e-mails, letters, called senators, etc. to get the Pets Act pushed thru so that this heinous situaton would never happen again....

.....you and your group  are the kind of people who make the world worth living in—bless you for all you do and continue to do....

Thanks also for all the wonderful rituals, recipes, songs, quotes from novels——WOW——what a fabulous compilation.... Please continue to keep me on your lists for any information, e-mails, etc...
Tara Foye, Boca Raton, Florida

KATRINA DINNER 2006:
This August 29 the Lost Tribe of New Orleans is Invited to Participate in a Ritual Meal Commemorating the One Year Anniversary of Katrina
http://www.katrinadinner2006.com/

SOURCE: Forwarded Message from Holly Quaglia <hollyq24@yahoo.com> and Rena Lasch <rena33@mac.com>
http://www.katrinadinner2006.com/

FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE: I will host a Katrina Dinner 2006 in our home, remembering the animals in photos, prayers and prose. The “ritual dinner” (like a Seder) outlined at http://www.katrinadinner2006.com/ is truly way for all of us to connect across rivers, roads, and skies.

Welcome All New Orleanians, no matter where you are!! http://www.katrinadinner2006.com/

I always used to tell friends that “New Orleans is a state of mind”. That sentiment is truer now than ever. The wind and water of Katrina fractured our beloved town. It tore our community apart. And despite our varying individual circumstances, I believe that most of us yearn for wholeness. For reunion.

A few months ago, the idea of a ritual came to me. How powerful would it be if every New Orleanian currently living in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and every other town across the country, sat down at the same time to recognize the losses of the last year and to reaffirm their connection to the city? And how great would it be if this ritual centered around the favorite activity of every homegrown New Orleanian, eating? The entire New Orleans diaspora could sit down simultaneously, fork in hand, to tell the world that this was a special place, a special community, one worth fighting to restore.

And so, with that in mind, I humbly offer a basic outline of the first ever “Katrina Dinner” to be held on the one year anniversary of this momentous event. The outline does not have to be acted out literally, although you’re certainly welcome to follow it word for word. My hope is that it will be fun and delicious with only a smidgen of hokiness. Like everything in New Orleans, feel free to improvise. Make up your own blessings, your own questions, your own ritual food plate. Invent your own way of celebrating the city that connects us all.

This August 29th, 2006, only a portion of the city will be where it’s supposed to be: HOME. But we can still eat together.

Justin Lundgren, lundgrenjm@hotmail.com
http://www.greetingsfromneworleans.typepad.com/

Katrina Dinner 2006

The following six rituals are to be performed before the meal begins and can easily be completed in about 20-25 minutes. Supplies needed for all the following rituals include:

1. A few candles to be lit as part of the "Candle Blessing".

2. A bag, preferably red, to hold the elements of the "Katrina Gris-Gris".

3. Everyone should bring a small New Orleans offering - something teeny enough to fit in the palm of your hand - to be used for the Gris-Gris.

4. Enough copies of the ritual so that everyone can follow along.

5. Music. Every great feast needs a soundtrack, no? Either make a New Orleans-centric CD of your own design or use the suggestions listed at the very bottom of this page.

6. For the ritual food plate, you will need very small portions of the following: cane syrup, dill pickles, oysters(canned is fine), small chocolates, grits, corn kernels. And very large portions of wine.

GET THE REST OF THE DETAILS FOR YOUR KATRINA DINNER AT:
http://www.katrinadinner2006.com/

********************************************************************************************
Shannon Moore July 22, 1969 ~ May 31, 2006
http://memoriesofshannon.blogspot.com/

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Caring about innocent animals caught in Katrina’s wrath
doesn’t diminish human suffering. It makes us human.
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TO SUBSCRIBE TO KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER RELIEF LIST:
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IN YOUR EMAIL, STATE:
—SUBSCRIBE TO KC ANIMAL DISASTER RELIEF LIST
—IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF LOUISIANA

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——-Original Message——-
From: Kinship Circle  
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 11:34  AM
To: 7. KINSHIP CIRCLE Animal Disaster Relief List
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
Nonprofit working in animal protection/cruelty + animal disaster relief campaigns
Brenda Shoss, president: info@kinshipcircle.org or kinshipcircle@accessus.net
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