aftermath conditions to rescue animals
Malibu and other local area residents flew to New Orleans to help rescue hundreds of animals left behind, despite criticism that the focus should be on helping people.
By Betty Bailey / Special to The Malibu Times
When Katrina evacuees fled their homes, many were forced, by law, to leave their animals behind. Of the thousands of pets that were rescued by agencies and volunteers those first few weeks, only about 50 or so reunions were taking place each day in the region. When Sherman Baylin, owner of local grooming and pet supply store Sherman’s Place, heard the news, she knew she had to go there to see if she could help.
“A woman brought me a photo taken a week after Katrina,” Baylin said. “It was a photo of a house overturned but, when you looked at it closely, you see a dog on a chain. It was dead. I knew there had to be more I could do to help.”
Baylin, who recently spent 12 days in New Orleans, said conditions there were horrific.
“Most of the houses were in ruin. Animals loose in the homes were found behind the refrigerator or in the attic,” she said. “We were dealing with 110 degrees and 100 percent humidity. We were dealing with mold and houses that were just torn apart inside.”
Jennifer Conrad, a Malibu native with a mobile veterinary practice for exotic animals, also went to help.
“There were two extremes,” she said. “There was tremendous generosity of the American public and there was this absolute devastation of the city. It was as close to war-torn as I have ever seen.”
Conrad said they did not feel they were in danger because they were so focused on the task at hand. “We saw someone carrying a shotgun,” she said. “We think he was just trying to protect the neighborhood because of all the looters.
“There were packs of dogs running around,” said animal rescue volunteer Patty Shenker of Pacific Palisades. “They were very freaked out. I wouldn’t call them feral but they were frightened.”
As soon as she arrived, Baylin and volunteers who traveled from as far as Australia began their search from house to house. Using crowbars to break doors and kicking in air conditioning units to gain entry, they followed the sounds of the animals’ cries.
“You could hear them,” Baylin said. “They must have heard us, too. They heard people outside and, for some, nobody came. Some became so weak and so compromised that they gave up.”
Rescuers had to bring in their own food and were on their own for seeking shelter. “Hazardous is an understatement,” said Debbie Winters, administrative assistant for the Humane Society of the United States, Southwest regional office. “They were dealing with frightened animals, sleeping outdoors in tents, sleeping bags in heat, some on rocks and gravel. They were getting up at 6 a.m. after retiring at 4 a.m., being exposed to toxic waste in the water. But they were relentless and most worked for weeks at a time without any breaks and are ready to do it again if needed.”
For many animals, the rescue effort was too late. “They died in their own crates,” Baylin said. “They drowned. The ones that didn’t drown were eaten up by their own urine or fecal matter in these little cages.”
But, she added, the focus was on saving the lives they could. “Every time there was a successful rescue, nothing else mattered. It was exhilarating to save one. I never cried so much in my life,” she said. “Every day I wanted to run away and every day I couldn’t stay long enough.”
With so many people in crisis, the animal rescue was, to some, a touchy subject. Workers were criticized for focusing on the animals when there were humans in need.
“People would ask, ‘Why are you helping the animals? Why aren’t you helping our babies?'” Baylin said. “I would tell them that, unlike her, there is not federal money to assist in these rescues.”
Others were chastised for not doing enough. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez was excoriated heavily by readers after he wrote of touring flooded New Orleans in a boat shortly after the hurricane passed. He described how a dog that was stranded on a roof jumped in the water and started swimming toward the boat he was in, but seeing that they were not going to stop, turned back to the roof.
Rescue efforts were focused on humans, as well as providing shelter. “The reality is shelters for people do not allow animals,” Winters said. “However, most, if not all shelters, had humane societies and SPCAs outside their doors ready to accept their animals on a temporary basis.”
For Baylin and Shenker, the love of animals is a driving force.
“Far too many animals perished because of a lack of compassion,” Baylin said of the law prohibiting people from removing their animals during the evacuation. “I think some of those people must have perished because they stayed with their animals.”
The bright spot, according to both Baylin and Shenker, is that the attention is forcing change. The city of Houston is allowing people to evacuate their pets in an emergency and federal legislation is being proposed to help in the future. The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (HR3858), also called the Pet’s Act, would require state and local authorities to include pets and service animals in their disaster evacuation plans.
The rescued animals were taken to the Lamar Dixon Expo, a huge, equestrian complex in New Orleans. But Shenker said they were told officials wanted things to get back to normal and they were forced to leave.
“It was a fabulous facility,” said Shenker. “I don’t know why they had to kick us out prematurely. Normal isn’t there yet. They’re still finding animals.”
With no housing options available in New Orleans, Shenker said 80 dogs and 20 cats were flown to Los Angeles. The flights were funded by various rescue groups and the animals will be sheltered in local animal sanctuaries. Shenker said this kind of rescue effort is taking place all over the country.
“The truth is, we have no idea where half of these animals are going to end up,” Baylin said. “It’s heartbreaking. These people had to leave the city but really believed they would be able to come back for their pets. This is the biggest effort ever. There is really nobody to blame because nobody could have handled this.”
Both Baylin and Shenker said they couldn’t give enough praise to the people who volunteered, from the police and firefighters who went to New Orleans to lend a hand to the local Malibu folks who donated money and tools.
Most of the animals from Katrina are in shelters now. So far, 8,421 animals have been rescued but only 625 have been reunited with their families. As of this week, most of the remaining pets are available for adoption. Rescuers held off on adoptions for them until Oct. 16 in hopes that more people would find their pets.
“They were trying to give the evacuees time to locate their animals by going to Petfinder.com as the one source database where every animal was listed,” Winters said.
“My heart goes out to the animals and to the disenfranchised,” Shenker said. “These animals were definitely disenfranchised.
“I am really glad that I went,” she added. “I know I saved some lives.”