September 27, 2005

Late last night, about one hundred and fifty animals, rescued within the last twelve hours were hastily evacuated from the Lake Castle School the ad-hoc command center of the MuttShack Animal Rescue Foundation. Some left in trailers, others in the back of cars or in trucks. Despite the evacuation, many more animals continue to arrive, brought in by dedicated rescuers and other rescue organizations.

MuttShack Animal Rescuers have been going from house to house to find animals abandoned there since Katrina and bringing them to their triage center in the flood ravaged Lake Castle School formerly occupied by the Ohio National Guard. Classrooms, filled with layers of mud, mouldy books and fallen ceiling boards are being used as an ad hoc emergency rescue and treatment center. The gymnasium serves as makeshift kennel where rows and rows of crates line the walls, holding the frail and devastated animals. The owners of the facility generously opened their doors and their hearts to the National Guard and now to MuttShack's volunteers.

Rescuers who at first found it easy to identify homes with animals are finding fewer animals barking or responding to their calls. Dogs, cats and birds are either too weak to make any sound or are lying dead or dying in their homes.

Thousands have died from lack of food and water and others died trying to escape. Rescuers report dead animals lying in cages, locked in rooms and tied up on balconies. Some died trying to escape through broken windows and died in pools of their own blood. One died on his own front porch while waiting obediently for his family to return – never a thought of placing a single paw print beyond the porch. He was well trained, ironically too well trained - even to leave to find food.

The rescuers are overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the task. Thousands of animals trapped have to be found by small independent non-profit rescue organizations working with little to no resources. Rescuers have been camping in tents, sleeping in cars and on the ground. Their rescue vehicles are their own cars or trucks and trailers driven thousands of miles across the country to New Orleans. Others have been price-gouged by car rental companies for small mini-vans that hold one or two crates at best.

There is no running water, electricity or food. The stores are boarded up or have been looted. Muttshack volunteers and rescuers arrive with only what they can carry, everything they will need to survive - water, food, sleeping bags, bolt-cutters, leashes, dog food and energy bars.

Their hopes of owners returning home finally after 21 days to aid in the rescue of their pets was shattered yesterday with the announcement once more that owners cannot return to their homes – now due to the flood waters that have escaped the levys - still in utter disrepair from the storm surges of Katrina.

Rescuers persist their rescues amidst intermittent squalls, those overwhelmed by the horror of rescue work are taking care of the emaciated dogs. Shelter workers give what comfort they can, cleaning animals black with thick floodwater sludge, while others assume the endless tasks of cleaning cages, feeding, watering and walking amidst whispered promises that they are now safe.

Run-off water from the roof is collected to help wash dogs, and crates but the water levels on the levy are rising. Every levy dog-walk confirms that the water is getting higher. The pressure on the levy from Rita, even miles away could be enough to cause a breach and flood the school.

With more reports that water is flooding vital access roads, MuttShack Volunteers moved the remaining animals to higher ground in the adjacent St. Charles parish, where they were boarded in a barn. They will return to continue rescue efforts as soon as the Hurricane Rita has crested.Many animals have been sheltered ‘in house’. Rescuers leave food and water to animals too shy to come out, or too hard to catch. Bags of food have been left on street corners where animals are spotted.
Rescued animals are shipped to neighboring Gonzales, Tylertown, or any accredited Shelter that may house them, and place them in foster care. Owners looking for their dogs can look on Petfinder.com.