A few rounds with the Red Cross

(Why I'm arguing with a form response, I'm not sure, except that it was so illogical I felt compelled to respond)

In the same breath you are telling people to take their pets with them, but then telling them not to take them to any of your shelters. Not everybody can afford a pet friendly hotel. I'm sorry that you're more concerned with obeying state regulations than with saving lives. I will be working to ensure the laws are changed so that you have no choice but to accept pets or otherwise provide safe accomodations for them.

Cathy AtkinsonInfo wrote:

Dear Ms. Atkinson,

Thank you for contacting the American Red Cross.
We would like to assure you that the American Red Cross is not asking people to abandon their pets. The Red Cross knows, as many of its 35,000 employees and one million volunteers are pet lovers that pets are a part of the family! In fact our guidance in our very popular Pet First Aid manual says "If you have to evacuate your home for any reason, even if you don't expect to be gone for long, take your pets with you!" Red Cross disaster shelters cannot accept pets because of states' health and safety regulations and other considerations (except for service animals who assist people with disabilities) so your disaster plan should include places you and your pets can stay while you're out of your home.

As such, just as we recommend and are confident that pet owners have information for their pet's veterinarian, 24 hour veterinary emergency hospital, National Animal Poison Control Center, having identified an animal shelter or care facility before a disaster know where to take their pet for medical attention in case of an emergency just as the American Red Cross advises pet owners to have identified a 24 hour emergency medical aid in case of an emergency for their pet---the Red Cross believes and urges that pet owners merely consider this another aspect of their family's disaster preparedness plan, and their pet's care, comfort, health and safety! After all we want to ensure pets can be as comfortable as possible as well.
Also, please note that there are several organizations, like the American Humane Society(http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer ) that are actively involved in pet rescue.
Thank you again for contacting us.


-----Original Message-----From: Cathy Atkinson

inquirytype: Complaint

questions: I just returned from volunteering in Louisiana and was so sad to hear how many people were unable to be helped by the Red Cross because of your no-pet policy.

While I understand that some people have allergies and cannot be around pets, it is not that complex to have a pet area and a non pet area in a shelter. It is like having a smoking and a no smoking area in a restaurant. After all, many people have allergies to smoke as well. Your policy seems to put your fear of legal liability far above and beyond your desire to help the victims, and that is profoundly sad. My friends and myself will not be able to support your organization in any way until this policy is changed.

Animals still being rescued - alive!

New pictures at Pasado's site. Amazing. I'll say it again, if you have money to donate, this is the place to send it.

http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/NEWS/NEWS.htm

It's about time

Congress gets a clue

Not cat related but I had to post this

Some excellent news for America's horses today (cross posted from elsewhere):

---

The final vote on the Ensign/Byrd amendment was 68-29 in favor of ending horse slaughter by withholding funds for federal inspectors in horse slaughterhouses and at the borders! The House and Senate bills now go to committee to create a final law. Since we won by 2/3rds in both the House and Senate, and since the amendment to each bill was identical, the committee would have no grounds not to include it in the final budget. Since it is a budget bill it is only going to be in effect for one fiscal year beginning November 1, but we still have HR503 in the house which can be passed by next year to end the business permanently!

This victory is the direct result of hundreds of horse owners and lovers working tirelessly to get this issue in front of the public and to convince their representatives and senators to do the right thing. We were opposed by powerful special interests like the AVMA and the AQHA, but we still won! From the bottom of my heart I thank everyone who took the time to get involved in this magnificent victory!

Amazing pictures from a rescuer who went into the city!

http://goggle.com.hk/hur1.htm

My thoughts for the day:

What is the most ethical thing to do with all of the confiscated fighting pit bulls? Obviously it would be wrong to return a dog that shows signs of being used for fighting to their owner, but the alternative - euthanasia - is pretty sickening, too. I know some of these dogs would be adoptable to a knowledgeable home with no kids, no cats, probably no other dogs...but those homes are too few and far between. What a sad situation.

Why are the breed rescuers encountering so much resistance? It makes so much more sense for a breed rescue that is expert in that breed's needs, behaviors, and special health considerations, to help the rescued dogs or cats of that breed. Why are they having to fight tooth and nail to do so?

I want to quit my job right now and leave and go back to Louisiana. Reading about it and seeing the pictures and wishing I were still there to help is driving me nuts.

Another volunteer speaks

This is part of an e-mail from a Connecticut shelter worker who just returned from Lamar Dixon as well. In case anyone thinks I am exaggerating conditions down there and the urgency to remove the animals ASAP into either (a) their own home or (b) climate-controlled, sanitary foster homes and shelters, please read her words:

---

Next stop was the Lamar Dixon Expo Center(aka Gonzales), the large "clearing
house" facility. LA SPCA, HSUS, ASPCA, and VMAT are in a power struggle over
who is in charge. It is total chaos. They don't have anywhere near enough
people to care for the 2000 animals (average) and are turning away rescue
groups bringing more animals in after sitting in line for hours.

This place is HUGE, and the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is
doing. Dogs and cats sit for days waiting for vet care even if illness is
obvious. Many do not get out of their crates for 2+ days. There is no
leadership, no system, and the animals are suffering. Vet care is obtained
when they get the chance, and only after a request is put in the "inbox",
which happens to be a bucket.

Volunteers are so burnt out they are in tears. There are some very sick
animals who are put in makeshift "wards" in the barns. No bleach bucket
outside for shoes, and no where near any acceptable level of sanitation.
"Triage" doesn't happened regularly, not enough vets & vet techs. The Parvo
stalls are in the middle of everything......people in & out of them
constantly, and going directly in stalls w/"healthy" dogs.

All dogs & cats are kept in crates of all kinds. We got yelled at by VMAT
for moving a puppy into a wire crate instead of a veri-kennel after being
told to do so by HSUS. Don't know if it was because she was a pit pup and
therefore most likely not going to make it out of that hellhole after all
she'd been thru- she was air-vacced off the 610 bridge- or what.

There are huge buses, vans, RV's, tents everywhere, representives of
different states for each large group. Animal Planet had their bus there,
and PETA was driving in as we were leaving. That's all well & good, but the
"negotiations" for control is disgusting. Whoever gets the gov't "grant"
(aka "Contract") runs the show, and makes some nice $$.

There are pallets of food, water, crates, etc from Walmart, Petco, Petsmart,
and a bunch of others. They just don't have enough people to clean & walk
all these dogs, let alone feed, water, and med. They DESPERATELY need more
people to do the basic stuff.

Another place to donate

Two of the best volunteers I worked with at Lamar Dixon were from Kittico. They are taking 100 of the rescued cats in, so I'm sure they would love some donations to help them out. If you want to donate to some seriously hard-working and dedicated rescuers, I give these ladies two thumbs up!

This article accurately describes things

Rescue Place Has Become "Superdome" For Animals

"The reality is most of the original owners will never come back to get their dogs," said Miss Flood. "We have to be realistic and start putting the animals first."

I could not agree more. Ensure the animal is somewhere safe where it will be kept in a clean and sanitary environment and receive veterinary care FIRST, find the owner SECOND. It doesn't do a bit of good to keep the animal in the most obvious place the owner would look if that place is swelteringly hot and the animal is stressed out, lying in its own urine and feces, and exposed to disease.

I doubt any pet owners would disagree with me on that one.

Another happy ending!

Check out Daniel's blog for his reunion with his unusual and gorgeous cat, one of the many I cared for at Lamar Dixon.

I love reading this!

Here's where I'd send my money if I had any to send

Everyone is asking me this question. While Kitten Rescue would love to have your donations, we understand that everybody wants to help a rescue who is actually going down to the front lines and, even as we speak, still finding some starving but alive animals to save.

After being in Louisiana and seeing who was (a) busting their butt and (b) being amazingly helpful to distraught pet owners, I unequivocally recommend donating to Pasado Safe Haven. They are beyond awesome. As far as I am concerned, they are saints. They are doing what needs to be done and they are working miracles. They deserve whatever you can give to help them. When payday comes, I will be sending them a donation as well.

Finally some pictures!

Yes, I finally have enough energy to post pictures!

I took this at the Baton Rouge airport when I stopped to pick up carriers. For the record, after seeing this, I do not recommend flying Continental out of Baton Rouge.



Here's the rescuer truck I saw while we were both stuck in traffic in Baton Rouge. I wonder who she was? The truck was loaded with cat sized carriers so I think she was "one of us."



Never let it be said people did not donate generously!



Industrial sized fans trying to cool down the dogs in one of the dog barns.



Orange kitty rescued from City Park Avenue. I hope he finds his mom or dad!



This old guy looks cranky but he was sweet as sugar. His ears show evidence he's weathered a fight or two in his life. I would foster him in a second if he goes unclaimed!



A really sweet gray and white kitty.



Look at the sad look on the face of this kitty with mismatched ears. I hope she's been picked up!

More kitties with addresses

Posted this on Craigslist tonight. Check out if you're still looking for your kitty. I understand from a comment below that the Constance St. kitty has an owner who is looking for now - yay! Hope to hear good news on that one very soon.

Saturday evening

It's hard to believe it's not even a week yet since I went to Louisiana. Those days down there felt like weeks - perhaps due to the lack of sleep and the endless cycle of cleaning, feeding, watering, assembling cages, transferring cats, taking in new cats, telling owners about Petfinder and Craig's List and who could/would still go to rescue animals from homes, cleaning, feeding, watering...

My last afternoon did not go the way I had expected. Everything I had read online led me to believe that rescues willing to foster were urgently needed to do so. I thought that due to the surplus of animals and the shortage of help, taking a few kitties home on behalf of the largest cat rescue in Los Angeles would not only be permitted but welcomed. Unfortunately, at least on Wednesday, that was not the case. I waited with a bunch of other eager rescuers for the one ASPCA person apparently imbued with the authority to release animals to get out of a meeting, a meeting which apparently took two hours (in an air conditioned RV while we waited in the hot sun outside). There were some folks there from a dog rescue who had rented their own air conditioned RV and were willing to transport animals from Gonzales to other shelters, not even their own - just to get the dogs out of the horrible conditions. ASPCA lady finally appeared and shot us all down. Nothing was going to be released for 48 hours, not even the owner surrendered cats (I was told a person "might have made the decision under duress" and "might change their mind." Personally, in the time I have been doing rescue, I have never seen an owner surrender a pet and then "change their mind." Usually by the time that decision has been made, they want the animal out of their hair, pronto. And nobody was forcing surrenders - people were told their animals would be waiting for them to pick up at a shelter. But whatever...). The dog people were not even allowed to help with transporting animals. They were told the help wasn't needed. Strange, since we had a situation with several thousand dogs and not enough people to so much as keep the cages clean of urine and feces. Hmmm, I know I'm not an animal organization administrator so maybe there's some logic here that eludes me, but it seems to me that getting those animals moved would be a top priority given the circumstances. I was also informed our rescue had to be "checked out" the same way we would check out a potential adopter. Ummm, if I had a potential adopter who had (a) worked their ass off for 3 days in the 90 degree heat for no pay helping cats, (b) rented an $830 vehicle to transport cats in air conditioned comfort and (c) was affiliated with a large 501(c)(3) rescue, that would be good enough for me to convince me they had cats' best interests in mind and were probably not (a) a buncher (b) a hoarder (c) a Satan worshipping cat torturer. But again, whatever. End result, no animals were officially released on Wednesday.

(Interestingly enough, my friends who stayed a few more days, from a Dallas area rescue, got one hundred cats released to them this weekend. Apparently there were some management changes in the interim. You don't say...)

I headed home, and had time to think about how I would do things differently if I were The King of the World and it was my job to coordinate rescue efforts in the wake of this disaster. Here's what I came up with. Your input and responses are welcome.

1. Evacuation With Owners - I understand that allowing animals on all buses/boats could pose a health risk to those with allergies. However, designating some evacuation buses/boats for people with pets would be a perfect and easily workable solution. Requiring dogs to be muzzled would be no problem - Petco and other suppliers were throwing supplies at us - they would have gleefully shipped thousands of muzzles down upon request. Supplying cardboard carriers to those without carriers for their cats would similarly be a cheap and easy solution. I pay $5 each for those carriers; bet they'd have been graciously donated as well. And if you did things my way, you would not now be hearing the stories of people who, refusing to abandon their pets, died alongside them. That is a result that is absolutely unacceptable in a civilized country, and was absolutely avoidable. The worst case scenarios had animals been allowed on rescue vehicles (bites, allergic reactions) pale in comparison to the utterly pointless and avoidable deaths that took place because of this moronic policy.

2. Release of Animals to Rescue and Foster Homes - The key to doing this right is preparedness. Before the next emergency like Katrina, a national system should be in place to approve rescues and foster homes to shelter displaced animals. Rescues and foster homes interested in participating could be pre-inspected by a HSUS or ASPCA inspector. Those that passed muster would be issued an ID number and card. That would allow them to immediately foster displaced animals in an event such as this, allowing the animal to move directly from its own home to a foster home or private shelter without going through the trauma of a situation like Lamar Dixon. The rescuer/foster would have a reporting requirement to immediately go online and log in the animal, where picked up, and pictures into one central database where owners looking for their pets could go to look. Failure to log in your foster animals to the database within a week would be punishable by a fine (look! a revenue opportunity!) to ensure that animals did not get "lost." This would vastly minimize the trauma and stress to the animal and limit the exposure of diseased animals to huge groups of other animals. Lamar Dixon did not have anything I would call acceptable isolation space. Puppies with parvo were simply moved to the cat area. Not good enough disease control. Private rescuers are used to taking in diseased animals from the shelters, where parvo and upper respiratory run rampant. We are used to strictly isolating new animals, giving medications and fluids as needed, and bleaching the heck out of anything that comes near them. We do isolation a lot better than I saw it being done at Lamar Dixon. Finally, putting these animals in private homes would ensure that old, sick, stressed, or very young animals could be placed in environments that are climate controlled. It is a bit much for a cat to starve for 2 weeks and then be shoved into a plastic carrier in 90 degree heat surrounded by howling dogs, don't you think? Not exactly a scenario likely to ensure the owner gets their animal back healthy and happy.

3. Record Keeping - It's Your Friend! Lamar Dixon, as of Wednesday at least, had no master list of animals on the premises. Nor could they supply a list of animals who had been transported elsewhere! This frustrated the hell out of owners who had handed over their animals only after being assured the animal was at Lamar Dixon, and who are now forced to go on a wild goose chase through multiple shelters and online listings, looking at bad pictures to see if they might possibly recognize their pet. Some animals had three different types of ID numbers assigned to them. Some animals came in with no information on their sheet as to where they even came from. WTF? Come on, people, if I was this sloppy at my legal job, I'd get fired in 3 seconds. It's not that hard to keep good records. Plenty of you admin people don't seem to be doing jack with the animals. I haven't seen you assemble a cage or scoop poop. So for heaven's sake, at least shuffle paper well and keep track of the animals.

4. Animal People Only Helping Animals. This may seem obvious and even silly, but the thing I realized in the past week is that many of those employed by HSUS and similar entities are not animal people. They are professional non-profit managerial staff. The problem with this is that they have no common sense regarding how to help animals the way a rescuer or even a typical dog or cat owner would have. I went up to the HSUS trailer on Wednesday with a guy who, bless his heart, was trying to get 83 cats from a cat hoarder released to a rescue in Illinois. Immediately upon entering, I noticed that there were built in kennels in the cool, wonderful HSUS trailer. Every last one of them was empty. The barns were full of animals in acute respiratory distress because of the heat, but none of the HSUS honchos had thought to put an animal in the air conditioned kennels built into their own trailer. I restrained myself from commenting, which was just as well as HSUS guy immediately got concerned about the legalities of transferring 83 cats across state lines, especially after hearing that 2 or 3 might be FIV positive.

For those of you not in the know, FIV is cat HIV. It is spread the same way. Trucking 6,416 FIV-poz cats through Missouri could only infect a Missouri area cat if that cat (a) hijacked the truck, (b) broke into a metal carrier and (c) either got bit by or had sex with a FIV cat. In other words, being concerned about spreading FIV into a state by trucking a positive cat through it is, um, really dumb.

Then the other HSUS guy took me aside and was very, very concerned that I had mentioned the 83 cats with the facilities manager present. Apparently the facilities manager thought they were going to get shut down by the health department and this was just another problematic situation or some such nonsense. I sweetly explained that I certainly didn't know who the facilities manager was and assumed I could talk about an animal related problem in the Humane Society trailer to the Humane Society staff, and that personally I thought it was great if someone wanted to get 83 cats out of here and that we should help him any way we could. Yeah, I know, I just don't understand bureaucracy like I should, right? Silly me...

But I digress. My point is that if you had animal people running the show, this whole thing would have gone very simply. Those in command would not be sitting in an air conditioned trailer. They would be running around outside giving orders to the paid staff they would have hired with the millions of dollars of donations they had received in order to ensure the animals were properly cared for, instead of assuming a handful of exhausted volunteers were somehow going to do everything that needed to be done for more animals than Noah had on his ark. Animal people would have had every air conditioned trailer and RV in that expo center filled with cages and animals enjoying (a) silence and (b) blissful cool. Animal people would have hired a lawyer on behalf of all of the pet owners wanting to take their pets on the boats who would have gone to court ex parte and requested an emergency order to allow the evacuation of pets with their owners. Animal people wouldn't have rented a freaking expo center to begin with - they would have rented two convention centers, with air conditioning, one for dogs and one for cats and birds/exotics. They would not have had terrified cats listening to 24/7 howling and stressed out birds shoved all together in cages in a horse stall. You can't run Microsoft if you don't know how to turn on a computer, and you can't run animal rescue efforts if you are not an animal person.

Thus ends my long rant. I need some sleep. Thanks to all who have read so far, who have cared, and who have helped in so many ways to save the animals and reunite them with their owners. Pictures coming whenever I am not so tired...

I'm back

I will post tonight and add pictures.

I did, however, get this in another e-mail today, regarding Lamar Dixon:

The actual area where the animals area housed is 1.4 miles long and 400 yards
wide.

Now I know why I am so tired. I think I basically walked a marathon, possibly twice.

Almost ready to leave...

I will be leaving Gonzales tonight, and it looks like I will be able to bring some cats. There are some owner surrenders, and there are other cats who are allowed to be transported out of state as long as it is to a reputable shelter. I don't know which cats in particular yet. I'm about to head back there to find out.

I wish I could stay. There is so much to do, but I've told them they can call me at home and I'll post information to the internet on found cats and do whatever else I can to help remotely. We do have more volunteers today. There was a volunteer meeting this morning and they are trying to get things more organized.

This might be the last post for a few days. I am very glad I came. We had some great reunions. There was an awesome snowshoe cat whose parents showed up today. He and his 2 brothers went home, happy and healthy and apparently no worse for wear. In a way it's all been overwhelming because there is much more to do than I can do, or that all of us together can do, but it's also been extremely rewarding because of the reunions, and knowing that some of the cats will be located thanks to the lists I've posted online.

We met a lady at Starbucks today who told us the media is massively covering up the extent of the tragedy. She said St. Bernard Parish is all bodies, and that's why they're not letting people in to try to rescue their pets. Homes are total losses and some areas will not be able to rebuild because of all the toxic waste. I met a woman whose brand new house has 6 feet of oil sludge up against it. She doesn't care about the house - she wants her 11 cats out. I posted her information to Craigslist and gave her some information on rescuers who might be able to help.

I just read my e-mail and found out one of my 14 year old foster cats passed away last night. This is one of two cats I rescued 3 or 4 weeks ago from a city shelter. Her 18 year old mother started eating again after I got her out; the 14 year old never did and despite force feeding and fluids, her body simply shut down last night and she died cuddled up with her mother. You win some; you lose some. At least I know that she didn't die in the shelter because someone killed her with a needle. She got a few good weeks of being petted, being fussed over, purring, being brushed, and living in a real home again after her former owner abandoned her. She wasn't stressed out. She felt safe. This is the thing about rescue - even when an animal dies like this, it's a success. Sometimes all we can do is make sure they don't end their life in fear.

All right, back to Gonzales and back to work for a few more hours...

And another day comes to an end

I haven't worked this hard since the year I got conned into helping with craft services for the Genie Awards, but I still wish I didn't have to go home. After posting the list of missing pets, I went back and started cleaning cages and feeding, and with one interruption, that is exactly what I did until 3:00 a.m.

The one interruption was a very good thing if an unnecessarily complicated thing. I was busy working when two ladies walked in looking for Vickie the tortie cat, who had miraculously arrived with her tags and contact phone intact. They were pals of Jackie, Vickie's mom. They told me that Jackie had had Vickie for 13 years, and that the cat was everything to her. I told them I had just seen Vickie last night and she was fine, not sick or anything, and we'd just need to find her.

Two hours of searching, calling Houston SPCA to make sure she didn't go there, etc. came up with nothing. I trooped back and forth the length of the barns (about a half mile) more times than I could count. I couldn't figure out how a large tortie cat had disappeared into thin air. Finally, the mystery was solved. Two well-meaning volunteers, hearing that Vickie's owner was coming, took her up front to the check in desk...where none of us knew to find her. So, lots of walking and 2 hours of wasted time, but Vickie went home to her mom.

We did a lot of cleaning of the kitten cages tonight. The kittens are being, well, kittens. They run back and forth and climb up the cages and do impossible acrobatics and basically trash their nice, neat cages every ten minutes. Yvonne McCarthy, who was such an incredible help for the past days, had to go home today. That left a handful of us, and I do mean a handful, with hundreds of cats to care for. The good news was that even the cats I thought looked bad were doing better. A tiny black and white kitten who looked to be on his last legs in the heat of the afternoon revived and bounced all over the cage tonight. The head-tilted, circling Siamese mix turned out to have nothing more than a severe ear infection which had thrown her off kilter - she too will recover. In fact, the only cat I saw that was going to have to be put to sleep was a senior with congestive heart failure and a serious upper respiratory. Many of the veterinarians here are very young and enthusiastic - a real pleasure to work with. People in general are terrific. I've been working closely with Brigitte and Rhonda from Dallas, cat rescuers who never seem to run out of energy. Just FYI to the world, if you put me, Brigitte, and Rhonda in charge of the next major cat rescue effort, it will go much more smoothly and successfully than letting a bunch of federal emergency guys take over. Also FYI to my readers, the federal emergency guys don't seem to do much except (a) talk (b) eat (c) ride around on golf carts and (d) watch us girls haul around heavy cages. Um, I'm a taxpayer, I pay your salary, so what say you come pick up one end of this thing? HSUS, SPCA LA, and everybody else is busting their butt and I haven't seen a federal guy perform anything that looks like work yet. George Bush might want to stop touring New Orleans and stop by here and crack a big whip or something. That would be good.

OK, I'm probably ready for some sleep. My feet pretty much gave out today and I had to take my boots off and go back to wearing my frou-frou sandals to give them some air, tiptoeing around all the various messes and spills in the barns. Time to get off of them and spend another lovely night at the Motel Minivan. :-)

The Address List - also xposted to Craigslist, etc.

NOT complete. But something.

I-10 and the I-610 Black and white shorthair, petite tuxedo, very scared
900 block of 2nd St. Cute stripey tabby kitten, maybe 6 mo, long legs!
818 3rd Street Black shorthair
820 3rd Street White and Orange tabby
Black tuxedo
832 3rd St. Apt. D Black and white shorthair
Adorable snowshoe!
1406 3rd St. Black fluffy tabby, scared.
131 6th Street Calico tabby, very upset – please get if yours!!!
1900 block Adams Black tuxedo
900 block Allen Orange and white, mostly orange, white under belly
1434 Amelia Brown tabby, big and cuddly!
Gray smoke tabby, super pretty!
1460 Annunciation #6306 Black and white (owner has claimed?)
4318 Annunciation Tabby/Siamese cross, very pretty!
Audobon (?) Russian Blue male, very sweet!
2026 Baron, #1 Russian Blue, sweet and meowy!
515 Boudreaux (sp?) LOTS of cats. 13 in all. All very social. Bunch of
Russian Blues, calico, etc.
626 Bourbon Black tuxedo
Brown tabby (possibly from apt. 20?)
3312 Calhoun Big tabby
Black and white kitten, 10 months approx.
1314-1/2 Camp Brown and white tabby (mackerel tabby) white socks
2114 Camp Black shorthair
Chef Hwy. Silver tabby spotted kitten, 7-8 months
5234 Choupitoulas 13 cats in all
1317 Coliseum Black shorthair
1418 Constance Two tone gray, shorthair, very sweet, very pretty!
2400 Constance Calico and gray with faint striping
3530 Constance Black shorthair
Black and white (says owned? But still there)
Black and white tuxedo male
5205 Contlin White and gray shorthair
Cooper & Monticello Black and white shorthair
AWESOME silver spotted tabby kitten (ocicat?)
3339 Dionne Black shorthair
Dryden & Napoleon Black shorthair
1923 DuFosset Black cat, has a name on it with a Los Angeles #?
724 Dumaine Tabby, young and outgoing, 10 months old
725 Dumaine Two orange and white cats, very friendly
Orange tabby
819 Franklin Black and white shorthair, young
7319 Germaine Black and white shorthair
Gold Strike & Monticello Brown tabby, really petite and cute!
6417 Greene Gray and white kitten, very active and social

517 Jenna White with a little orange shorthair
Large white cat
Gray and white (scared)
Another pure white cat
Lakeview area Black and white fluffy tuxedo, very social
4907 Magazine Cream Manx
Longhair gray
708 Marengo Brown tabby with white chest and legs
Gray tabby with white feet
Black and white shorthair, young, about 10 mo.?
300 Margry Brown tabby with white (mackerel tabby)
Mazey Orange tiger
Military Rd. & Bush Black and white kitten pair, dehydrated but being treated
Monticello & Clairborne (? Scribbling) Orange cat, really nice
4405 Movales, Metairie Longhair calico, VERY social

3739 Napolean Russian Blue and orange shorthair
2520 Nelson Black shorthair
3034 Olive 6 week old kittens, couldn’t catch momma, 4 kittens in cage
928 Pleasant Gray and white, large
Russian Blue, dealing badly with heat – PLEASE pick up if yours
316 Royal Grey and white, owner requested pick up, scared
3917 Royal Yellow tabby
5100 block Royal Gray and white and gray kittens, extremely pretty

1205 St. Charles Black and white cow patterned kitten, about 6 mo.?
2900 St. Charles #F Orange striped tabby kitten
3617 State Big black tuxedo female cat
4009 State Three acts, one white, one big tabby, one I didn’t see
809 Stover, Bridge City Tortie (has owner?)
3520 Vincennes GORGEOUS Himalayan!
4721 Walmsey Black shorthair

“Carrolton Vet” Orange tabby – owner name Haik (?) Brown mackerel tabby – owner name Sara Merritt
Brown tabby, no info
Calico, owner Munger (?) also says “Hickory”
Solid black female, owned by “Witokowski”

“Jefferson Hospital, Houma” Black and white longhair, very friendly

“Army found” Black with white on neck and belly, sweet, fluffy!


“St Bernard Parish” White kitten about 4-5 months, gray on head, mismatch eyes
Tabby kitten
Black kitten
Brown tabby adult

“Kishkin” the cat is there and safe! Black/white shorthair, real friendly.
Darn cute black and white tuxedo with thin white stripe on nose, no location given.
Orange tabby kitten and calico kitten, no location given, very sweet
Cream medium hair fluffy cat, paperwork lost, very scared, yours?
Male lynx point Siamese, VERY pretty blue eyes, no location given, dehydrated
Brown tabby declawed, no information

Lousy conditions, great people

Miserably hot. I wake up at 10:00 AM on the floor of the minivan, having managed a surprising 6 hours of sleep before the heat finally wakes me. I dive into the Starbucks and get my Venti Soy Iced Misto (thank God for small modern conveniences) and a banana nut muffin and I'm off to Lamar Dixon to get back to work. First order of business is finding more wire cages and transferring cats from hot carriers to the more comfortable cages. Fans are on all the animals, but it's still hot. I see a Russian Blue lying in his cage panting like crazy, and alert the vets to look at him. A little Siamese cross looks to have had a stroke - she's walking in circles endlessly with her head skewed to one side. On the whole though, things are so much better than I expected. If we've lost any, I haven't seen it. The volunteers are amazing. They are knowledgeable cat rescuers from New York, Texas, California - all points. They all know how to identify a cat that needs fluids. They're making sure cats eat and drink. And of course, we are all endlessly cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

A vet tech comes over and asks if she can have a can of Friskies to tempt a puppy who won't eat. We tell her to go ahead; food is not in short supply. Cages are. I slither over to the dog area and when no one is looking, abscond with several wire cages. We move large cats from carriers where they can barely turn around to large cages.

Two men come in and find their pair of calico cats. They are ecstatic, so happy they are crying. We are all so happy for them. These are super nice cats but the big one is a longhair and miserable in the heat. She goes home. More owners come, looking, begging for help, describing their cats. Many tell me they don't know how to use the internet. Many were told their cat was going to Lamar Dixon, but the cat is not here. I am told a bunch are being taken to the Houston SPCA. We are not given a list of who has left. I don't know who has that list or even if that list exists. I start going around and making a list of the addresses the cats came from, hoping to reunite them with their owners before someone moves them.

I see a beautiful purebred Persian that the owner has surrendered. I put my name and info on numerous cats that seem to have no paperwork at all, saying I will take them if they can be released on 9/14.

I talk to a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and tell her I'm posting the list of addresses on Craigslist and please put that in the paper. She promises to do so.

I wish I could stay longer, but I know that these five days are as long as I can be gone.I remember that I have no paid vacation time, and that by now my snowshoe is peeing all over my pillow, miffed that I have not come home since Sunday. I wish that this was my job, and then remember that animal related jobs don't pay enough money to care for my own animals. Ah, the eternal catch-22...

Off for more Starbucks and back to work...I may nap in the afternoon and stay up all night. 2 AM is indisputably the best time to clean cages, after it has cooled down.

Tales from the front lines

I wrote an entire post which the Internet lost. Arrrghhhhhh...

So, to write a much shorter post:

I arrive in Gonzales around 9 PM tonight. It looks like a cross between a war zone and a location shoot. There are lots of men in uniform and there's a lot of police tape. The barking is continuous, punctuated by howling. There is a mountain of carriers to the ceiling. I register as a volunteer and proceed to drop off the carriers and medical supplies as directed.

Then I head back to the cat area. It's another barn full of horse stalls, but each horse stall has maybe 10 carriers/cages in it with cats. Some of the cats are owned; others brought in as strays. Some have the address where they were rescued on their cage. There is everything from an old cat with no teeth at all to a mom with newborn kittens nursing away contentedly. The cats are handling the chaos better than I would have suspected; my fosters would have been hanging from the ceiling by their toenails at the noise. Most are pretty calm. We do have a few exciting moments transferring them from the carriers they arrive in to larger carriers or cages they will live in for now, but nothing gets away from us. I see a perfect seal point kitten, but she is owned and has already been claimed, relieving me of the urge to stuff her into my purse.

The cats keep on coming, unloaded from vans. We hunt for more places to put them. We stack carriers on top of each other. One rubenesque Tortie comes in with tags and a phone number. Miraculously, the number works. We're delighted, sure that Vickie's owners will be coming for her very soon.

I start working at 10:00 p.m.; feeding, cleaning, cleaning and feeding. Down one row of stalls I work. The next time I look up, it is 2:30 and some extra help has arrived, so the three of us who have been working the past hours go to get some rest. I walk past the horses and the dogs on my way to the car. Many of the horses are injured; antibiotic ointment decorates the scrapes and slashes on their sides and legs. The dogs look good for the most part, but there isn't enough help. Many lie in pools of urine. One volunteer comes up with a tiny shih-tzu type that she has just given a bath to after finding him marinating in his own pee. She asks me if I'm a volunteer. I feel bad telling her I'm here for the cats, but I can only do so much and there is so much to do.

There is an adorable Beagle puppy. I stop and put a note on her cage to say that if she is unclaimed or surrendered, I have a perfect adopter for her. The Beagle licks my fingers. I pet her and wish I could take her to sleep in the minivan with me. I know I can't, so I stand up and head off alone, hoping she is surrendered, and that she will wind up coming back with me to L.A. and a whole new life.

And I forgot to post this here...

But if you'd like to donate to Kitten Rescue to help fund this trip, and help the cats in general, it would be great! Here is the link for Paypal: http://www.kittenrescue.org/donate.htm

Almost to Gonzales after a long day...

Stopping at a Kinko's in Baton Rouge. The fact that I have had no cell phone service for at least the last 60 miles makes me suspicious of the claims that Gonzales has (a) cell reception and (b) wireless internet, so I decided to post while I still could in case I wind up disappearing for the rest of the week.

Here was today in a nutshell:

10:00 AM - on the road after breakfast

11:30 AM - Got a call from a rescuer named Darlene in Seattle. She was shipping a bunch of crates to Baton Rouge and wondering if I could pick them up. Of course I said I'd be happy to. She said they were in Houston now and she'd call me if they made Baton Rouge before I did.

I listen, alternately, to the liberal talk show hosts (who are blaming George Bush) and the conservative talk show hosts (who are blaming local government). It occurs to me that perhaps everybody ought to just shut up and pick up a shovel or something else useful, and bicker later.

As I get closer to Louisiana, the radio commercials change. Suddenly, every ad is for someone offering some kind of assistance to hurricane victims. In Los Angeles, people like to blame corporations for every evil on earth, but here all I am hearing is corporations offering assistance to those in need. One corporation is asking its employees to check in with them through the Internet or a phone number just to make sure they are all right.

On a more amusing note, one Porsche dealer proudly states that he is offering discounted repairs for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A bunch of gastroenterologists, irate over their dinged Carreras, is not exactly what most of us think of when we think of hurricane victims needing aid.

2:00 PM - Traveling through Louisiana. I know I am in the South when I stop for gas and they are selling crawfish in the gas station (live ones). Every gas station reeks of fried food. I search in vain for a healthy snack, but I can't find a baked Dorito to save my life. Finally, I go through a Burger King drive through in Natitoches. I order a veggie burger. It takes an inordinate amount of time to arrive. I picture the employee frantically rummaging in the back of the freezer because it's the first time someone has asked for one in six months.

3:00 - Another call from Darlene. The carriers are in Baton Rouge. We chat a bit. She used to live on 19th and Wilshire, and she has horses too. Small world...as usual.

4:30 - Stuck in traffic on the bridge leading to the airport, I see a woman driving a red truck with "ANIMAL RESCUE" proudly displayed on the side. The back is piled high with carriers, pet beds, and more. I try to give her a thumbs up but she is talking on her cell and not looking around.

5:10 - 8:00 - At the Baton Rouge airport, trying to pick up the carriers I was sent to get. They are lost somewhere between Houston and Baton Rouge. I chat with the employees. They finally take me in back and show me a mound of carriers and crates. "Nobody's come to get them," Howard tells me. I say that they are probably too busy caring for the animals. Howard decides to let me take a stack to Gonzales with me, regardless who they are addressed to. If anybody is reading this who's from the ASPCA, please go to the Baton Rouge airport and pick up the dozens of carriers addressed to you.

And now here I am at Kinko's. I will try to get online tomorrow but who knows? I should be in Gonzales in less than an hour, and then the real work begins.

Supply run and then on to Gonzales

I got a good night's sleep in Dallas last night, which I figured was the best plan as the next few nights are going to probably consist of sleeping in my rented minivan. The minivan is great; I should be able to put a bunch of carriers in it with no problem (as soon as I figure out how to lay the seats down flat - that would be my next project.) Then I'm hitting the road and planning on stopping at the next Wal-Mart I see to stock up on some of the supplies Gonzales needs, as well as a couple of carriers and the pillow and blanket I need to turn the minivan into a 4-wheeled hotel.

I have hundreds of e-mails. There are so many in need that it's hard to know where to start. A lot of people have my phone number. The stories now are not so much that people are still trapped with pets in flooded areas, but that people are trapped with pets and no transportation in rural areas with no way to get food for themselves or their animals. And the question is - if you find them, where do you take them? I'm told the Gonzales shelter is not accepting any more animals. Unless you're online, there's no good way to find out what to do next, and a lot of these stranded animals are in areas where there isn't even any cell phone reception.

Off to hit the road...will update as soon as I can.

All right, this is downright funny

My horoscope for today:

You're ready for a new direction -- a complete change of pace -- and fortunately, the stars want to accommodate you in every way possible. Think about planning a big trip -- and make sure your passport is up to date.

Preparing for my trip

Today is the last full day I will have in California. I fly out tomorrow to help with animal rescue at the site of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, on behalf of Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles (thanks, guys!). I have so much to do it's not funny and I'm wondering when I will get enough sleep to be ready for the week. Right now it's looking like that will be when I'm on the plane going down there.

The plan is to fly into Dallas, where I have a friend who's going to set me up with supplies and an SUV or minivan. I will then drive out to the Lamar Dixon Expo in Gonzales, Louisiana, a facility that is hosting thousands of dogs, cats, horses, and you-name-it.

Today I'm trying to make sure all the loose ends here are tied up. I have a petsitter coming in for my fosters and personal cats, but I have two elderly Burmese I have to deliver to someone who is kindly fostering them for me because they need subcutaneous fluids and force feeding. My horse is set - she's turned out and is fully cared for at Andrew's place. I work with Andrew's polo ponies, so my horse gets to live at the horse version of the Four Seasons - an immaculate barn where the horses eat the finest hay available and live like queens.

I have medical supplies to pick up to take with me. I will be taking the minimum as far as things for myself personally to save space. Once in Dallas, I'll be hitting Wal-Mart for more animal supplies, carriers, and the bare essentials to live in my rented car. I have been told to come prepared to live out of my car. Fortunately, I'm the kind of person who can sleep anywhere ... if I'm tired, I can crash on any horizontal space and with any level of noise going on around me. So, the plan is to stock the car with lots of drinking water, energy bars, dried fruit, other nonperishable foods, etc. Then, all I need is a pillow and I should be set for the week.

I'm amused at the people who are concerned that I am going alone. Twenty years ago, in my late teens, I hauled horses cross-country by myself, sleeping in my truck and showering at truck stops. Despite many dire predictions, I lived to tell the tale and I'm sure that a week from now, I'll be nothing worse than extremely tired. I do notice those 20 years at times...

It's a funny world. I'm waking up today in Malibu and two days from now I'm going to be in a place that looks like a war zone...90+ degrees, humid, swarming with mosquitoes, and full of more animals than they even have volunteers to feed, much less medicate. The image of that place is already in my head, and it's why I couldn't sit any longer in my comfortable office and think that sending money was going to be enough.