The five little terrier-mix dogs had been left behind on Galveston Island by their owner. Alone and frightened they watched as the storm surge began to rush into their home. As the water continued its relentless rise, they jumped to the top of a table and that’s where Houston SPCA rescue teams found them trembling and whimpering in fear. The high water mark was over their heads and our rescue teams knew in their hearts that these little dogs spent most of the night swimming for their lives. But they had a strong will to live and thanks to the Houston SPCA, they also have a second chance at life.

Houston SPCA rescue teams are in a race against time to safe innocent storm victims like these who were left behind on the Island to fend for themselves. Thousands of dogs, cats, horses, puppies and kittens, birds and other pets have found a safe haven at the Houston SPCA.

Sigh.

I have five dogs.

Four are what you might call “terrier mixes.”

The looong dog, standing on the leftmost corner of the table, kind of reminds me of Ralphie, our dachshund.

In fact, the whole group kind of resembles my pack. A bit scragglier, a bit scrappier, but…I can see it. Five little runts, just like my guys and girls. Five sweet, innocent, loyal, unconditionally loving little mutts. Five friends for life. Five reasons for living.

I can barely stand leaving them alone for a few hours: while I go to dinner, to the movies, or – dog forbid – out for the day.

Hell, I feel bad when I have to crate Kaylee in the bedroom while I take a shower in the next room.

So, how does one look at those sweet little faces…and leave them, alone, knowing full well that a hurricane is fast approaching? How?

And that’s not even to mention the creature who – presumably – was “living” in the cage next to the table.

I feel like I should clarify here that, yes, sometimes elderly, disabled, and impoverished animal guardians face obstacles in evacuating with their companions. Maybe that was the case here; maybe it wasn’t. After Katrina, the importance of preparing disaster response plans for both human and non-human animals alike became readily apparent. While the evacuation plans didn’t go off without a hitch in the face of Gustav and Ike, there were plans – not to mention plenty of forewarning.

This didn’t need to happen.

Our animal friends lost everything in the storm but hope.

Please check out the Disaster Relief section of this website to see what you can do to help the victims of Hurricane Gustav and Ike. I started accumulating disaster relief alerts and resources in the days after Katrina – and I continue to update and maintain the page(s) as a tribute to the thousands of animals that needlessly perished in Hurricane Katrina, as well as the many natural and man-made disasters since.

(Photo and excerpts from Houston SPCA’s “updates from the [Hurricane Ike] frontline”; post title lifted from this Kinship Circle alert.)

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts hurricane ike hurricane ike natural disaster disaster relief texas galveston pet companion animal dog canine my furbabies galveston island houston spca hspca flickr photos animal rescue

If you’d like to help, CNN has a list of resources to get your started.

Not surprisingly, CNN’s link roundup focuses on human relief organizations.* As we learned through Hurricane Katrina, however, animals are hard hit by natural disasters as well. I haven’t yet received any email notifications from international animal welfare organization regarding specific disaster relief efforts they hope to undertake in Myanmar.

But according to the WSPA’s website,

A veterinary team from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is on stand-by in Thailand awaiting entry authority to cyclone struck Myanmar to assess and then relieve the suffering of thousands of animals that human survivors depend on for food and their livelihoods.

WSPA is receiving daily updates from The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) while preparing its rapid assessment and response team.

Philip Russell MBE, WSPA’s Director of Disaster Management, said: “No one else, Governments, humanitarian NGOs or owners have the resources to care for these animals, most of which are owned by poor impoverished families. If those that survived die, so too will the livelihoods of thousands of people.” [...]

WSPA, supported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) will assess and respond to the needs of animals.

If you’d like to make a donation to help in these relief efforts, here are links to each of the three organizations’ disaster relief funds: WSPA, IFAW and the HSUS.

I tried searching for animal welfare/rescue groups based in Myanmar, but came up linkless. If anyone out there knows of a local group in need of aid, please let us know in the comments!

As always, if I come across any additional info, I will post it on the Disaster Relief section of the website.

* And the stats, too, completely omit any mention of non-human animals. Because property can’t be dead, missing or homeless, yo!

——————–

Tagged: burma myanmar cyclone disaster relief natural disasters emergency aid animals animal rights animal welfare

So here’s the transcript of the show I saw:

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And also here’s Vice President Dick Cheney apparently nodding off during a cabinet meeting as President Bush was being briefed about the California wildfires. A Cheney spokeswoman just laughed it off, saying quote, “the vice president is taking up meditation” — a funny response there, Wolf.

BLITZER: Very funny, indeed. All right, thanks very much, Brianna Keilar.

I’m starting to think that these talking heads yapyapyap not to actually report on any real news, but just because they like the sound of their own gums flapping in the vacuum they create. “Very funny indeed”? Did you even listen to your correspondent, Wolf? So not funny, is what that was.

——————————

Yawn.

BLITZER: We will get back to Southern California and the fires in a moment.

But, on our Political Ticker this Wednesday, the vice president, Dick Cheney, caught on videotape. The video was taken during a Cabinet meeting over at the White House today. The president was being briefed on the California wildfires. But check it out. Cheney appears appears — appears — to be nodding off, albeit briefly.

Wish I had the video to share, but alas, no luck.

This is actually transcript from the 4PM edition of the show; when I watched during the 7PM hour, Wolf also reported on Cheney’s secretary’s (?) reaction when a journalist pointed out Cheney’s seeming boredom at what has become a national disaster. (Paraphrasing, of course.)

He’s taken up meditation during meetings.

Ha-fucking-ha.

Really, is this their idea of a joke? A million people evacuated, 1,500 homes destroyed, 434,000 acres scorched, and you douchebags are making a funny out of Cheney’s inability to stay awake during a discussion of this very important issue?

And what really gets me is that she had a great out. Several, really. Cheney’s an old guy jacked up on who knows how many meds. Blame it on his age, blame it on the heart pills, heck, blame it on dick pills for all I care. Just don’t make a fucking joke out of what will for many people be the single worst week of their lives. That’s just evil.

Not that I should be surprised, though. Those fuckers don’t usually pretend to care, so at least they’re sticking to what they know best.

——————————

Tagged: dick cheney cheney fires wildfires the situation room asleep on the job california california wildfires

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Date: Aug 29, 2007 1:19 PM
Subject: When 2 Years Equal A Lifetime, AUGUST 2005-2007

Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Relief
Permission to crosspost as written

Hurricane Katrina, 8/29/05 – 8/29/07
When two years equal a lifetime

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/

Still Loved
Forever Missed
Never Again
By Our Side, Always

2005 GULF COAST Animal Disaster Aid – In Pictures & Words:

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/default05.html

PHOTO: Kinship Circle member Tim Gorski on the water in New Orleans with the Winn Dixie rescue effort in 9/05.

9/13/05, Excerpt From Early Kinship Circle Alert: In our search for Spike (the little Yorkie) we’ve learned about volunteers on the water who could save Spike and others — but they desperately need more boats!

The Jefferson Pet Feed & Garden Center is serving as a drop site for boats and has a triage center with a veterinarian. Please, if you can bring down boats — or know someone who can — call: Jefferson Pet Feed & Garden Center: 504-733-8572 (This number, like all in the area, may be hard to reach. Do not give up. They are there!)

Or, better yet, drive down with your boats now: 4421 Jefferson Highway (At Jefferson Hwy. and Central Avenue between Clearview and Causeway in Jefferson, Louisiana). Contact Sherry Woodbury: 818-645-7847

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/9_13_05.html

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9/16/05, Excerpt From SAVING SPIKE: A True Katrina Tale About Two Brendas And A Dog Named Spike: By the time New Orleans evacuee Brenda Johnson called begging me to find her dog Spike, I already knew him. He was the faceless puppy left behind. Now he had a name.

“Can you save our Spike? He’s a big Yorkshire Terrier, probably 15 pounds, left upstairs in our apartment on Roger Drive. We thought we’d be back in a couple of days. I’m sure he’s under my daughter’s bed, probably scared.”

I overheard children, an aunt, a niece and a brother from her crowded hotel room in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I also heard the crack in her voice. The Johnsons fled on Sunday at 2:00 a.m., just before Katrina struck.

…I got through to “boat people,” animal rescue groups, parish sheriffs, and ordinary citizens. On Brenda’s behalf, I granted permission to break down doors and shatter windows. But with each passing day, I wondered “Is tonight his last? Will the heat, starvation, or water finally take him?”

On September 16 — more than two weeks after the Johnsons evacuated — Brenda called me. “They found Spike. He is alive.” Brenda Johnson and Brenda Shoss screamed with joy for one full moment…

Spike is alive… This story is about love. It’s about saving Spike.

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/story_spike.html

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Sept/Oct 2005, GRASSROOTS EFFORT FOR ANIMALS OF THE STORM: Kinship Circle, a nonprofit animal advocacy organization, and Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), a nonprofit no-kill shelter, initiated a relief effort for the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina.

PHOTO: Tim Gorski

Grassroots Effort for Animals of the Storm mobilizes volunteers/supplies in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We send veterinarians, vet techs, rescuers, transport services, trained animal disaster relief workers, shelter/foster agencies and others to stricken communities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. ARF and Kinship Circle also manage a drop/distribution site for supplies. Items such as food, hay, cages, crates, veterinary meds, equipment, and much more are stored and circulated to storm areas. By October, the Kinship Circle/ARF alliance sent supplies to nearly 80 shelters and rescue missions in four storm states…

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/effort/mission-photoalbum1.html

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12/14/05, Excerpt From New Orleans Animals Need You — UPDATES FROM THE FIELD: A day of hope for the animals! Organizers Jane, Rob and Pia worked with a tireless team of ARNO volunteers to save 13 cats, 17 puppies, and 22 dogs. For one dog, the wait was finally over…

Over several days, this dog was marooned on a canal ledge inside a well, surviving on MREs the National Guard kindly tossed his way. After contemplating the best way to retrieve him, rescuers realized they’d need to descend into the well. But as Rob lowered a ladder down toward the dog, the terrified little guy panicked and jumped into the water. In a split second, Rob bolted in after him. Soon the dog was safely in Rob’s grasp and hauled up the ladder to dry ground.

We currently have over 3,000 locations in our database where animals have been reported hiding under porches and homes. Many are still out there. Around corners. In sewers. On ledges. In the woods. If not us, who will hear them? Please volunteer your time and heart for animals in New Orleans…

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/12_14_05.html

PHOTO: Original ARNO co-founders David Meyer, Pia Salk and Jane Garrison with Jessica Higgins and Eric Rice in NOLA.

PHOTO: (from Cadi Schiffer) The morning meetings at ARNO’s compound at Magazine and Felicity in NOLA.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

2006 GULF COAST Animal Disaster Aid – In Pictures & Words:

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/default06.html

3/1/06, Excerpt From Local Leaders Build Future For NOLA Animals:

VOLUNTEER FOR ARNO
Animal Rescue New Orleans, 504-571-1900; ar-no [at] cox.net

www.animalrescueneworleans.org

If you live near New Orleans or want to travel to New Orleans and to help, please consider volunteering for Animal Rescue New Orleans. The ARNO food water program is a network of volunteers who replenish cat and dog feeding station in Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish. Field feeders sustain abandoned animals stranded in the field and document their movements. This enables ARNO to coordinate trapping, rescue, and Trap-Neuter-Return efforts. Field data from food/water volunteers helps reunite pets with their people or place them in loving homes.

There are currently more than 4,000 feeding stations in the devastated areas of the parishes of Orleans, St Bernard and Plaquemines.

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/4_13_06.html#4

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/3_1_06.html

2007 — RESIDENT-RUN ARNO STILL NEEDS LOCAL/VISITING VOLUNTEERS

For Katrina-Related Animal Aid: www.animalrescueneworleans.org

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6/17/06, Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill Awaits Governor Blanco’s Signature: Louisiana’s Pet Evacuation Bill passed out of the House Appropriations Committee and successfully made its way through the legislative process. Rep. Steve Scalise wrote to Shannon Moore’s mother, Jennie Adams: “I appreciate your passion to pass this piece of legislation and agree that it will be very important to have a pet evacuation plan in place in the event that we need to have any evacuations in the future. That is also why I agreed to co-author this bill…”

Cathy Wells, wellsc [at] legis.state.la.us, writes: “We all know that if it was not for the emails, letters, and phone calls, the bill would not have had the success it does… I know Shannon is smiling.”

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/6_17_06.html#1

Shannon Moore, July 22, 1969 ~ May 31, 2006

PHOTO: Shannon petting a dog at Pet March Rally in Baton Rouge, LA.
photo: Todd Denson/La. Senate.

PHOTO: Shannon’s love.

www.flickr.com/photos/yepitsme770/sets/72157594155834244/

++++++++++++++++++++++++

2007 GULF COAST Animal Disaster Aid – In Pictures & Words:

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/default.html

February-March 2007, Excerpt From New Orleans Now – A Place Between Hope And Despair: From February 16-22, 2007, Kinship Circle traveled to New Orleans to aid Katrina affected animals… A wheat-colored dog races toward our vehicle at 1400 Montegut and N. Villere Street. A curious Shepherd mix follows. Behind them, a graying man in rumpled shirt and jeans approaches. He wants to talk. It’s been nearly two years since Hurricane Katrina leveled his Chalmette, Louisiana home.

He lives in a makeshift room in his commercial warehouse in the Upper Ninth Ward. When Louisiana State Police tried to evacuate him after Katrina, the man refused to desert Buddy and Baby Girl.

“I have no wife, no children,” he explains. “These dogs are my family.”

PHOTO: Kinship Circle, Ninth Ward, New Orleans

An officer aimed his gun at Baby Girl, forcing the man to leave or watch his dog die. He quickly confined both dogs to an upper level, with self-dispensing food and water. Floodwaters rose eight feet beneath the dogs. But the man managed to sneak back into the city to retrieve them. “We still live in this ‘temporary’ warehouse apartment,” he confides. “The insurance company I had for 18 years didn’t come through for us.”

As Katrina’s two-year anniversary nears, Gulf Coast recovery progresses unhurriedly. Rejuvenation of infrastructure, debris pileup, demolished structures, levees and wetlands remains tangled in red tape.

In the Ninth Ward west, where Katrina’s wrath seems frozen in empty doorsteps and board-covered windows, occasional new homes rise from rubble. Two black cats dart between dilapidated buildings and overgrown lawns…

www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/nola_now.html

PHOTO: Kinship Circle, by Barb Dunsmore in Upper 9th Ward

###############################

8/29/07, Forwarded By Karen O’Toole, Cougy [at] aol.com — I have my candles on as a memorial to all pets who died there, or were later killed in the overcrowded system where they found no homes to take them in. Or they’re still searching for their owners. And poor owners still searching for them.

This came regarding a Katrina owner recently. My candle is on for Joffee and all the others like him, and their lost families.

Greetings Everyone! It’s Joffee the Pomeranian’s 12th birthday today but unfortunately he still hasn’t been found. If anyone has any perspectives or ideas or information, please contact me anytime! Tara, his owner, has never given up hoping and searching and we know he is out there! So while you’re scanning the web, keep a big eye out for him okay. I know he wants to get home to Tara, but just doesn’t know how! Thanks, Natalie, nataliehornsby [at] comcast.net

602-549-1115 * www.karenotoole.org/
karensrescuelist [at] yahoogroups.com

###############################

Still Loved
Forever Missed
Never Again
By Our Side, Always

Hurricane Katrina, 8/29/05 – 8/29/07
When two years equal a lifetime

*******************************

Action Campaigns I Literature I Voice For Animals
Nonprofit working in animal protection/cruelty + animal disaster relief campaigns
info [at] kinshipcircle.org or kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
www.KinshipCircle.org * www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/

*******************************

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* Kindly do NOT use your junk mail filter.
* Select a Kinship Circle ALERT received in your mailbox.
* Hit “FORWARD”
* Enter kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net and send. [Type UNSUBSCRIBE in your subject line].
* Make sure the “To” line from our original alert is in your email, LIKE THIS:
—–Original Message—–
From: Kinship Circle
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 11:34 AM
To: 7. KINSHIP CIRLE Animal Disaster Relief List
Subject: [GULF COAST] Volunteers Still Needed in New Orleans

*******************************

SUBSCRIBE
INDICATE WHICH OF 2 LISTS TO SUBSCRIBE YOU TO:

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Action campaigns on animal cruelty issues worldwide
TELL US: SUBSCRIBE TO KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY

2. Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Relief: kinshipcircle [at] accessus.net
Animal rescue coordination/news in disasters + companion animal alerts
TELL US: SUBSCRIBE TO KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER RELIEF
IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida or Texas

*******************************

Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Relief Focus

1. GULF COAST: Once monthly e-newsletters witth news, needs, stories…related to hurricane-affected animals in the Gulf Coast.
Newsletters to continue as long as needed.

2. RELIEF GLOBAL: E-newsletters/alerts about animals in disasters as they unfold — tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, fires, war zones, pet food recall…

3. ACTION CAMPAIGNS: Sample-letter alerts about

* Animal Protection Legislation
* Companion Animal Issues
* Animal Abuse Cases

**Only Kinship Circle Primary (a separate list) regularly posts action campaigns on cruelty issues worldwide, including animals in entertainment, research, fur trade, agribusiness, wildlife, companion animals…

———————–

Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts kinship circle brenda shoss hurricane katrina hurricane katrina natural disaster nola new orleans louisiana gulf coast animal rescue animal adoption pet companion animal dog canine cat feline feral cats feral dogs spay neuter donate volunteer anniversary retrospective Animal Rescue Foundation ARF David Meyer Pia Salk Jane Garrison Jessica Higgins Eric Rice ARNO animal rescue new orleans flickr photos tnr Trap-Neuter-Return Shannon Moore Louisiana Pet Evacuation Bill police state ninth ward recovery

Originally posted @ www.kellygarbato.com/blog/2007-08-30-2/
Filed under: Animals, Current Events, Hurricane Katrina — Kelly @ August 30, 2007 6:54 pm

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to bring them home until the end of September. Next week we leave for NY – again – and will be away for a few weeks. Shane’s sis is getting married, and then a week later my little bro heads to Texas for boot camp (the Air Force). Not exactly a trip we can postpone. The 18-hour drive is stressful enough without mixing in two brand new canines, which will then have to room with my parents’ two dogs and cats while Shane & I skip town for a few days for the nuptials (which I hear will involve plenty of gawd-talk – oh my!).

So Gracie and Penelope (soon to be renamed Kaylee and Jayne, Kaylee and Katrina, or Kaylee and Selena…it’s still up in the air) will have to stay with their foster mom until then. The unfortunate part is that foster mommy cares for more animals than we realized, and houses many in a rented kennel, rotating which furbabies she takes home with her every night. So, I feel like quite the guilty “mother” right now. The thought of “my” girls sleeping on a cold concrete slab is too much to bear. Hell, the thought of any dog living like that kills me. People suck.

Anyway, to the Katrina links. Maybe I’ll get to writing a few more in-depth posts regarding some of these articles, maybe not. Either way, check ‘em out.

Mother Jones: After Katrina (8/28/06)

An index of MoJo’s Katrina coverage from August through October 2005.

Grist Magazine: Life After Katrina: A new exhibit lets New Orleans residents tell their own stories (8/29/06)

Exactly what it sounds like.

Nola.com: How an amphibious bus never made it to Katrina (8/24/06)

The basic premise: A would-be do-gooder offers our Dear Leaders the services of his ‘unsinkable bus’ in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Actually, he offers the services of a whole fleet of unsinkable buses, stationed ’round the country. You see, as the ‘inventor and fabricator’ of said bus, he rallies his customers (via the internets) to action. Many answer his call and volunteer to lend their $225,000 Hydra Terras to the rescue effort, free of charge. Sadly, while the buses could overcome Hurricane Katrina, they couldn’t bust their way through all that sticky red tape.

Snopes.com: Crushed Hopes (7/1/06)

The urban legend: The mayor of New Orleans turned down an offer for the city to make $5 million on the removal of vehicles wrecked by Hurricane Katrina and instead opted for plan that would have cost the city $23 million.

Status: (…wait for it!…) True

Another ‘crushing’ example of government incompetence. Seriously, guys, it just isn’t funny anymore.

ABC News: Exclusive: Whistleblowers Say State Farm Cheated Katrina Victims (8/28/06)

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Policy disputes stall post-Katrina rebuilding (8/27/06)

Business & Media Institute: Unhappy Anniversary: Katrina Insurance Battle Continues (8/23/06)

Three of many news reports regarding Katrina survivors’ disputes with their insurance companies. The last is written from the point of view of Big Business, so expect plenty of crocodile tears.

SFGate: Bush spends a day, Katrina lingers on; President alternately hopeful, aware that problems still exist as he tours devastated Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast (8/29/06)

The NY Times: Year After Katrina, Bush Still Fights for 9/11 Image (8/28/06)

Bitch, please. You use the anniversary as a shameless (and rather transparent) PR ploy – even seeking out the one N.O. resident who doesn’t (yet) think that you’re a total douchebag – and then you wonder why Americans are so fed up with your sorry ass? You should be thanking Jeebus that you haven’t been impeached. Yet.

Really, what a waste of life.

The NY Times: Outlines Emerge for a Shaken New Orleans (8/26/06)

A look at N.O. one year later, with an emphasis on the disparate progress in different areas of the city. If you can still get to it, the page also links to some excellent multimedia features.

Mikhaela’s The Boiling Point: Roving Reporter: Katrina Losses

Cartoonist Mikhaela Blake Reid sums it up:

So say you’re a crapbag excuse for a president who was playing air guitar and eating birthday cake while thousands of people drowned, many of them black and poor. And say you didn’t really do a heckuva a job getting them jobs or rebuilding their homes. And say it’s a year later, and you want to reach out to them and show them you care, you understand, you really understand? How do you express your loss to all these (largely black and poor) victims?

By talking about how much you miss Senator Trent Lott’s porch. You know, the Senator who had to step down as majority leader because he longed for the days of Strom Thurmond, segregation and lynching? [...]

Because nothing says “I feel your pain” like longing for racist lemonade. Meanwhile Lott is sitting pretty in the Senate and living in his other house, while Katrina’s real victims are stuck in trailers.

I haven’t yet found the perfect Garbato baby picture for Bush’s latest ‘woe is Lott’ quote, so humor me while I share a classic Katrina Bushism:

After all this, I ask you: President Bush: douchebag or World’s Biggest Douchebag?

Originally posted @ www.kellygarbato.com/blog/2006-09-04b/
Filed under: Current Events, Heap o’ Headlines, Your Featherhead’s Furbabies, Hurricane Katrina — Kelly @ September 4, 2006 11:30 pm

Hurricane Katrina was the third-deadliest storm in U.S. history. In hours, it transformed New Orleans from a multicultural mecca of 485,000 into a Third World city, and created the “biggest refugee crisis since the American Civil War.” A year after the fact, I’m still horrified by the images borne of Katrina. It’s a scene you’d expect to see in Sudan, maybe, or perhaps India. Not in a developed nation, a world superpower.* Not here. Surely not in 21st century America.

Gross negligence and utter incompetence at all levels of government – local, state, and federal – helped transform Katrina from a destructive force of nature into the shame of a nation. Evacuation efforts were long overdue and woefully deficient. While a city drowned, our FEMA director set dinner dates, mulled his media appearances, and admired his Godly wardrobe. While a city drowned, our Dear Leader talked Medicare, strummed a gui-tar, and had him some cake. While a city drowned, 20,000 residents packed the Superdome, the “refuge of last resort.” While a city drowned, evacuees were given an impossible ultimatum: leave the city without your animals – or don’t leave at all.

In the chaos of last-ditch mandatory evacuations and rising floodwaters, tens of thousands of companions animals were left to fend for themselves. Some never had a chance: cats trapped in crates and dogs tied to fences drowned, alone. We’ll probably never know how many animals perished in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Louisiana SPCA estimates that 15,000 companion animals were rescued in the months after the storm. The lucky ones – 20%, at most – have been reunited with their families. Others found new homes, scattered across the nation. A significant number sit in foster homes and shelters, waiting for their new lives to begin. On this one-year anniversary of Katrina’s landfall, hundreds of stray and abandoned dogs and cats still roam the streets of New Orleans.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Concern for animals does not negate one’s concern for humans, no more so than does recognizing the equality of women to men lessen the lot of males. Rather, the recognition of the intrinsic worth of all beings elevates our moral status. By protecting and caring for the most vulnerable among us – children, the poor, the mentally ill, the elderly – we’re showing our humanity. It’s easy to make a beneficiary of one who is (or will some day become) your benefactor; harder still to extend your circle of compassion to the weak, the vulnerable, the powerless. And there is no group more vulnerable than non-human animals.

They are our guardians, our protectors, our confidants. Our friends and companions. For many, they are family.

Yet, more than any other disenfranchised group, animals were tossed aside like so much property. Along with bikes and toaster ovens and television sets, they were left to Hurricane Katrina. They were sacrificed so that their “owners” might live.

To anyone who’s ever loved an animal, it’s a foolish proposition: either abandon your animal, or die with him. Many New Orleanians chose to stay. Perhaps Katrina’s death toll would not have been so devastating had people been allowed to evacuate with their “pets.” Besides, it’s not as if the Snowballs of New Orleans would have taken seats that otherwise would have gone to human evacuees. No, there’s no excuse for our government’s cruel and inhumane “no pets” policy. To abandon an animal in any other situation is a crime; in the state of Louisiana, such neglect is considered cruelty to animals, punishable by up to six months in jail. Yet, for the United States government, it is a matter of policy.

Almost a year after Katrina, and shortly before the passage of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, evacuees were again forced by the US government to leave their animals behind. The setting: the war zone of the Israeli/Lebanese border. Though other nations allowed their citizens to flee the bombing with their beloved animals, Americans were told to leave their furry family members behind. To this. Clearly, talk about “lessons learned from Katrina” is so much lip service. Our politicians** have learned nothing.

If it’s true that “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” – and I believe it is – then the US has a long road to travel before we can rightly call ourselves a “civilized”, “developed” nation.

———-

On this anniversary of Katrina, I’ll be spending the day with my four furry “children,” tossing the tennis ball, tugging on a knotted sock, maybe reading in the North field while the red one digs for moles. In the months after the storm, Shane and I volunteered to foster a few displaced animals, but Best Friends never took us up on the offer. I suppose two open spots in Kansas wasn’t terribly helpful. If our landlords allow it, though, we’d love to open our home – and our hearts – to one or two dogs, permanently. Every adopted animal opens up another spot; maybe for a Katrina survivor, maybe not. It doesn’t matter to me either way – even your run-of-the-mill abandoned, abused, and neglected strays need a family of their own.

And hey, if they say no, the least we can do is donate the money we’ve budgeted for adoptions fees and rental deposits to a Gulf Coast animal rescue group. Or two or three.

It’s time for me to wrestle up some sloppy wet kisses from my animals. If you’d like to make a donation of time, money, or supplies, skip to the end of this post for a list of candidates. Otherwise, read on.

———-

* This isn’t to suggest, of course, that such a tragedy is acceptable when it happens to The Other. Suffering is suffering. Rather, the failure of our government to protect its own citizens is, well, shocking. And disillusive. Shockingly disillusive. I’d never call myself an optimist, but even I was taken aback by the massive failure of our politicians in the face of Katrina. How are we supposed to help other, less fortunate countries when we can’t even protect our own from a foreseeable disaster? Clearly, we can’t, as evidenced by the current mess in the Middle East.

** Democrats and Republicans alike, because speciesism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and “ism” in general, are all non-partisan failings.
 
 
 
Hurricane Katrina: In Pictures
 

Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005, 1:00 PM EDT.
 
 

August 29, 2005 – Aerial of a flooded N.O. neighborhood.
 
 

August 29, 2005 – President George W. Bush joins Arizona Senator John McCain in a small celebration of McCain’s 69th birthday, after the President’s arrival at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. The President later spoke about Medicare to 400 guests at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in nearby El Mirage. *
 
 

August 30, 2005 – Stranded.
 
 

August 30, 2005 – Our Dear Leader.
 
 

August 30, 2005 – The American Flag remains in front of a home flooded by Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is being evacuated as a result of floods caused by Hurricane Katrina.
 
 

August 31, 2005 – Three dogs waited for rescue in Pass Christian, Mississippi, one day after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast town. The dogs were later saved by a local police officer.
 
 

September 2, 2005 – A fire burns in the distance in a neighborhood impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
 
 

September 3, 2005 – A dog swims through flood waters in a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Katrina.
 
 

September 3, 2005 – Surrounded by litter left by refugees, a dog remained tied to the railing of a highway ramp in New Orleans six days after Hurricane Katrina. Like many of the city’s newly stranded pets, the dog may have been refused passage by rescuers as they evacuated its owners.
 
 

September 3, 2005 – A giant message board helps people locate friends and loved ones at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas.
 
 

September 4, 2005 – This man refused to evacuate the French Quarter because nobody would let him take his 40 chickens into the shelters. New Orleans is being evacuated as a result of flooding from hurricane Katrina and is still 60% under water.
 
 

September 4, 2005 – A lost pet receives care from the V-MAT at New Orleans airport where FEMA’s D-MATs have set up operations.
 
 

September 5, 2005 – People who were trapped in their attics by floodwaters had to kick out the windows in order to escape and call for help.
 
 

September 5, 2005 – FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force members and local rescue workers and US Coast Guard, search for residents in neighborhoods impacted by Hurricane Katrina. **
 
 

September 5, 2005 – This part of Slidell was flattened by Hurricane Katrina.
 
 

September 6, 2005 – Near New Orleans, a small oil-slickened dog was seen wandering in Chalmette, Louisiana, as cleanup crews recovered oil from a ruptured refinery tank. Tens of thousands of barrels of oil had spilled and mixed with receding floodwater from Hurricane Katrina.
 
 

September 8, 2005 – A pig and a dog displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
 
 

September 8, 2005 – Some residents were convinced by troops to evacuate ten days after hurricane Katrina. ***
 
 

September 8, 2005 – Stray dogs found in areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina are placed in carriers to be brought to a main location by the humane society. The FEMA Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams are helping out.
 
 

September 9, 2005 – Many animals lost during Hurricane Katrina were taken here to the Lamar Dixon Expo Center where they will be looked after by veterinarians. Hundreds of lost dogs are among the animals sheltered here, and many need medical attention. Every attempt will be made to locate the owners before they are adopted out.
 
 

September 10, 2005 – Rescued animals from New Orleans arrive at New Orleans airport where FEMA’s DMATs have set up operations.
 
 

September 16, 2005 – This neighborhood remains flooded two weeks after the storm came through. The foul smelling flood water is contaminated with petrol chemicals, house hold chemicals and biological hazards.
 
 

September 16, 2005 – Roy Krueger from the “Missouri Boon County Urban Search & Rescue Task Force 1″ rescued this kitten from an empty house. It’s now on the way to animal rescue.
 
 

September 17, 2005 – FEMA Urban Search and Rescue workers wait in line with their rescue dogs to see a veterinarian that has come to do checkups on dogs going into areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina. ****
 
 

September 18, 2005 – Damage to homes and property in Lower 9th Ward due to Hurricane Katrina. Markings on house were from the Search and Rescue teams searching for survivors following the storm – the date searched, time, who the search party was, survivors found and animals still in the house.
 
 

September 2005
 
 

February 10, 2006 – Former FEMA Director Michael Brown testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. *****
 
 

February 19, 2006 – Members of Best Friends Rescue join the parade down Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras with some of the animals abandoned and rescued from Hurricane Katrina. This organization rescued about 4,000 animals. Hundreds were reunited with their families and most of the rest placed in foster/adoption homes and in the care of humane groups around the country.
 
 

May 26, 2006 – True or False: It is not possible that anyone could be still looking for a pet at this point in New Orleans, eight months after Hurricane Katrina. “Bigtime FALSE!”, says Pee Wee, who was recently reunited with the Pelas family…
 
 

June 25, 2006 – Dark Water Rising: The Truth About Hurricane Katrina Animal Rescues, available through Amazon.com.
 
 

July 25, 2006 – Not Left Behind: Rescuing the Pets of New Orleans, available from Best Friends Animal Society.
 
 

August 22, 2006 – A note left behind by residents, is seen pinned on the wall of a house destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, next to a portrait of Jesus, in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
 
 

August 24, 2006 – As you can see from this recent screenshot, animal rescue efforts are still underway in the Gulf Coast – nearly one year after Hurricane Katrina hit. Local groups were devastated; Hurricane Katrina destroyed many of their facilities, and left them with thousands of abandoned and orphaned animals to care for. If you can, please consider donating your time or money to an animal rescue group such as Animal Rescue New Orleans or the Louisiana SPCA today.
 
 

August 24, 2006 – From the beginning, Kinship Circle (led by Brenda Shoss) was one of the go-to sources for Katrina-related animal rescue info. A year later, and their work is far from over. To learn what you can do, please visit their Hurricane Katrina resource page, and be sure to download their Animal Rescue New Orleans Disaster Relief Manual (.pdf). At the very least, print out a full-size image of one or more of their Katrina posters and hang it in your library, community center, college dorm – you get the idea.
 
 

August 28, 2006 – Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster, available from Amazon.com.

———-

* Gives the phrase “Let them eat cake!” a whole new meaning, dontcha think?

** This photo is one of three nearly identical shots on FEMA’s site. The captions on each are identical, and none mentions the stranded canines. I wonder if the poor guys were rescued, or left for dead? Quite telling that the caption-writer didn’t think that this was an important question to address.

*** Full FEMA caption:

“Some residents were convinced by troops to evacuate ten days after hurricane Katrina. They have been here without electricity or tap water. New Orleans is being evacuated due to flooding by hurricane Katrina.”

Well, you douchebags, if you had allowed residents to evacuate with their pets, this man probably could have been “convinced” to leave ten days ago. How disingenuous – can we say “blaming the victim”?

**** The FEMA photos of working dogs are especially egregious. After refusing safe passage to thousands of companion animals, our government has the stones to send search and rescue canines into areas “contaminated with petrol chemicals, house hold chemicals and biological hazards,” thus putting their health in danger. Given our lack of consideration for non-human animals, where the fuck do we (as in the collective “we”) get off, making such huge demands on them?

***** Michael Brown, Fashion God.

****** My entire Hurricane Katrina photoset can be viewed here: www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/sets/72157594242443232/
 
 
 
Hurricane Katrina: In Pictures (Commentary)

With few exceptions, the above pictures were taken directly from FEMA’s web site. As I browsed through the thousands of Katrina-related photos, two facts became glaringly evident.

First, Katrina’s animal victims were almost completely missing from the picture: not only were there very few photos of abandoned and/or rescued companion animals, but the captions on these photos told little, if anything, of their fate. Of those pictures that featured an animal of some sort, a significant portion either 1) included a human, who was the primary subject of the photo, or 2) depicted a working animal (for example, canines involved with the search and rescue teams or, less commonly, police horses), not an animal victim of Katrina. Given the government’s failure to consider non-human animals during their (half-assed) evacuation efforts, this is hardly surprising. Just as FEMA officials didn’t give two shits about animals before, during, or after the crisis, neither did FEMA-sponsored photogs. (As an interesting side note, almost all of the animal photography is credited to the same few photographers; whether this is a consequence of the photographers’ assignment or interest, I have no idea, but it makes for an engaging topic for follow-up.)

Secondly, FEMA’s photography – particularly their more recent photos – paints an overly-rosy picture of the Gulf Coast. Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they’ve whitewashed the tragedy, they do seem to feature an overabundance of positive photography – that is, pictures and captions that highlight the success of rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of the storm, and speak to a Pollyannaish view of reconstruction efforts to date. Clearly, there are plenty of grim pictures: boats of refugees, elderly residents evacuated from homes surrounded by floodwaters, stray animals roaming the streets. Many of these are shown in the above selection. Yet, the most negative pictures I posted – particularly those involving animals – I’ve gathered from other sources. Some images that I found were simply too disturbing for me to include. Bloated human corpses floating among debris. Dogs feeding on their deceased owners. Stray pets with chemical burns. “Backyard dogs” who were strangled on their tethers when Katrina hit. No, you won’t find any of that on FEMA’s website. And the view from WhiteHouse.gov is simply conspiratorial.

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”

(With no disrespect meant to real sheep and wolves, of course. I don’t want to stereotype or anything.)

This November, take the images of Katrina to the polling booth with you. A change of leadership is long overdue.
 
 
 
Hurricane Katrina: ‘Round the Net

Luckily – and bear with me while I toss out yet another quote – the truth is out there. If you’d like to browse through more Katrina photography – pre-, mid-, and post-Katrina, there are plenty of citizen-journalists willing to oblige.
 
Here are just a few web sites and/or online collections that caught my attention:

Photos from Katrina

Katrina Underground

Hurricane Digital Memory Bank

City Pages: New Orleans – Survivor Stories

NOLA.com: Flash Flood

ABC News: Katrina Devastation – One Year Later

The Psychotic Patriot: What Do You Remember About Katrina?

WaterThread: Katrina – The Gathering
 
Additionally, online photo-sharing sites have become a great tool for animal rescue groups. The following individuals and groups on Flickr are dedicated to animal (and human) aid in the Gulf Coast:

Yepitsme770 (59,589 photos and counting)

Spirits Mom (22,903+ photos uploaded)

Operation Bring Animals Home (a grassroots search and rescue group)

Signs of Life Book (a group to which members could donate photos to be used in a Katrina-related eBook)

Katrina Relief Auction (a pool to which members donated photographs, which were then auctioned off to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity, The United Way, The Americares Foundation, and The Humane Society of the United States; now closed)

Hurricane Katrina (a pool of over 4,854 photos)

Katrina 2005 (a smaller pool of 885+ Katrina images)

New Orleans (a group dedicated to shots of NO)
 
 
 
Hurricane Katrina: Lending Support

It seems fitting to conclude this post with a list of resources for those of you who’d like to donate your time and/or money to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Because animals are my thing, it’s only natural that I focus on animal rescue organizations.

“Caring about innocent animals caught in Katrina’s wrath doesn’t diminish human suffering. It makes us human.”
 
Groups Involved in the Rescue Effort

American Humane Association

www.americanhumane.org/

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

www.aspca.org/

Animal Rescue New Orleans

www.AnimalRescueNewOrleans.com

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

www.bestfriends.org/

Dogs Deserve Better

www.dogsdeservebetter.org/katrina.html

Houston SPCA

www.spcahouston.org/

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

www.hsus.org/

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

www.ifaw.org/

Kinship Circle

www.kinshipcircle.org/

Louisiana SPCA

www.la-spca.org/

Noah’s Wish

www.noahswish.org/

Psychology Volunteers for New Orleans Animals and Their People

www.psychologyvolunteers4animals.info/

United Animal Nations (EARS)

www.uan.org/

(In other disaster-related news, many of the above groups are also involved in current animal rescue efforts in the Middle East, should you prefer to make a donation benefiting animals overseas. On the other hand, if you’d like to support an indigenous animal rescue organization, Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA) and Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) are both good choices.)
 
Additional Resources

My archive of Katrina alerts (on KellyGarbato.com; dates back to August 2005)

www.kellygarbato.com/katrina

My archive of Katrina alerts (on easyVegan.info; dates back to June 2006)

www.easyvegan.info/category/natural-disasters/

Best Friends Network: Hurricane Relief Community

network.bestfriends.org/hurricane/news/

Kinship Circle: Help for Katrina’s Forgotten Victims

www.kinshipcircle.org/katrina/katrina.html

Pet Finder: Hurricane Katrina Animal News

www.petfinder.com/disaster/

PETA’s Helping Animals.com: Rescuing Katrina’s Forgotten Victims

www.helpinganimals.com/f-katrina.asp

Unconditional Friends: The Pets of Katrina, One Year Later

www.unconditionalfriends.com/

The Carnival of Hurricane Relief

www.cehwiedel.com/cohr/

 
 
As always, feel free to share your comments / questions / resources below.
 
 
Note: Speciesist and otherwise trollish comments will be summarily deleted. Today, especially, I’m in no mood to tolerate the bs.

(Crossposted at easyVegan.info and spb.)

Originally posted @ www.kellygarbato.com/blog/2006-08-29b/
Filed under: Animals, Current Events, Photo Blogging, Hurricane Katrina — Kelly @ August 29, 2006 2:32 pm

The Sun Herald has some of the highlights:

If Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff should take charge during the next crisis:

“I don’t think it would be a good thing. Chertoff is a bright man, but he’s an appellate judge. He tends to manage the way you do court decisions: ‘Put the brief in front of me and I’ll make a decision.’ You need more of a strategic point of view. You need dynamism, leadership and a plan.”

Let me guess, Mike – you had all three? Such a shame they let you resign!

His reaction to Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor’s statement on Brown’s inability to relate to the devastation and loss people experienced from the hurricane:

“That congressman, that little twerp, said I didn’t understand suffering. He said I didn’t understand the death and suffering that was going on. As I told him, I’ve seen death and suffering. I’ve smelled death. I smelled death in the tsunami. I know what it’s like to lose close friends in disasters. You don’t know how many people I’ve hugged as FEMA director – rich people, poor people, all ethnicities, people who lost everything. People who didn’t think it was going to happen to them. For that little twerp to claim I didn’t understand death and suffering – he can just bite me, for all I care.”

He’ll have to get in line, Brownie. I’m sure half of NO would love to tear you a new one (that’s the pre-Katrina population, you douchebag). Even if they have to do it with bared teeth. Methinks even your bloated-with-his-own-sense-of-self-worth body parts are less toxic than the floodwater your victims had to tread while waiting for help to arrive.

On Bush’s statement “No one anticipated the breach of the levees:”

“He doesn’t have an incredible command of the English language. Maybe he meant ‘None of us really wanted this to happen.’ My friends in the Republican Party-the bullies-jumped all over Clinton about parsing words. Now the president was parsing words. ‘Are the levees going to break?’ ‘Are they going to top?’ Who cares? We are going to have flooding in New Orleans, and we knew New Orleans was a fishbowl.”

Ah, yes, bring it back to Clinton. Because getting a little head is way worse than sitting idly by while thousands of your country’s citizens are deluged by a foreseeable Category 5 hurricane.

On the thought of quitting:

“In the middle of the disaster I thought about quitting – after the first few days. But then I thought, ‘People are dying, people are suffering; I can’t leave.’ It was a no-win situation. So I truly had to be the scapegoat.”

Uh, yeah, because you were so helpful, Mike, so fucking instrumental to the evacuation efforts, it would have just been devastating for you to quit.

Wait, wait, wait. I’m getting a strange sense of déjà vu. A la 1985. You know, when Val Kilmer was still hawt:

Mom? Mom, are you there?
Baby, you sound upset. What’s wrong?
Mom, I don’t like it here anymore. I want to come home and live with you.
It’s not for you to like. It’s for you to do. You’re fifteen years old now…
But I want to come home and live with you!
You want to live with me and Daddy?
Yeah, and dad too. I want to go back to high school…
Dad’s rented out your room.
You rented out my room? Mom, to who!?
You remember Mr. Efferet. He’s the plumber.
Well can’t Mr. Efferet and I share it? Mom, I don’t want to stay here anymore!
Now Mitchie! That doesn’t sound like Mama’s little soldier.

Ahem.

On the controversial release of his e-mails:

“I was pissed off because every one of those e-mails was taken out of context. I must have had 100,000 e-mails, and they selectively released ones that made me look bad. Do you remember the famous one about being a fashion god?”

Oh yeah, we remember, Mitchie Mikey baby.

On coming out to clear his name:

“I’m a fighter and I believe I’m right. When I lost my job and everyone was piling on, my wife and a couple of good friends said to me, ‘We know you’re down in the dumps now, but you’re going to be judged by history for two things: whether you respond to this in a dignified way and whether you do it at the right time.’ I made the determination to bide my time and, when the time was right, to come out fighting. The time has come.”

Just like Mama’s FEMA’s Little Soldier.

Originally posted @ www.kellygarbato.com/blog/2006-08-27/
Filed under: Current Events, Hurricane Katrina — Kelly @ August 27, 2006 11:52 pm

Jazz Funeral for Pets Lost to Katrina
New Orleans holds jazz funeral, memorial service for pets lost to Hurricane Katrina

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 21, 2006
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press Writer

Some came to the jazz funeral memorial march with photographs of pets lost in Hurricane Katrina’s floods or aftermath. Others came with just their memories.

Earl Madona and his fiancee, Maggie Smith, brought a giant dog mask and two stuffed animals to symbolize their three dogs, two of them lost in the floodwaters.

They were among about 100 people who gathered Sunday night on the Esplanade Street median for a 10-block walk to a memorial service at St. Anna’s Episcopal Church. Some marched with their dogs.

“It’s just a nice way to pay tribute to all those that were lost so horribly, you know, all those that suffered,” said Gail Langos, who was walking with her dachshunds, Merlin and Muffin. [...]

Before the march began Sunday, the Rev. Bill Terry of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church spoke briefly with members of the Treme Brass Band. “You know what to do,” he told them. “You’ve done it a million times before.”

Later, he told the crowd: “We’re New Orleans. This is how we mourn.”

Jazz funeral marches traditionally start with a dirge for the mourners’ sorrow, then move into an uptempo celebration of the loved one’s life and salvation.

This time, the march stepped off to a slow rendition of “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.”

There was a bit of silence. The drums rattled briskly, and the band swung into “Just a Little While to Stay Here.”

Originally posted @ www.kellygarbato.com/blog/2006-08-21/
Filed under: Animals, Current Events, Hurricane Katrina — Kelly @ August 21, 2006 9:49 pm