Trailer Park Rescue
Where are all the animals still trapped you wonder?
Lacey and I stumbled on this trailer park during our second rescue trip to NOLA. We were out trapping/rescuing for ARNO when we came across this badly devastated trailer park. At this location, we were able to rescue 4 cats. Dusk was falling as we were leaving and a pack of dogs showed up as well.
The destruction in places like this is so bad that owners can not return, and as a result, there is no one in this neighborhood to feed and water the animals on a regular basis. When this area is bulldozed, these animals will lose their home. In addition, since most animals have not been spayed or neutered, the dogs and cats that live here are likely breeding new pups and kitties and causing the problem to grow exponentially.
Think of this when you're reading the words of Wayne Pacelle at the Humane Society (HSUS) or hearing the denials of LASPCA that the problem is not a big one. Their denials and head turning continue to exacerbate the problem and make the lives of independent rescue groups more difficult.
So next time you're planning to donate to HSUS or SPCA, remember where they were when the chips were down...unavailable for comment or rationalizing their shut down of operations months before the problem was truly under control.
And then ask yourself why federal money (Congress) did NOTHING to help animals during this horrible disaster. Can someone please define "civilized" society to me?
posted by CAT at 7:33 PM
2 Comments:
I think so many people falsely believe that the "Katrina animal problem" has been solved. They saw all those pictures of skinny dogs being taken off rooftops, transported to Slidell or Gonzales, then happily flying off to welcoming shelters across the country where they would be either reunited with their owners or adopted by loving new families.
From what I've seen from my volunteering with my local Humane Society (a large and well-funded organization) and from talking with friends who actually volunteered at the shelter in Gonzales, these happy endings are far from the reality. The chaos and disorganization at the emergency shelters led to animals being poorly tracked, and disappearing paperwork that contained vital information was frequently lost. Add to that the fact that rescue groups and others came in and took dogs off to parts unknown, without approval, and the odds of finding owners are slim. And I don't understand why so many of the "found" dogs on the PetFinder database are still either without photos at all or have such poor photos that it would be difficult for an owner to even recognize his/her pet.
And a lot (if not most) of the dogs who haven't been claimed are NOT being adopted or fostered because they aren't passing their behavioral assessments and have been deemed unadoptable (ie: have been or will be euthanized). Or the trouble and expense of necessary heartworm treatment make euthanasia the easier course of action. A huge percentage of the dogs rescued from NOLA were pits and pit mixes that were treated poorly from the beginning (example: while other dogs got evacuated as Rita approached, most of the pits were left behind in one barn to weather the storm alone, as all the volunteers were told to evacuate).
And let's not forget the fact that only a small percentage of abandoned/stranded animals were rescued in the first place.
I can't totally point fingers and place blame - the scope of this disaster created a level of rescue and organization never needed before. BUT I don't want people to be complacent and think that everrything worked out okay. We MUST learn from the tragic mistakes and oversights that happened so that they never happen again.
Still trying to find out if this is 2200 E. Fanz Rd. (Fanz Mobile Home Park) in St. Bernard, LA.
4 cats missing from here Email me at pudzzy@msn.com
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