Pawprints of Katrina

Cathy Scott

Description

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many animals had to fend for themselves because their owners lost them or were unable to care for them. In Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned, Cathy Scott documents her experience working with the Best Friends Animal Society triage center to rescue lost animals and reunite them with their owners. Over two hundred stories with accompanying photos describe dramatic and challenging rescue cases with details about the rescues, the examinations, treatment, and follow-up care by the selfless volunteers who worked to save beloved best friends.
Foreword.

Preface.

1 The Water.

2 Poodle on the Rooftop.

3 The American Can Company.

4 Base Camp.

5 On the Ground.

6 Message in a Bottle.

7 Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven's Door.

8 It Takes Two to Make a Miracle.

9 The Faces of the Volunteers.

10 Red Gets His Wheels.

11 Fifteen Minutes to Fame.

12 The Twister Sisters.

13 Other Homeless Critters.

14 Animal Mug Shots.

15 Reunions.

16 A Dog Named Angel.

17 Putting Haley First.

18 Over the Rainbow Bridge.

19 Picking Up the Pieces.

20 Lessons Learned.

Appendix: Pet Disaster Preparedness.

Acknowledgments.

Index.

Sujets

• Pets
• Best Friends Animal Society
• Hurricane Katrina

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470445037
• Langue: English

Extrait

Table of Contents
 
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
 
Chapter 1 - The Water
Chapter 2 - Poodle on a Rooftop
Chapter 3 - The American Can Company
Chapter 4 - Base Camp
Chapter 5 - On the Ground
Chapter 6 - Message in a Bottle
Chapter 7 - Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Chapter 8 - It Takes Two to Make a Miracle
Chapter 9 - The Faces of the Volunteers
Chapter 10 - Red Gets His Wheels
Chapter 11 - Fifteen Minutes of Fame
Chapter 12 - The Twister Sisters
Chapter 13 - Other Homeless Critters
Chapter 14 - Animal Mug Shots
Chapter 15 - Reunions
Chapter 16 - A Dog Named Angel
Chapter 17 - Putting Haley First
Chapter 18 - Over the Rainbow Bridge
Chapter 19 - Picking Up the Pieces
Chapter 20 - Lessons Learned
Appendix - Pet Disaster Preparedness
Acknowledgements
Index
About the Author

Copyright © 2008 by Cathy Scott. All rights reserved
 
Howell Book House
 
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
 
All photos, except page 17, by Clay Myers, © Best Friends Animal Society. Photo on page 17 © Rick Bowmer, AP.
 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
 
Scott, Cathy. Pawprints of Katrina : pets saved and lessons learned / Cathy Scott ; photography by Clay Myers. p. cm.
eISBN : 978-0-470-44503-7
To the people and pets of the Gulf Coast— those we helped and those we couldn’t. Because of them, animals will never again be forgotten in a disaster.
 
And to my father, the late James M. Scott, a hillbilly kid at heart from the Ozarks of Missouri, who passed on his love of all living creatures to his five children.
Foreword
When the devastating tragedy of Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in August 2005, the whole world watched as countless heartbreaking, indelible images and stories were broadcast on our television and computer screens. Among them were the unforgettable faces of the thousands of animals left stranded by the terrible storm and the all-too-fragile levees.
We did what we could to help, but there were people and organizations who performed real miracles. Among these was the Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society, whose rescue work is chronicled in this beautiful book by Cathy Scott. She was one of the volunteers who rushed to the scene to help rescue seven thousand terrified, abandoned animals and to follow through with medical and emotional support. Cathy stayed in New Orleans for nearly four months, leaving an important university teaching job in Las Vegas to continue working with and writing about the animals. This book is partly her story, but ultimately it is the animals’ story. It is also about one group of people who worked exhaustively to reconnect some six hundred pets with their original owners and to organize foster homes and permanent adoptions for more than six thousand others.
As a lifelong animal lover and activist, I am moved to tears by these stories and by the photographs of Clay Myers. Pawprints of Katrina is an unforgettable account of the courage and boundless energy of people who realize that we human beings have an absolute obligation to help the other creatures of this planet. In seeing these images and reading the accounts in this book, we are reminded of the very best behavior of which the human heart is capable.
I love this book.
Ali MacGraw
Preface
In late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast region, flattening towns and cities and turning New Orleans into an uninhabitable, toxic swamp. In the days immediately following, tens of thousands of pets were left stranded without food or water, their owners expecting to return to them in two or three days.
One week later, I volunteered to go to the region, and Best Friends Animal Society agreed, sending me down as an embedded reporter to write for its Web site and magazine. By early September, I was on the ground documenting the rescue effort.
As word spread, with footage of marooned animals airing each day around the world, those wanting to help flocked to the Gulf, in the same way that I was drawn to the area. Afterward, when I returned home, I was haunted by the stories of the pets and the particulars of their lives. As both a journalist and an animal lover, one who shares a home with rescued and fostered dogs, those stories struck a personal note. I felt lucky to have gone down to the region with a professional rescue group to witness the first massive animal roundup. And I wanted to put on paper what I’d seen.
Best Friends Animal Society was the first into the area—the first to arrive in boats to rescue animals from the floodwaters—and the last to leave. It was nearly nine months before the largest no-kill sanctuary in the United States, based on thirty-three thousand acres in Kanab, Utah, would pull out of the region, waiting until the last dogs and cats were either reunited with their people or placed in new homes. All told, Best Friends’ teams rescued roughly seven thousand pets. Between the various rescue groups, it is estimated that some fifteen thousand—possibly more—domestic animals were saved from the ruins.
The pets rescued by Best Friends were taken to a center erected on the grounds of the St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Mississippi, ninety miles north of New Orleans. During the storm, the sanctuary lost its electricity because of the winds. A day after the storm, Best Friends arrived in the region. In less than a week, they had assembled a crew that brought in generators, fixed fencing, and repaired runs. They set up their own animal relief center—called Camp Tylertown—on the St. Francis property and began going into New Orleans each day to pluck animals from the water, rubble, and ensuing muck. At the end of each day the animals were taken to Camp Tylertown, where they were treated and cared for.
The rescue events that unfolded in the wreckage of Katrina were marked by the refugee pets’ tremendous will to live. Whatever the circumstances—in the water, on the streets, inside homes or locked schools—many animals ended up the winners, despite their needs being ignored because of an official order forbidding residents from evacuating with their companion pets.
A percentage of animals not only survived, but, in large part because of the love and care afforded to them by their two-legged friends, also moved on to live happy, healthy lives. New federal legislation means they will never again have to be abandoned during a crisis. Moreover, rescue groups will be behind the scenes at the next disaster, reminding officials of their commitment to the animals.
Although my enthusiasm for Best Friends Animal Society is evident throughout these pages, it does not discount the extraordinary efforts made by many other groups and individuals who did their part in making a difference in so many pets’ lives. And if I anthropomorphize the pet victims, that’s because it’s difficult to scientifically describe love.
The pets left behind have become symbols of the courageous spirit of those who endured the events that unfolded on the Gulf Coast. Events themselves can’t be courageous; people or animals can be. These are their stories, from my frontli