|
Hurricane diary by HSNY staff member Lexie Montgomery
Trip #4
 
Sunday, October 23rd
I'm back in New Orleans. Spent all day going by addresses we have on our Foster Animal's Paperwork. Looked for clues on contacts or leads and took photos of their locations to help with correct animal identification.
Monday, October 24th
Susan Richmond, Executive Director at Humane Society of New York, called me this a.m. We both said Louisa's name at the same time. Hurray! Her people have tracked her to us through www.Petfinder.com. Louisa's real name is “Aida” and her person, Jean Lang Moore was able to describe the same address we had, to a “T”. Her niece, Jewel will come in to get her soon.
 Tuesday, October 25th
I've been taking down addresses from other rescuers who had to go home and need these animals checked on. One dog off of Eric Rice's list was still there, locked behind a gate. As I was trying to get to her from under the house, the landlord showed up and said her people took off and weren't coming back. I wrote down all her info anyway. We will still put her on www.Petfinder.com. I can see where the floodwater had risen about 10 feet from the ground. She must have lived on the back steps for some time. There are a lot of old feces on them just above the watermark.
 
 Wednesday, October 26th
Mark Johnson and Linda Thurston, from Global Wildlife Resources, gave a workshop today on how to carefully and respectfully trap animals.
The problem now is all the animals that are running around have joined groups and they hide all day long only coming out at night and at dawn. They are so scared of people our best bet is to trap.
I've been working with a local woman here named Marilyn who's been tracking tracks. We set traps out tonight where she's seen them.
 
 Thursday, October 27th
Hurray! We got dogs in both traps. Both had collars but no tags. They were so scared we had to move very calmly and cautiously to minimize their panic. One dog was huge; luckily some workers in the area helped us carry him back to our vehicle.
 Friday, October 28th
Back at Magazine St. Ann Belle of the Southern Animal FDN has been tending to a 10 year old female Doberman who's people, after returning home a few days ago, were expecting to find her dead. They found her still barely breathing and threw her on their trash heap outside. When their neighbors tried to stop them, pointing out that she wasn't dead yet they said not to worry she would be soon. Fortunately the neighbors called someone from our team who brought her to the Southern Animal FDN. She's eating and drinking and has even started to walk again.
I caught a cat to day out in St Bernard Parish. She actually had a tag with a phone # on it that worked. Her people assumed she'd died and were so happy to hear she was okay. They unfortunately are in a shelter right now and can't take her but we will keep their information with her when she goes out to the Best Friends operation in Tylertown, Mississippi.
 Saturday, October 29th
Today Karen, a rescuer from Portland, and I focused on feeding and watering out by Lakeview. Once a nice middle class neighborhood it is now completely gray and devastated. We got a few phone calls for animals seen wandering in the area. We worked well together and were able to catch two.
We got other calls for animals in other areas and we were able to refer them to other rescue teams via Jane Garrison's dispatch. Jane has never left and is still going strong.
 
Monday, October 31st
Still out tracking and trapping animals, as it got dark it occurred to me that it's Halloween Night. I don't think I've ever spent a Halloween Night (or any other night for that matter) in a place more overshadowed with death and loss. We were unable to catch anyone tonight. The drive back into downtown seemed so long and quiet.
Tuesday, November 1st
I'm bringing back a beautiful white and brown tabby cat to foster at the Humane Society of New York. I've named him “Luke”. We found him in the woods in St. Bernard. He's extremely affectionate. On the plane I think about all the faces left behind, out wandering in the dark, afraid not knowing what has happened to them or their people.
REUNION
 “Violet”, the young female Rottweiller that Carolyn and I drove back to the Humane Society of New York for fostering, low and behold is actually “Cleopatra”! Her people have located her through www.Petfinder.com. As with “Aida” aka “Louisa”, they were able to accurately describe the house where she was found. “Cleopatra”, turns out, came from a home with three little boys ages 5,7 and 9. Their father, Eric Pepin, told me the boys had prayed every night to find her. He told me of the overwhelming frustration and distress his family had been going through trying to find her and their other dog “Soul”, a mix-breed male. Though both dogs must have been picked up at the same time they were somehow separated by the time we picked up “Cleo” at the Winn Dixie location. They are still looking for “Soul”.
|
