Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned
"This 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.... I love this book!"\ —Ali MacGraw, Actress and Animal Activist\ "Hopefully, lots of lessons were learned as a result of Katrina, and reminding us of these lessons is good. Warning: Tissue is required for this reading, though the book abounds in happy endings."\ —Steve Dale, Tribune Media Services; (From Steve...
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After Hurricane Katrina hit, animal rescuers found this handwritten note taped to an apartment door in a building from which residents had been forced to evacuate without their pets: Our names are Fifi and Cici. We are both cats, one boy, one girl. Please take us to a shelter. Our doctors are located at the Cat Practice. If you find us, we are in the restroom. We have enough food to last us 5 days. Please contact our parents, Daryl and Tasha, who love and adore us very much, at [and the phone numbers were given]. Please, we need your help! Volunteer rescuers found the note and the cats a week later. Even though it was 11:00 at night, they called the number. Through her sobs, a grateful Tasha said, "It's my birthday. It couldn't be a more perfect gift." As this book details, most people did everything they could to give their beloved pets a chance to survive in the chaos after Katrina. Thanks to the efforts of organizations and volunteers from all over the country, it's estimated that approximately 15,000 animals were rescued. The staff and volunteers at the animal refuge facilities set up by Best Friends Animal Societyhelped to rescue between 5,000 and 7,000 terrified, abandoned animals and reunited some 1,500 pets with their people, most of whom had lost everything. This book details the rescues, the nonstop care given at the shelters, the reunions, the adoptions, the triumphs, and the tragedies. It celebrates the powerful bonds between pets and their people and those that develop between strangers who despite all kinds of obstacles, share an unwavering commitment to a common cause. In addition to Fifi and Cici, you'll read about: Himie, a Rottweiler found with a plastic bottle attached to his collar holding a note and his eye medicine; Himie was reunited with his owner Tenderfoot, a Black Labrador puppy whose foot pads were burned off by the toxic sludge; he was treated for weeks and adopted Bubba, a longhaired gray cat whose displaced owner drove for ten hours in a rented car to retrieve his cat—all he had left after Katrina Red, a partially paralyzed Staffordshire Terrier who was hospitalized for about three months, fitted with a "wheelchair," and eventually adopted And many more ... The lessons learned resulted in a Law Protecting our beloved pets. Just weeks before the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in August 2006, the plight of thousands of New Orleans residents and their pets led to a new federal law—the Pets Evacuation and Transporta-tion Standards (Pets) Act—that requires local and state governments to include household pets in their evacuation plans. It also provides federal funding for pet-friendly refugee shelters. Because of the dire experiences of Hurricane Katrina, animal owners will not have to choose between saving their own lives or remaining in a disaster-ravaged area with their pets, only to have to abandon the pets later.—From Pawprints of Katrina
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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.
