IMPORTANT Updates for SBP pet owners

The Island Business Group has recovered the St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter's data from their flooded computers !!

Any microchips sold to St. Bernard Parish Government, St. Bernard Parish Animal Control, or St. Bernard Parish Animal Shelter are now accessible. Owners may request a "reverse search" to find their microchip numbers while updating their contact information.

License tags for pets that were adopted through the shelter, pets that were impounded, or pets whose owners purchased them directly from the shelter are also listed. Unfortunately, the majority of licenses were not on computer.

To search this database go to:
http://www.islandbusinessgroup.com/stbernard.asp
If a match is found, you can click on the link or email the shelter at sbpanimal@aol.com

We are asking that owners whose pets are microchipped or have other searchable identification (a known license or vet hopital tag number, a tattoo, etc.) and are looking for their pets contact Ceily at sbpanimal@aol.com with their current address and telephone numbers. This will be added to the shelter's database so that anyone looking for the owner will be able to find them.

Also check out www.loststbernardpets.org
Dogs
Cats

Other places to look for photos of SBP animals:

The Los Angeles SPCA Link pictures a group of pets rescued by Camp Lucky that were flown to California for distribution throughout the state. Under each rescued pet photo is a contact telephone number. Additional photos of some of the same pets are listed on the Los Angeles SPCA site.
Los Angeles SPCA

Pasadena Humane/SPCA has listed their group separately on their own website.

Humane Society of Northwest Louisiana in Shreveport. When viewing this link be sure to scroll to the bottom of each page and click on previous posts. It will then bring up previous pages of rescued pet photos. Continue to do this until you reach the end.

Dr. Paul Levitas Link

Pet Survivors

PETA Rescues

ASPCA Photo Albums of St Bernard Parish Rescues

The Humane Society of North Texas has received several rescued pets that were originally taken to Rebel Field in Chalmette. There are new and better photos pictured on their website of these same rescued animals.

Humane Society of Knox County in Rockland, Maine or HSKC - Katrina Fosters
207-594-2200 email director@humanesocietyofknoxcounty.org)

Miss Kitty's devoted owner, Bill Harris dies at age 63

Goodbye Bill.

The four-legged ones who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge have received a very special new resident.

Rest in peace.

REUNION: Chedder (Chat) the beagle is back home

Chedder ("Chat") was reunited with his family yesterday in Houston after a long, drawn-out battle with BREW, the beagle rescue group that Chedder had been given to. The Washington Animal Rescue League had taken in Chedder after Katrina and had been told he was owner surrendered, so they gave the young beagle to BREW Beagle Rescue who in turn adopted him out to someone in Richmond, VA (whose identity is unknown at this time). Almost immediately, Renee - Chedder's owner - identified him from photos from a news program and also from the shelter's website. Once the Executive Director of WARL was made aware of the situation and looked at photos, he did everything he could to get Chedder back from BREW. From the outset (over two months ago) BREW claimed that the dog they had was not Chedder even though the photos proved it was. They refused to allow Renee or anyone to see the dog. When asked to send additional photos, they sent the same photos that were on the website. BREW's lawyer added insult to injury when she stepped in and talked to Renee in a degrading and insulting way. WARL asked their lawyer to intervene. On and on.

Then, a few weeks ago it seemed as if BREW was finally ready to cooperate but it soon became obvious that it was another of of their stall tactics, hoping that Renee would give up and go away. You would think that a dog rescue group would have a little better understanding of the unbreakable bond between people and their pets.

Story of Chedder's Katrina experience: Renee and the rest of the family were sent on to Houston and her father stayed behind with Chedder. When the flooding began and he was forced to evacuate, he and Chedder went to the Convention Center. When the busses finally arrived to take the evacuees to the Astrodome in Houston, Renee's father and Chedder boarded a bus. The bus driver said that Chedder had to be removed from the bus. As if he knew what was going on, Chedder crawled up to the luggage area and burrowed in. The bus driver insisted the dog be removed, so Renee's father tried to get off the bus with Chedder but was not allowed. He had no choice and did as the bus driver ordered, and as the bus pulled away he watched his daughter's beloved puppy chase after it.

EMERGENCY at animal shelter in Mason County, W Va - HELP NEEDED NOW

Update 11/22 9:41 pm

I just got off the phone with Derrick. He counted so far 19 dead cats and 3 dead dogs. 2 of the dogs were burnt so bad that they can't tell who they are.

Can you please put something on the website's that it will take days before we can get back to everyone. I'm sitting here right now with 151 emails and I have no desire to look at them right now. I'm sick to my stomach and none of us are dealing well with this at all. We just need some time.

Please tell everyone to keep the living animals, the staff, and the ones that passed over the rainbow bridge in their prayers tonight. We thank everyone for their support and appreciate all their efforts on our behalf.

Sally

11/22/05 approximately 3:00 pm

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I write this post. I can't stop crying. We need help!

There's been a gas explosion at the Mason County shelter in Point Pleasant WV. It happened during the installation of the new heating system.

All of the following information was gathered in the first hour after the explosion. Details may change as things settle down and volunteers get there to help assess the situation.

All of the staff members made it out alive. Danielle, the shelter director, has suffered smoke inhalation from going back in to rescue animals.

Of all the cats/kittens at the shelter, only one made it out alive. It had to be resuscitated. No idea if it will live.

It is believed that all of the puppies died in the fire and smoke...the staff couldn't get to the puppy or cat rooms to pull them out.

They were able to get to the large dog kennels and pull out a lot of the dogs. They basically pushed them out the door and the dogs are running loose. Not all got out. Some died in the initial explosion, others probably of smoke inhalation. Initial estimate is that approximately 50-60 dogs were pushed out the door by the dedicated kennel staff who refused to give up trying to save them.

At the moment, the building appears to be a total loss. All they have is possibly the use of a few outside pens. The remaining dogs are being rounded up now.

It's cold in WV...there's no indoor place to house these animals.

Supplies needed (I'm sure this list will grow)

Dog food

Water & food bowls

Leashes & collars

They need a building...can someone in or near Mason County WV loan them the use of a vacant building until they can move these dogs out to rescues? For location purposes, their zip code is 25550. Shelter is located in Point Pleasant.

The rescues they work with on a regular basis have been contacted and hopefully will be able to take some dogs into foster care.

This is the home of the Mason County Animal Welfare League (MCAWL), a group of volunteers that have been trying to make this a no-kill shelter. If you've seen any posts about them recently, you know how hard they've been working to help these animals. Email contacts are volunteers who are not located at the shelter, so anyone wishing to help can still reach them via the email address on the website: MasonCAWL@yahoo.com

Here is the Petfinder site: http://masoncounty.petfinder.com

As we find out which dogs are alive, we will put the word ALIVE next to their name on the site.

To help or donate: http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/WV39.html

The EDNAH "Sanctuary" Before and After Photos

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of volunteers from all over the country working with the great folks of Mountain Home Pets along with United Animal Nations and HSUS, the former EDNAH "sanctuary" looks like a very different place today.

Baxter County District Judge Van Gearhart ruled yesterday that 327 animals found in filthy conditions at a so-called sanctuary can be relocated and adopted into new homes. Judge Gearhart denied the owners’ request to regain custody of the animals, mostly dogs, and charged William and Tammy Hanson with 27 additional counts of animal cruelty.
Today, the same judge ruled that all the dogs be transferred to HSUS as of Monday, Nov. 28, 2005. Mountain Home Pets is working to get qualified rescue organizations lined up to accept the animals.

Pets Seeking Owners

This adult male is being fostered at Sayzar Co-Operative Rescue Efforts
in Elkton, MD Phone: 800-200-9150 Email: dmacdonald@sayzar.com

Noah's Wish final report from Slidell

• • Press release: November 21, 2005 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time

  Noah’s Wish Departs Slidell, LA After Rescuing over 1,900 Animals Affected by Hurricane Katrina

  (Slidell, LA) November 21, 2005 – After working around-the-clock for 11 weeks in an extraordinary effort to rescue and shelter animals left behind in the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, the Noah’s Wish team bade farewell to Slidell today. Through their efforts approximately 1,900 animals were successfully rescued and cared for, including cats, dogs, birds and exotics. Every animal rescued by Noah’s Wish volunteers was reunited with its owner, placed into foster care, or adopted into a loving new home.

  In the immediate aftermath of Katrina, the non-profit organization that works exclusively to rescue and shelter animals in disasters arrived in Slidell, which had been completely destroyed by the hurricane. Prior to the storm, the Slidell Animal Control facility had been able to evacuate its animals but was unable to return to their flooded building. Noah’s Wish Founder and Director Terri Crisp worked with Slidell Animal Control to set up a temporary shelter in a large warehouse provided by the city. “Noah’s Wish did a fantastic job for the people of Slidell,” said Mayor Ben O. Morris. “There were no animals roaming loose on our streets and no reported dog bites. I am eternally grateful for this great organization and it’s most impressive leadership.”

  “Pet owners in Slidell had the best chance of finding their pets, thanks to the time, manpower and resources invested by Noah’s Wish in our community during this disaster,” remarked Slidell Animal Control Assistant Director Damian Anti. Many residents whose homes were destroyed during the disaster needed to find temporary shelter for their animals. Noah’s Wish placed hundreds of pets in temporary foster care homes—all located no more than one hour away from their owners. “For a lot of folks around here, all they have left are their animals” observed Anti.

  The organization took extensive efforts to track owners and let them know their animals had been saved. “It is our responsibility to make sure that each animal affected by this disaster was given every possible chance to be reunited with their owner” said Crisp.

  When an animal was evacuated from a home in the days immediately following the disaster, a brightly colored flyer was left prominently on the front door along with directions to the temporary shelter where the animal could be found. A second posting would be made if an animal was still in the shelter after three weeks. Flyers were posted in public areas where animals had been found stray.

  “We knew that after a certain point, residents who left Slidell had to get their mail forwarded, and most people came back to Slidell to meet with FEMA or their insurance companies,” said Crisp. With that in mind, Crisp and her team sent certified letters to each home where an animal had been rescued. In addition, flyers were posted at every public location where evacuees were congregating – Red Cross shelters, insurance offices, FEMA offices. Additionally, ads were taken out in several local newspapers to help spread the word among residents that their animals were being cared for in a temporary shelter.

  Hundreds of trained volunteers from across the United States and Canada worked tirelessly for weeks to rescue and care for the animals of Slidell. “Without the help of the volunteers who spent countless hours away from their families, we could not have saved so many animals,” said Ante. “This community is forever indebted to those folks.”

  Noah’s Wish did not leave Slidell until all animals that had been rescued from Slidell after the hurricane were reunited with their owners, placed in foster homes or adopted. A few animals remained in the care of Slidell Animal Control, waiting to be transported to their new homes by the end of the week.

  As a lasting gesture of their support for the community of Slidell, Noah’s Wish has pledged $1 million to the rebuilding effort of the Slidell Animal Control building which suffered extensive structural damage during the hurricane.

e than one hour away from th.

UPDATE from Noah's Wish (i.e. The Truth)

• Director's Update: November 20, 2005 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time

There have been rumors circulating on the internet recently that pertain to Noah's Wish which I would like to correct. I apologize for not doing this sooner but we have been extremely busy trying to shut down our operation in Slidell. Also, I would have hoped that people would trust us enough to do our job the right way and not get pulled into the rumor frenzy. In all honesty, taking time to put these rumors to an end definitely distracts from what needs to be done right now for the few remaining animals in our care.

Noah's Wish will be completely closing down our shelter on November 21 which we have had open in Slidell, Louisiana for 84 days. Originally, we thought we would be done by the 15th of November, but we postponed our departure when we realized there was still more work to be done. When we leave, everyone of the 1,986 animals we have cared for will either be reunited with their families, placed in a foster home, adopted, or they will be waiting for an individual or small rescue group to pick them up. We are not turning animals over to Slidell Animal Control for them to be euthanized which is the rumor being circulated on the internet. The rumor that we are doing this is absolutely incorrect. There will be a small number of animals that do stay at the animal control shelter for a few days after we leave as they cannot be picked up before we depart. We will follow through with animal control to make sure this happens. If any of the plans fall through we will come up with another solution.

I must say it is an insult to the organization for people to think we would give up on these animals at this point. It makes me sad at how quickly people jumped to misjudge us when our history in past disasters proves we have always been committed to the animals that we take responsibility for during disasters, no matter how long it takes to get them all where they belong and where they will be well cared for. For those who have sent e-mails saying they will no longer support Noah's Wish, I can only say that we want people to support our work who truly trust us and believe in our commitment to the animals. And, there are hundreds of thousands of people who do and the numbers are continuing to grow rapidly.

All of us on site in Slidell have put in incredibly long hours for the past 2 and a half months taking care of all the needs of the animals that have come through our shelter. We have nursed animals back to health, bathed them when they were covered in oil, held them in our arms when they were scared, gave them blankets to curl up with at night when the weather got colder, and played with them to help them feel they mattered to us. The love and attention that has been shown for these animals is a testament to the compassion everyone on the Noah's Wish team, including Slidell Animal Control, feels towards these animals and also their caregivers. Noah's Wish has invested a great deal in the animals we have been responsible for during this disaster and we will continue to do this, not only during this disaster, but in future ones too.

I want to also come to the defense of Slidell Animal Control. For people to automatically think that turning animals over to this agency means they will die is wrong and unfair. Out of all the agencies and organizations that Noah's Wish has worked with during past disasters they have been by far the best. The level of commitment to the animals, and the obvious concern and compassion that the staff has shown throughout this entire ordeal, is to be commended. They too have invested a great deal in these animals, working right along side of us the entire time. There is no way they could give up on these animals either.

Noah's Wish will be posting a full report on our website once our work in Slidell is complete.