Howie is Reunited

Thanks to the work of several volunteers, Howie the funny looking little chihuaua mix is now back with Betty, his loving owner.

Eileen, a volunteer from Wisconsin had been seaching for Howie since the fall of 2005; due to Betty's determination and Eileen's compassion, they never gave up. Eileen recently flew from Wisconsin to New Orleans for the reunion, but then ended up flying from New Orleans to Oklahoma to pick up Howie and fly him back to New Orleans and deliver him to a very grateful Betty, when the original transport plans changed.

Thanks Eileen!

And thanks spiritsmom for posting Howie/Louie and the thousands of other found and rescued Katrina pets on your Flickr site!!

Please work to get a spay/neuter bill passed in your state

A friend of mine from Texas who made countless rescue trips to New Orleans post-Katrina sent me this video made by fellow-Katrina rescuer from California.

If you work or volunteer for a good shelter, or one that is "no-kill"* , then consider, along with a group of like-minded friends, adopting/sponsoring a very bad shelter in the south. You can help write grant applications for low-cost spay-neuter; arrange for spay/neuter clinics; work with local schools and arrange for humane education and much more.

To simply continue pulling death row dogs out of the horrific shelters in the south and importing them to the north and Midwest is akin to trying to stop a levee breach with a few sandbags. It obviously helps those dogs and cats saved and adopted into happy new homes, but for all the time and energy expended by hundreds of caring people around the country, and the tens of thousands of gallons of gas used in transporting these animals from one place to another, it does not stem the tide - the cause of the problem is not being addressed or affected in any way.

Regardless of how archaic a local animal control or shelter may be, there are intelligent, compassionate and humane people who live in that town or parish who want the same for the animals as you do. A good first step is to work with local residents to put and end to the use of gas chambers to euthanize animals.

There can be a balance between rescuing/saving those that can be adopted elsewhere and working toward ending the suffering for the others left behind and those not yet born.

Jake, the 911 and Katrina rescue dog, dies