INTERLUDE

Written by John
October 13, 2005

Marti, Ricky & Joey arrived in New Orleans late this evening, and the first thing they wanted to do was to eat at one of those fancy French restaurants. But Alas, they were not open for business. What's wrong with this place? Nothing is open! Ah , , , there's a Winn-Dixie supermarket, but the parking lot is full of DOGS - and there's no food in the whole place! Marti wants to press on and find a good restaurant, but Joey & Ricky say nix - let's stay here with the dogs and get an early start tomorrow.

FIRST NIGHT & CAMPING Rickie, Marti, Joey Home Sweet Home . . . our three yurts

INTERLUDE

Written by John
October 16, 2005

Report after first two days at Winn-Dixie: Marti says that there are approximately 50-60 volunteers based at Winn-Dixie, about ten of whom have the primary duty of feeding, bathing, exercising the dogs which are brought into the Winn-Dixie kennels.

The other volunteers go out every day on "patrol", searching for strays, dogs and cats who are trapped in houses, attics, etc. To this day, there are still animals coming into the kennel, most of which you can imagine are undernourished, stressed out, etc.

Marti says that, in her opinion, one tough thing about the system is that the average stay for the animals is two to three days, and then they are transported to more permanent "foster" kennels, in or out of Louisiana. Such a short stay does not allow the W-D volunteers sufficient time to get the dogs to settle down, to win the dogs' trust and confidence, etc.

It seems that life is pretty much routine - one day is the same as the day before - very busy taking care of the animals, and not enough spare time to worry about the lack of "creature comforts" for the volunteers

INTERLUDE

Cindy is in the news!

EVENING SUN
October 20, 2005
Hanover, PA

Hanover teacher rescuing animals
By SUSAN SULLIVAN

A teacher at Hanover High School traded her chalk for a leash and collar this week, traveling to New Orleans to help with rescuing animals.

Cindy Cindy, a learning support teacher at Hanover High School, is Hanover's regional contact for Airedale Rescue and Adoption of Delaware Valley.

Cindy is a veteran of animal rescue who has picked up a fair share of surrendered Airedales around the community, taking them to the vet. She helps with adoptions and takes part in crafts to raise money for the animals.

Cindy and five other members of the organization, who are fronting their own expenses, left Sunday for the Gulf Coast.

The team is working in a temporary animal-evacuation shelter that has been set up in Slidell, Louisiana.

Noah's Wish, a not-for-profit organization that deals exclusively with rescuing and sheltering animals in disasters, has 823 animals in its care at the makeshift shelter.

The animals include 473 dogs, 297 cats, 12 birds, nine ducks, eight chickens, seven rabbits, three snakes, three geese, two lizards, an emu, a scorpion, a tarantula, a horse, a ferret, a fish, a potbelly pig, a rat and a turtle.

More than 75 percent of the pets' owners have been identified, but because their houses have been destroyed, they cannot take the pets back.

"It's really a huge unknown right now, as to what to expect," Cindy said before she left. With all the hotels closed or filled with residents whose homes have been destroyed, she might be camping out in the airport throughout her trip.

Cindy foresees lots of "poop scooping," as well as feeding the animals and exercising them.

"It's really going to be a matter of getting around to all of them," she said.

CONTINUE WITH
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM:
KATRINA "A-TEAM" TRIP HERE