Kinship Circle: #1: We Hear Your Cries, 2 Years After Katrina
August 11th, 2007 6:37 pm by Kelly Garbato———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kinship Circle – kinshipcircle [at] brick.net
Date: Aug 9, 2007 1:40 PM
Subject: #1: We Hear Your Cries, 2 Years After Katrina
KINSHIP CIRCLE ANIMAL DISASTER RELIEF
PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST
8/9/07: THIS EMAIL CONTAINS PART 1
#1. We Hear Your Cries, In Shadow Of Katrina’s 2-Year Anniversary
CHECK OUT OUR RE-DESIGNED DISASTER VICTIMS SITE:
www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/
PART 1: WE HEAR YOUR CRIES
1. Don’t Forget Hurricane Katrina And Rita Victims!
2. Katrina Rescue Cat Needs Special Home For 5 Months
3. Not Too Far From Here – Katrina Animal Relief Video
4. Please Help KAT 5 Win A $10,000 Grant
5. Attention Katrina Pet Adopters
6. REPOST: Cats Outlived Katrina, But Now Face Desertion
7. CAAWS Won The Burger King Campaign – $50,000!
8. Sassy’s Miracle
9. 3,200 Animals Helped!
PART 2: SENT IN SEPARATE EMAIL
If you did NOT get PART 2, request it: kinshipcircle [at] brick.net [Or click here!]
10. Specialty License Plate To Address Pet Overpopulation
11. Lyle, Featured In Film Dark Water Rising, Needs Your Help
12. Hero Dog Who Helped in 9/11 And Katrina Rescue Dies
13. Worst Of Hurricane Season Still To Come [?]
14. ARNO Needs Evacuation Volunteers
15. Roicy Happy Tails
16. Hurricane Katrina: Live From Day One
17. Louisiana Needs Animal Evacuation Volunteers
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GULF COAST
1. Don’t Forget Hurricane Katrina And Rita Victims!
SOURCE: Robyn E., Care2 Action Alerts, actionalerts [at] care2.com
SIGN PETITION (link below) that asks 2008 presidential candidates to prioritize rebuilding in the Gulf Coast. In the COMMENTS box on petition, be sure to mention the hundreds of thousands of animals left behind…and remind candidates that we the people want FUNDING and ENFORCEMENT for the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS Act).
Don’t Forget Hurricane Katrina and Rita Victims!
www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/505140975?z00m=9448831
Two years after the devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina and Rita, the Gulf Coast is still hurting. Tens of thousands still live in temporary housing. Schools are closed. Businesses are struggling.
Continued neglect threatens to leave people poor and more at risk. With politicians are suffering from “Katrina amnesia,” the current presidential candidates have a renewed chance to bring the Gulf Coast the help it needs.
Rebuilding plans must be outlined for the southern states – before the next election. Join us in asking the 2008 presidential candidates to issue their agenda outlining how, as president, they will recover the hurricane-devastated region!
FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE, Conducting Disaster Rescues, AR2007 – Los Angeles:
– An estimated 104,000 animals were stranded in New Orleans alone.
– Only about 15,000 were officially saved by over 400 different groups.
– And just 3,000 were known to be reunited with families (although reunions still occur, even 2 years after Katrina, so this figure seems dated).
– Nearly 90,000 companion animals, from New Orleans, remain unaccounted for.
– This figure doesn’t even include animals from other Louisiana parishes or Mississippi and Alabama — where statistics are not easily found.
KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• It’s Law: Bush Signs Pet Evacuation & Transportation Standards
www.kinshipcircle.org/updates/updates_aug-oct_2006.html#5
10/10/06 — States must help save pets, New law puts funds at risk if animals are not in disaster plans, Kimberly Geiger, Chronicle Washington Bureau Washington — States will be required to help evacuate pets during a natural disaster… The federal law will require all states to present the Federal Emergency Management Agency with pet evacuation plans before receiving federal funds for emergency preparedness. The law also authorizes FEMA to provide additional money to create pet-friendly shelters and provide special assistance to pet owners…
• 7/4/06: Dear Senator: Remember Katrina. Pass PETS Act.
www.kinshipcircle.org/letter_library/letter.asp?LetterID=1527&seriesfirst=true
• 9/28/05: Never Again: Animal Evacuation Law Now
www.kinshipcircle.org/katrina/9_28_letter.html
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GULF COAST
2. Katrina Rescue Cat Needs Special Home For 5 Months
SOURCE: Jeanette Althans, jalthans [at] chnola.org
8/5/07, from jalthans [at] chnola.org — Galaxy was rescued from Lakeview in New Orleans in February of 2006. His owner Ryan Ballard was located, and several weeks later Ryan brought Galaxy back to his new home in Colorado.
Galaxy now has kidney failure (possibly due to exposure to toxins after Katrina) and needs daily medication. His owner will be out of the country for 5 months beginning AUGUST 10th, and needs someone to care for Galaxy. Ryan is willing to fly Galaxy anywhere in the continental United States. Galaxy is a very sweet, laid back cat.
More photos posted here: www.lakeivewcats.org/
CONTACT: Ryan S. Ballard
hm: 719-634-8287; cell: 504-301-8201 email: ryan [at] razzamatazproductions.com
FROM GALAXY’S OWNER: I need to find a shelter/home/foster care for my cat, Galaxy, IMMEDIATELY! I’m getting married out of the country and we leave on August 10! We’ll be gone 5 months. This has all been planned and booked for over a year, and we cant cancel the wedding because Galaxy is sick.
The normal foster pet care options aren’t working. My friends and family are not willing to take him in. Galaxy is a very sick kitty. He has total and permanent kidney failure and I give him subcantaneous fluid injections each morning and night to keep him alive. But, he’s responded well to treatment and I think he’ll be ok if we can find a place to stay while we are gone.
Galaxy is a survivor. We’re from New Orleans and our whole family survived Katrina… We’re staying in a hotel in Manitou Springs, CO until we leave for our trip in a week. Home care is not an option, we have no home. I’ll bring him to anyone in the continental US who can look after him (either permanent or until we get back in early January… I will work with you).
I am running out of time. Please let me know if you can help in any way…
Ryan S. Ballard — hm: 719-634-8287; cell: 504-301-8201
email: ryan [at] razzamatazproductions.com
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GULF COAST
3. Not Too Far From Here – Katrina Animal Relief Video
SOURCE: Pam Leavy, tundraleap [at] msn.com
VIDEO — youtube.com/watch?v=vOlXawoqRv8
NOTE FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE: Please watch this video. PASS IT ALONG on behalf of Katrina’s forgotten victims — human and animal. The neglected Gulf Coast is our nation’s disgrace.
8/2/07, from tundraleap [at] msn.com — June 30: Twenty-two months post Katrina. Less than half the people have returned, while many who’ve returned, have decided to leave again, for good. However, the forgotten Katrina refugees, the animals, have no choice. They remain, living in the debris, surviving on feeding stations or whatever food sources they can find.
I have continued my journey to save these forgotten animals, a journey that I thought would last a couple of months; then 6 months surely would be it; perhaps I’ll continue till the year anniversary; but 22 months later, I see no end. Groups have helped with TNR to control the population of homeless animals, but thousands remain. While some areas are thriving with residents and businesses, in many areas of New Orleans, as well as parishes such as St. Bernard and Plaquemines, one can travel for miles and see nothing but total devastation. Yet dogs and cats live among this devastation. To hear the animals cry, to see them watching as we fill food pans, and to see them waiting at f/w stations — it’s heartbreaking.
Over the months, as residents return, so has crime, including dog fighting, cockfighting (illegal within the city limits,) animal abuse and neglect, in addition to drug related crimes, child neglect, etc., all of which we report. We try to educate the residents on proper animal care and we try to provide them with pet essentials.
Volunteers and donations are still needed. Volunteers are needed in all areas — shelter work, TNR, feeding, trapping, etc. CONTACT: animalrescueneworleans.org/ or www.arfl.petfinder.com/
…This latest video describes the devastated areas of New Orleans and the animals who live there. Most of the animals shown are not emaciated, or even very skinny. We provide healthy food for them, food that lasts approximately 3 days. They must learn to search for food, and they do so during the remaining 4 days. However, by time we return, they are starving, and they wait at the feeding stations.
Please help us avoid this ever happening again. We have a Pet Evacuation Bill in place, and we have a pet evacuation plan, but we need volunteers to make it work. If you have not already registered with LSART, please do so Today.*** Active hurricane season is upon us. If you have any questions about volunteering, feel free to contact me. Pam Leavy
***Request copy of LSART REGISTRATION FORM from Pam Leavy (file is too big to attach to this newsletter): tundraleap [at] msn.com
My other Katrina videos, beginning Sept. 2005:
You’ll Never Walk Alone – Filmed Sept-Oct. 2005
I Want To Live – Filmed Oct.-Nov. 2005
Somebody’s Praying – Filmed Dec. 2005
Still Forgotten – Filmed July-Sept 2006
Troubled Waters – Filmed Oct.-Dec. 2006
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RELIEF GLOBAL
4. Please Help KAT 5 Win A $10,000 Grant
SOURCE: Kat5 Animal Rescue, kat5animalrescue [at] yahoo.com
Kat 5 Animal Rescue is a 501(c)(3) comprised of volunteers from across the country who came together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to rescue animals. Kat 5 Animal Rescue intervenes to protect animals when a natural or man-made disaster strikes. *KAT 5 is named after Hurricane Katrina (“KAT” for Katrina), and category 5 storms, symbolizing any disaster.
8/2/07, from kat5animalrescue [at] yahoo.com — You may remember the email I sent out earlier this year, requesting everyone’s assistance to win a grant for KAT 5 Animal Rescue through Kevin Bacon’s 6 degrees contest. Last time, we did not get in the running but we did raise over $2,000. 100% of which paid for the care of the remaining dogs from a cruelty/hoarder case that KAT 5 has been saving the animals from for over a year now.
This time we’re making one last HUGE effort to win this for the animals. This contest ends next month, and we could really use everyone’s support to win! The winner is is based on the NUMBER of donations ($10 or more) — NOT the amount of money donated. Please help us reach our goal by donating just $10 to our cause…
Just follow this link — and click the orange “DONATE” button:
www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=106179
Once you’ve donated, please forward this email on — encourage your husband or wife, your parents, children, friends, coworkers, etc to all donate just $10 as well. We need to reach as many people as possible! Thank you SO much…
Susan Meyer, Executive Director, KAT 5 Animal Rescue
kat5animalrescue [at] yahoo.com
To read about KAT 5 Animal Rescue’s animal rescue efforts:
network.bestfriends.org/kat5/news/default.aspx?gu=kat5
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GULF COAST
5. Attention Katrina Pet Adopters
SOURCE: Vanessa Bates, vanessa4animalz [at] hotmail.com
8/2/07, from vanessa4animalz [at] hotmail.com — YOUR PETS CAN STILL BE TAKEN BACK AT ANY TIME. Recently to my surprise, someone contacted me about a Katrina rescue cat I’d adopted. They thought it might be the cat they were helping a family look for who’d evacuated during Katrina flooding near New Orleans. The cat didn’t turn out to be the correct pet, but I learned that according to Louisiana law, none of the adoptions that occurred since Katrina are real, and an original owner has at least another year where they can still reclaim their pet, even if the pet is already in a permanent home.
While I always knew my kitty might go home, I was told that adoptions were legally final after several months. I and other people adopted Katrina pets to help save lives… In my case, our cat was rescued by a friend who was based at the Winn-Dixie store. While not an “official” rescue site, she said they made every effort to load all information about rescued pets onto the internet. Thousands more pets were moved to animal shelters around the country for fostering and those not reunited were adopted to good homes.
I’ve been told the Louisiana Department of Agriculture had all groups sign papers saying they would hold pets in foster for a specific amount or time before adoption, but that time was measured in weeks, not years.
THAT POSITION CHANGED. ACCORDING TO LOUISIANA, YOUR ADOPTED KATRINA PETS ARE NOT YOURS. Please spread the word so people understand this. The state of Louisiana says all rescued pets are just physical property. Under property law, any original owner can take their pet back up to 3 years after the storm, and maybe longer. This doesn’t just affect pets in shelters, but all the thousands of pets safely in new homes for 2 years now…
Our hearts have always gone out to all people who had to evacuate and leave their pets. I personally helped ship home 3 different pets from our shelter in Atlanta in the 6 months after the storm… But now it’s 2 years later and no one is taking into account the emotional needs of the animals…
For the sake of the animals, and the willingness of me or anyone to ever again provide a home for an animal after a disaster, there must be a reasonable cut off day for reclaiming a pet. Not days. Six months, maybe 1 year, but 3 years? Animals are not property — they have souls and needs and fears and feelings and are not a chair or a car.
My friends who volunteered for the Stealth group long ago decided the time for reuniting adopted pets had passed, and new adopters and their happy pets should be left to live their lives in peace, especially when the original owners have gotten on with their lives too.
But some organizations continue to search for lost pets, even when it means taking a pet from a perfectly loving home the pet has lived in for years. You can find many websites with an almost religious crusade to take pets from their new homes. I know they mean well…
So what should you do if you have a Katrina rescue pet? If you do still want your pet to be reunited, please check to make sure the correct information is still on the PetFinder internet database, (which virtually no one knows how to contact, but if you look on Google, you will find people who can help). You would assume it’s there, but it probably is not. If you do not want your pet to be taken from you after all this time, you need to just hold your breath for another year.
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GULF COAST
6. REPOST: Cats Outlived Katrina, But Now Face Desertion; Can Anyone Help?
SOURCE: RAMONA BILLOT, ramonabillot [at] yahoo.com
7/9/07, from ramonabillot [at] yahoo.com — A colony of roughly 25 cats face life with no caregiver. Their wonderful guardian Janice — who maintains this colony at the state facility in Belle Chasse, LA (Plaquemines Parish) where she’s employed — will be blocked from the property as it closes to await new tenants. Once closed, no one can set foot on the grounds… We have no idea how long these cats will wait and wait and wait… We are desperate to remove them before the facility it closes.
They relied upon Janice for the last 10 YEARS and survived Katrina. They do not deserve to suffer without food or a caregiver.
PLEASE HELP OR FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO SOMEONE WHO CAN:
- We need a sanctuary or individual with ample property willing to take the cats and temporarily confine them for adjustment before release.
- All cats are spayed, neutered and healthy.
CONTACT:
Ramona Billot, ramonabillot [at] yahoo.com
Plaquemines Parish Coordinator
Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO)
Plaquemines Cat Action Team (PCAT)
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GULF COAST
7. CAAWS Won The Burger King Campaign – $50,000!
SOURCE: Lisa Roussel, piglets_ten [at] yahoo.com
8/1/07, from piglets_ten [at] yahoo.com — Just to let you all know that CAAWS won the Burger King Campaign For Your Cause! We won $50,000! Thank ALL of you who kept the faith and never stopped voting! We did it…Thank YOU SO MUCH!
KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 7/12/07: They Outlived Katrina, But Face Desertion + MORE
SOURCE: Pam Leavy, tundraleap [at] msn.com * www.CAAWS.org
BACKGROUND: Vote For Louisiana CAAWS To Win $50,000 Donation CAAWS (Capital Area Animal Welfare Society) of Baton Rouge, was selected as one of 10 non-profit finalists in the Burger King Campaign for Your Cause. Ten area non-profits are now in the run offs for as much as $50,000.
• 7/7/07: Alive But Homeless – Two Years Later
www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/07-07-07.html#4
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GULF COAST
8. Sassy’s Miracle
SOURCE: RAMONA BILLOT, ramonabillot [at] yahoo.com
7/30/07, from ramonabillot [at] yahoo.com — Sassy, a Katrina survivor twice over, goes out on a transport today to South Carolina — to a new home! Thanks SO much to everyone who responded and offered assistance. It is a great feeling to know Sassy will never have to scavenge for food and shelter again and that she will be warm and dry for the rest of her life! Ramona
Billot, PCAT (Plaquemines Cat Action Team), plaqueminescat [at] yahoo.com
KINSHIP CIRCLE REFERENCES:
• 7/12/07: They Outlived Katrina, But Face Desertion + MORE
7/5/07, from ramonabillot [at] yahoo.com — Sassy survived hurricane Katrina and lived inside a crushed store in Empire, Louisiana (Plaquemines Parish) until recently. About a month ago, the building she inhabited for almost 2 years was suddenly demolished. Sassy lost her home for the second time in the last 2 years, and needs a safe place where she’ll never have to worry about howling winds, dodging 30 feet of water for 6 weeks, or starvation…
• 7/7/07: Alive But Homeless – Two Years Later
www.kinshipcircle.org/disasters/gulfcoast/newsletters/07-07-07.html#1
A happy ending for a true Katrina survivor!
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GULF COAST
9. 3,200 Animals Helped!
SOURCE: Lise McComiskey, lmccomiskey [at] SHERGARNER.com
7/30/07, from lmccomiskey [at] SHERGARNER.com — Today, 18 months after the administration of Animal Rescue New Orleans, or ARNO, was transitioned to local leaders Charlotte Bass Lilly and Robin Beaulieu, ARNO is making a difference in an area still limping toward recovery after Katrina devastated much of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas.
ARNO is now breaking the 3,200 mark. That is 3,200 animals that this grassroots organization has helped since March 2006 and this number includes only those animals who have received an “official” ARNO intake number…the number of animals who continue to receive ARNO’s help that do not have an official number only makes this number go higher!
3,200 animals helped by this grassroots organization in the past 18 months
3,200 animals ARNO has trapped, rescued, or accepted from kill shelters to be either TNRd, adopted, fostered or reunited
3,200 animals ARNO has treated, spay/neutered, moved in/out of its shelter
In the past 7 months alone, ARNO has transported 355 healthy cats and kittens to no-kill organizations, rescues and shelters in other areas of the country where the placement rate and retention rate are much higher than here in New Orleans…that is an average of 50 cats per month!
ARNO needs your support in order to continue this mission.
ARNO needs volunteers to assist with:
* Controlled Food/Water and Trapping Program
* Humane trapping of lost pets left homeless, injured, newborn or pregnant
* Medical triage and daily care at the ARNO Plauche St. no-kill shelter location Medical triage and daily care at the ARNO Plauche St. no-kill shelter location
* Animal transports to ship rescued pets to safe havens across the country
* TNR (trap-neuter-release) Program of feral cats
ARNO needs volunteers to be part of its foster network:
* Foster Program to house healthy animals ready for adoption to acquaint them with life within a household
ARNO needs your tax deductible donation today, or a monthly gift
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—–Original Message—–
From: Kinship Circle
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 11:34 AM
To: 7. KINSHIP CIRLE Animal Disaster Relief List
Subject: [GULF COAST] Volunteers Still Needed in New Orleans
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August 11th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
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