Hurricane Katrina separated thousands of pets from their owners. A year later, hundreds of pets are still homeless, living in a converted warehouse that serves as New Orleans’ temporary animal shelter — an old coffee warehouse that has no air conditioning and no drainage system.
Most of the animals that were rescued after the hurricane and flooding — approximately eighty percent of the sixteen thousand recovered animals — have found new homes or been reunited with their original owners. The ones who remain in the shelter were strays found during the cleanup or pets given up by owners who couldn’t care for them during the rebuilding effort. Housing has become a huge issue in the New Orleans area, and trying to rent an apartment or live in a tiny trailer with pets has become a problem.
Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast last August, seven states and the federal government have passed laws to include family pets in evacuations. Some of those laws have provided funds for pet-friendly shelters and evacuation sites. The Louisiana SPCA has been asked to share its evacuation plan — the shelter managed to safely evacuate nearly 300 animals ahead of the storm.
The Louisiana SPCA was completely flooded under eight feet of water, prompting the move to the converted warehouse. A new facility is scheduled to open in January 2007; the shelter is raising seventeen million dollars to pay for the new building and grounds.
Hurricane season is upon us once again. Make sure you have an evacuation plan that includes your family pets. If you cannot find a way to bring your pets with you, you may want to talk to a family member or friend who can help you transport or care for your pets. Make sure your pet wears a collar and ID tags at all times, in case you do become separated; only between fifteen and twenty percent of pets who lost their homes in the hurricane were reunited with their original owners. Thousands more died when evacuees were barred from returning to find their pets.