Hurricane Katrina
Two of our members, Anthony and Linda Hartle, went down with some other people to Pearlington,
Mississippi to help with the animal rescue effort. We drove down Mon. night Sept 12th getting into Pearlington about
9am Tues. We found the basecamp area where the animals were being housed in pens and kennels. We were sent on search
missions the remainder of the day looking for animals that had been seen or known about and not picked up yet.
Animals that were brought into basecamp were examined thoroughly by a volunteer veterinarian and
then fully vaccinated and treated for fleas. A polaroid picture was made of every animal with any known information written
on the bottom strip of the photo. People with missing animals would come look at all the pictures hoping to find their
beloved pet. If the animal was taken by a rescue team, it was documented so that the animal could still be claimed by
the owner.
We left Pearlington late Tues. afternoon with a few dogs and went to Mandeville, Louisianna to
a kennel that also housed recued animals. A few more dogs and 5 cats were picked up. There were 22 total animals
in our caravan of 3 vans. Soon after leaving, one van broke down and 2 vans headed back to NC after some rearranging
of the animals, for the all night 800 mile trip.
Our first stop in North Carolina was at Dr. Spindel's Animal Ark Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Spindel
had generously agreed to help check out all the animals before they went their separate ways with foster and/or adopted parents.
Sadly, most of the dogs had heartworms. Otherwise the animals were in good condition for the most part. Dr. Emerson,
who also donated his time, helped in examining the new arrivals.
The animals went to pre arranged foster homes in and around Forsyth county. The Davie
Hum. Soc. did not take any of these animals. We have very few foster homes and did not have any room.
