UPDATE - Monday morning, September 1st:
Best Friends’ rapid response team is on the ground in New Orleans, going to back yards where dogs are reported to be tied up.
“We’re shifting into rescue mode,” says Rich Crook, who is heading up the team in the field.
Crook has compiled a list of confirmed addresses with dogs chained in yards and, along with a Jefferson Parish animal control officer, is going to those homes to check on their well being, and, as needed, is rescuing and holding them until their people return.
The winds are steady and strong, Crook reports, and the rain is falling in waves.
Check back later today for the latest news.
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As Hurricane Gustav barreled toward the Gulf Coast Sunday night, Best Friends Animal Society’s animal rescue teams were moving into place, ready to help search for companion animals reportedly left behind by families evacuating Greater New Orleans.
As the City of New Orleans completed its most successful evacuation of people Sunday night, just how many animals were left behind is still unclear. Unfortunately, as daylight ran out and bands of rain arrived Sunday afternoon, animals that were still out there must fend for themselves until Best Friends’ rapid responders can re-enter Jefferson Parish, perhaps by Tuesday morning, and come to their aid.
“We’re aware that animals were left in back yards and we’re getting phone calls from people asking for us to check on them,” said Rich Crook, rapid response manager for Best Friends whose search and rescue team will move into Jefferson Parish once the storm passes.
Best Friends, known for its nine-month deployment to the New Orleans area during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which resulted in the rescue of 6,000 pets, helped transport 200 animals out of the storm-threatened area late Sunday. The Utah-based organization has been in New Orleans for the past six days working with local shelters, animal welfare groups, and law enforcement to help evacuate animals from the storm threatened area.
“We’re assembling quite a list of family pets left behind,” said Crook. “With the city almost fully evacuated and the weather deteriorating, we’ve done as much as we can right now.”
Earlier Sunday, Best Friends worked with FEMA to put out a broadcast alert on the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) to advise evacuees on how to ensure their pets’ safety. Best Friends also came to aid of evacuees who, when boarding public transportation, were told that they could not bring their animals unless they were in carriers.
Working with the Louisiana State Animal Rescue Response Team and Jefferson Parish, Best Friends acquired animal carriers and began distributing them to anyone who needed them.
“We had our first batch of carriers snapped up in about an hour and a half,” said Crook. “And later we were able to get more carriers and these too were gone in less than an hour.”
Late Sunday, more Best Friends rescue team members were en route to what would become a staging area in Grapevine, Texas. Once the storm moves through, the group will move to an area near Shreveport, La. to be in position for entry into Jefferson Parish. Best Friends is working under a memorandum of understanding with Jefferson Parish to provide assistance in animal rescue following natural disasters.
“Our main obligation early on will be to work within Jefferson Parish,” Crook said. “We’ll be at the East Bank Shelter in East Jefferson—ready with pet food, medical supplies, and crates. Our people are well trained and fully certified in water rescue, and we’re determined to get out there as soon as the weather allows.”
Best Friends, one of the very first groups to arrive in New Orleans prior to the storm, met with three animal shelters in the past several days—Animal Rescue of New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish and Jefferson Parish. By the end of the day Sunday, Best Friends had assisted with the evacuation of more than 400 animals to shelters in Atlanta and Panama City, Fla.
Once the storm passes through, Best Friends will do an initial assessment to find out the extent of the problem with animals being left behind.
To read more about Best Friends’ animal rescue work during Hurricane Gustav, visit: www.bestfriends.org
Check out our Rapid Response web page for more info on Best Friends preparations for the hurricane season.
Donate to help the animals when disaster strikes.
