Imagine your beloved pet wandering the streets of your hometown without food, water or shelter. That is the reality in many parts of hurricane ravaged New Orleans today.
City of Corsicana employee Charlotte Childers and her sister Celia Lueck ventured to Bayou Country to assist with the Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) effort Dec. 2 through 9. What she saw both astonished and repulsed her beyond belief.
Garbage piled as high as houses on both sides of streets, animals growling at people due to starvation and water still stagnant in the city.
“What people are seeing in the news, the rosy pictures of how New Orleans is being rebuilt, is untrue,” Childers said.
Ever since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, the pictures of devastation and despair have been replaced with rebuilding efforts with help from across the nation. The situation for the animals, however, has been deteriorating.
Taking her vacation and volunteering her time and effort to saving these animals, Childers was overwhelmed at the number of animals trapped and hungry in the streets.
“It’s a nightmare, it’s unimaginable,” she said in regards to the living conditions for both the animals as well as the people.
Despite the Red Cross’ daily meal distribution throughout the devastated region, food and water were still scarce in the city, Childers said.
“Aside from two grocery stores, on opposite ends of the city and a few convenience stores — there is no food,” Childers said.
Childers and 20 other people divided into teams of two and began the retrieval and location process of the program. Once an animal is located, the location is usually marked in spray paint on doors of abandoned homes, they are fed and scheduled for the trapper.
Once trapped, the animals are taken to a hospital and then to a shelter where they are fed and walked, pending location of the owner. If an owner is not located, the pet is then put up for adoption.
A lot of the bigger companies have pulled out since the Katrina disaster, according to Childers, and the grassroots organizations are left to continue the struggle.
The turnover rate for volunteers is sky high and getting new recruits up to speed has been a challenge, she said.
Childers said the ARNO still needs several more volunteers, as well as donations of money and supplies.
“My main goal is to get the word out to people,” Childers said. “If you can volunteer please go. And if you can’t, please donate.”
For more information, go to Web site www.animalrescueneworleans.com or www.kinship.org. Or, call (225) 298-9513.
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AJ Narasimhan can be reached via e-mail at ajn@corsicanadailysun.com
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