Katrina Situation Report - LONG

[flyndog]

From Responsible Pet Owners Alliance,
the reasonable voice regarding animal issues.
Responsible Pet Owners Alliance is an animal welfare organization,
not "animal rights" and, yes, there is a difference.
Permission granted to crosspost.

AVMA Disaster Update # 10
Event: Hurricane Katrina
Date: September 4, 2005
Time: 10:00 PM Update
Situation: AVMA Hurricane Katrina Disaster Situation Report

Contact Numbers for LA Animal Rescue Needs
Small Animal Rescue Requests: 225-578-9900
Large Animal Rescue Requests: 225-578-9501
www.lvma.org <http://www.lvma.org/>
Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association:
Volunteers Sign-Up Now!

AVMA Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT) Update

Personal Report from Dr. Barry Kellogg: VMAT 1 and 5 are stationed in Baton
Rouge and are working very closely with both the State Veterinarian and the
LA VMA’s head of the State Animal Response Team (SART).

VMAT-1 is providing 24/7 coverage at the airport in New Orleans. What a
humanitarian disaster! It is difficult to comprehend or describe the scene
or what is happening.

The good news is that the evacuees are being processed through there and are
being allowed to leave with their pets. The animals are being treated as
family members and being evacuated with them. However some have been in line
or traveling since the storm.

We have small SERV units on the floor interfacing with the individuals and
their pets. We are also assisting with the care at two locations that
animals are being processed through.

The Foundation has been instrumental in funding us over the years and if it
had not been for them, we would not have been able to do the tasks that we
are currently undertaking. I am so proud of all that have made this response
possible. You should all be very proud of the AVMA and the AVMF for making
this possible.

The VMAT efforts are made possible from an annual grant from the American
Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF). Please help support the VMAT program
by donating to www.avmf.org ,calling 800-248-2862 ext. 6689, or sending to
AVMFoundation, 1931 North Meacham Rd, Schaumburg, IL 601273-4360. The
restricted fund designation is "Animal Disaster Relief and Response"

Remember AVMA has the disaster preparedness booklet Saving the Whole Family
available at http://www.avma.org/disaster/saving_family.asp. Full text
available for free from the Web site.

Other Reports:
M. A. Littlefield-Chabaud, DVM, MS: Assistant State Veterinarian: I thought
I’d give you a morning briefing on the stories, good or bad, and what is
happening down here before I hit the phones/computer, etc.

Yesterday was a coming together day for centralizing the phone bank to one
area (see numbers below). We have a website with lots of information on it.
Pets that are being evacuated, whether stray, found in homes, etc are being
cataloged, photographed, described, etc and will be uploaded on this site
for people to look and try to find their pets. Animals that meet the
criteria of homeless or abandoned will be sheltered for the maximum of 15
days and then put up for adoption (same way).

The New Mexico Brand officers showed up yesterday. What a hardy bunch!
Additional law enforcement has been needed to get down to the New Orleans
area. Our department has been busy over this time delivering diesel and gas
to hospitals, law enforcement and other necessary buildings still
operational. Our men are on 2 week rotations delivering food and water down
to the evacuees. I mention this because I want you to realize that is a
total operation of rescue and recovery that Agriculture is doing.
Veterinary medicine fits into this picture.

Since moving the phones to my office, the phones have not stopped ringing
with people wanting to find their pets, volunteering or wanting to make
donations. Pet shelters associated near Red Cross shelters are all over the
state and we set them up as our plan called for them. We are coordinating
with the Humane Groups according to plan and most have cooperated
wonderfully.

HSUS, ASPCA & EARS are coordinating and even cooperate with the public
information officer that we have with our incident commanders. This way no
feelings are hurt and messages that go out aren’t overwhelming shifted to
one group or another. Talking to the media yesterday was a trip, especially
with one reporter that didn’t see the need for coordination of the phone
calls for lost pets, or why a humane group in one area, reported helping, is
not helping if we don’t know what, when and how, etc is going on.

Reports back from the VMAT teams were very encouraging. They assessed the
Florida Parishes (imagine the panhandle of Florida extending, as it once
did, to the Mississippi River). The dairies are intact, having to dump milk
as they supply the New Orleans area, which, surprisingly, doesn’t need milk
right now. Groups of coordinated veterinarians have gone into New Orleans
area and removed animals left in clinics and also all the controlled drugs.
These animals are in one of the two main shelters here.

Today will be roundup day. We have fences to put up; Animals to take care
of; and people to comfort. I am grateful for all of your thoughts and
prayers. We will recover. Veterinarians are an independent, tough group.
By the way, the $25 million dollar transgenic mice are fine.

For Hurricane Katrina information, questions, donations, etc., contact
Katrina@ldaf.louisiana.gov <mailto:Katrina@ldaf.louisiana.gov> , or (888)
773-6489:Phone, 225-237-5665:Fax, Web: www.vetmed.lsu.edu
<http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu>

REBECCA M. GIMENEZ: VMAT-2 Member, Large Animal Rescue Trainer: Rescuers
have begun to successfully access areas with horses trapped in flooded
stalls and paddocks and the horses are being shipped out for veterinary
medical attention. This afternoon The Horse received an update on rescued
horses from Rustin Moore, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, director of the Equine
Health Studies Program at Louisiana State University's (LSU) School of
Veterinary Medicine.

Moore said, "Thus far we have received 63 horses from two different barns in
the Kenner, La. area near the New Orleans Airport. The horses were standing
in approximately three feet of water. All were successfully evacuated
yesterday and received at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La. in
very good shape.

"One horse appeared dehydrated but was re-hydrated with oral fluids, two
horses had very minor lacerations which were sutured, and all others were in
very good health," Moore continued. "They are being housed at Lamar-Dixon
Expo Center and being cared for there by numerous volunteers under the
direction of Dr. Dennis French (DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVP), one of our equine
veterinarians here at the LSU Equine Clinic."

The rescue of these horses is just the beginning. "We expect to be receiving
more horses as access to the affected areas is permitted," adds Moore. "It
is anticipated that many more horses, and probably ones in worse shape, will
be evacuated and received over the next few days.

Moore says that the Horse Hurricane Helpline (225/578-9501) has received
inquiries for the need for assistance (rescue, shelter, and veterinary
care), as well as calls from people wanting to donate their time, services,
supplies, feed, and money toward the efforts.

A number of different organizations are offering ways to support the
hurricane victims--we're keeping a list updated at
www.TheHorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=6081.

Microchip Recovery Hotlines
AVID MICROCHIP ID (THEY ALSO OWN PET NET MICROCHIP COMPANY) CALL
800-336-2843
HOME AGAIN MICROCHIP RECOVERY CALL 866-738-4324

Texas Veterinary Medical Association: The Texas Veterinary Medical
Foundation has established a fund to support animal care and rescue efforts
and to help restore veterinary services in the hurricane impacted areas.
TVMA has also set up an Internet based matching service to match DVMs
displaced by the disaster with Texas clinics that are willing to employ them
on a short-term basis. Doctors not licensed to practice in Texas must
contact our State Board of Veterinary Examiners and apply for a
“Provisional” license. The cost of this license is $255, but Pfizer has
agreed to pay this cost for the first 100 doctors to apply in the next 90
days. Information on either of these programs is available at (800)
489-7347 or www.tvma.org <http://www.tvma.org/> .