Is Hurricane Katrina animal welfare's 9/11?

(photo from Animal Rescue New Orleans)

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I thought I left issues blogging behind me when I hit the delete button on Cat Out Loud, however I wonder if there is middle line somewhere between "issues" and "day-to-day."

I wonder because a conference call invitation found its way to my inbox. On that call were Michael Mountain, Paul Berry, and Francis Battista of Best Friends Animal Society, Jane Garrison of Animal Rescue New Orleans, and Eric Rice of EricsDogBlog.com. And Joe Trippi. Yes, Joe Trippi is working on behalf of Katrina animal rescue. It was addressed to "Friends and Bloggers." So, hey. At the appointed time, I called. And listened.

And heard what I expected. That there is a ton of work left to be done in the Gulf region. The animals aren't all dead, fostered, reunited with their owners, or adopted. There are still hundreds of animals on the street who need to be rescued, and many hundreds in still in foster homes, filling up those foster homes, pending reunion or adoption.

But three things were particularly pertinant from the conference call and websites I have visited.. First, that the Gulf is about to become a birthing spot for a large generation of feral animals if rescue efforts aren't aggressively pursued now. Those feral animals will have little chance of adoption if not captured during the critical seven-week socialization period for kittens and puppies. Second, that Americans were very generous with donations, and those donations have the ability to bring about change if they are dedicated to today's rescue, and rebuilding of a sustainable rescue future for the Gulf now (not just the status quo). And third...People are needed to make it happen. Now.

Many of the people have gone home. People who perhaps could not volunteer before but might be able to now, may not know where to go to offer their help. We are a country that operates "in the moment." But when the "moment" passes, crisis often still remains. The Gulf still needs help to prevent the crisis there from becoming something different and larger. Animals that fall through the cracks are not just going to kick off and die. They are going to breed. Every city has a general stray population, however in this case the human population has dropped precipitously. What may have been the usual stray population before is now far larger, while the human population (who feed, notice, capture, rescue, or even kill those strays) is far smaller.

Perhaps I am being rash and thoughtless to make this comparison, but I remember after all those people died on September 11, during the stunned days that followed I thought "At least we can create some memorable change out of their deaths. The world is looking our way. The world wants to help. At this moment we are all united. People died, but we will make their deaths worth some greater good."

I feel we missed that moment. No matter what anyone's opinion is on the conflicts were are now involved with after 9/11, we did not take the best advantage of the moment. We could have changed the world, and instead we just pummeled it in our usual way. Instead of changing the world, we concentrated on making "the world safer for America." Instead of becoming more united, we remained divided. We did not say, "Let's all come together." We said "You are either with us or against us."

Hurricane Katrina has given animal rescue, and society's awareness of the human/animal bond, a special moment. People and animals died to give us this moment. Animals are dying yet. Humans still suffer over the animals they left behind. They have paid a huge cost, in death and suffering. What will we do with it?

Will we continue to say "Let's come together?"

For a short time, animal groups were united in their resolve, and all realized it was just too big for any one organization. The moment is perfect to create incredible compassionate sweeping change. Together.

Will we do that? Or will we just give the Gulf our usual good old best try, then walk away to a world that we've left basically unchanged? Will we all go back to our seperate corners, separate budgets, separate missions? Or will we see ourselves as a puzzle piece in one larger mission, that we are all a part of?

Do you want to help? I don't have much time to blog tonight, but I hit the sites that first came to mind and looked only for concrete information on what groups are doing, or how to volunteer, now. For the purposes of this topic, I have only included websites that offered immediate opportunities for volunteering on the ground in the hurricane region at this time. If anyone finds others today, please let me know:

Animal Rescue New Orleans volunteer info
Alley Cat Allies Volunteer info
Best Friends Volunteer info
Tylertown.org
Just call your local shelter! Find out if they are accepting Katrina animals. By fostering or adopting a local pet, you make space for a Katrina pet. They also may need volunteers to transport pets, or get reunited pets back to their owners.

For those of us who are not free to respond, there are other options. We can donate directly to responding organization, and organizations locally that are sheltering hurricane animals and who intend to shelter more. We can keep an eye out to see if we can help with transport (watch websites and check with your local shelter). We can foster. We can adopt or foster a pet--any pet--from local shelters that are accepting hurricane pets. If our homes have the perfect number of pets already, we can encourage others to adopt rather than buy. This saves a local pet, and provides more space for either a hurricane pet or another local pet.

And we can keep the word alive that help is still needed, in both large and small ways, both in the Gulf and at home.