Fostering Katrina Animals
Information Excerpted From PetFinder.com Many pets have been transported out of the Lamar-Dixon facility to other shelters and foster facilities across the country. We encourage these organizations to confirm that the pets they have taken in are already posted in the AERN database and that the information has been updated to show that they are now with you. If they are NOT already in, please post them in the “I have found a pet” section. If you follow all the steps above and still have the means to transport animals displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, then you must first contact Karen Terpstra, SAWA Secretary, with what kind of plane (passenger or cargo) could come or what type of vehicle you have available. Karen is assisting with the folks on the ground, in Gonzales,
regarding approving and scheduling the transfers out (getting the animals ready to leave starts at 4 a.m. and leaving for the airport sometime between 6 and 7:30 am; all animals going out will be vaccinated for rabies, distemper, and microchipped).
At PetFinder.com, we would like to urge any organizations that is taking animals from Lamar-Dixon to follow the example of the Marin Humane Society and place animals on a 'foster to adopt' basis until December 31, 2005,
thus allowing owners sufficient time to find their pets.
For the news regarding the process for arranging animals to be transferred out of the Lamar-Dixon site at Gonzales, LA here are seven steps that need to be taken before calling our SAWA contact to be put on the schedule:
1. The organization must be a 501c3 or a government animal control agency.
2. You must be willing to take anywhere from 6 to 200 animals. You get what is given to you. (Fifteen percent are pit bulls, and the exception will be made if your jurisdiction doesn't allow pit bulls.)
3. Your organization must have its airlift arrangements fairly secured (except for knowing when to go) or have refrigerated trucks available to drive the animals away, as long as it is less than a 10 hour drive for the animals and your driver. Approved flights are being scheduled for each morning out of Baton Rouge airport.
4. You're prepared to provide veterinary attention to these animals when they arrive (if not during the flight). A majority have heartworm, need fluids, etc.
5. You agree to put the animals on Petfinder.com and the animals must be held at a shelter until 9/30, and may be fostered from 10/1-10/15. On 10/16, the unclaimed animals shall become the property of the agency. All animals must be spayed or neutered at the time of adoption.
6. You agree to return the animals to their owners if the owners are found. Many of these animals have paperwork and/or identification that will lead to an owner. Accepting agencies should follow up on this information to find the owner.
7. You will follow the Asilomar Accords definitions of what is an unhealthy and untreatable animal, if you have questions or concerns about possible euthanasia decisions. In other words, no animal shall be euthanized or otherwise disposed of unless it meets that definition.