11/19/05: Your Help is Still Needed
(Crossposted from ARNO – http://www.animalrescueneworleans.com/)
There is no legally binding ban on volunteers coming to Louisiana to help feed, water and humanely capture abandoned animals on the streets. Animal Rescue New Orleans volunteers have experienced no legal problems. No volunteers are canceling their trips and we are still urgently recruiting people. The animals who need our urgent assistance were both stray and companions prior to Katrina and are not always immediately visible. Most don�t come out until dusk and then roam well into the night. They are afraid and many are starving.
Of the approximately 380 or so animals we have humanely trapped and rescued over the last 2 weeks (since November 1, 2005), approximately 45 of them were brought in as critical needing emergency vet care. 50-60% of these 45 critical animals exhibited symptoms of “extreme starvation” according to veterinarians from two local reputable animal hospitals who treated them.
Animals struggle to survive in a desolate, unstable environment that lacks usual food sources such as good Samaritan feedings or garbage output. Many of these animals languish in low populated areas slated for bulldozing. In addition, animals who are not spayed or neutered and set to give birth exacerbate the problem tremendously.
*These deserving animals are being sustained primarily through the efforts of caring people like you. You are very much needed.*