550 Hurricane Dogs Coming to Marin Humane Society

Canine refugees head for Calif. on flight funded by oil tycoon
- By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
Monday, September 12, 2005

(09-12) 00:01 PDT San Francisco (AP) --

The first major airlift of canine refugees from the hurricane battered Gulf Coast headed out of Louisiana on Sunday with about 80 dogs bound for new temporary homes in California.

The Continental Airlines flight from Baton Rouge, La., was chartered for about $50,000 by Texas oil tycoon Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, in a movement dubbed by organizers as "Operation Pet Lift."

About half the dogs on Sunday's flight were headed toward the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego, with the rest bound for the Marin Humane Society at San Francisco International Airport.

Austin, Texas-based PetRelocation.com was organizing Sunday's move.

"I have a feeling from here on there's going to be a whole bunch of help," said PetRelocation.com President Kevin O'Brien.

He said Pickens arrived in Baton Rouge Sunday morning on a private jet.

"Rather than just donating the money, he actually got involved and went and helped load the dogs," O'Brien said. "Here you have an iconic philanthropist who was actually loading dogs with his bare hands."

Pickens' spokesman Jay Rosser said the oil magnate hoped to motivate others to pitch in.

"The goal was to help rescue 200 dogs," Rosser said. "They're overjoyed that they were able to rescue 80, but clearly disappointed and dismayed at the bureaucracy which prevented them from taking the full 200."

Organizers complained that some legal requirements were impractical, such as waiting out a 30-day quarantine before transporting the animals.

On the flight, however, there was nothing but joy.

"It was the most awesome experience. All the stewardesses were volunteers and the pilots," said Christine Penrod, Madeleine Pickens' sister, who accompanied the animals on the plane. "It was pure heaven. They were barking and wagging their tails."

Penrod said some dogs were placed in cages in the cargo section while others rode like human passengers "enjoying the full service of Continental Airlines."

"They'd been in cages far too long. We felt like they needed to be free so they sat on our laps and we played with them the whole way," Penrod said.

Kelly Harrington, director of disaster response services for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said a makeshift shelter for up to several thousand dogs had been set up at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La., about 45 miles northwest of New Orleans.

She hoped additional dogs would be flown out in the coming days, but said the effort was taking time.

"There are legal issues on moving animals that are potentially owned," Harrington said. "Every animal has to be vet checked, vaccinated and microchipped ... so we can track these animals in case an owner does find them."

Petfinder.com was setting up a database of pet pictures to help reunite owners with lost animals.

Andrew Rowan, executive vice president of operations for the Humane Society United States, said animals must be moved out of the Gonzales facility quickly to make room for "maybe 50,000 or more dogs and cats in New Orleans that need to be rescued."

"There are vans and cars and trucks all over the place. Dogs are barking, cats are meowing. It's a tremendous logistical operation to provide the care that these animals need."

The Humane Society's Dave Pauli, the incident commander for the Gonzales facility, said the site is "bursting at the seams."

He said 200 animals were shipped out Sunday by truck to Houston, but rescue teams were expected to bring in about 300 more in the afternoon.

About 200 animals have been reunited with their owners at the facility.

"Every one of them brings a tear to your eyes and makes these sleepless nights worth it," Pauli said.

In 26 years, "this is by far the largest animal rescue experience I have seen or been involved with."

The Marin Humane Society north of San Francisco received about 40 canines Sunday, with an additional 400 expected Monday, said spokeswoman Sheri Cardo.

"All of the shelters out here have agreed to hold on to them and facilitate any reunions with their families that can be made," Cardo said.

Help is coming from across the country. The Web sites petfinder.com and craigslist.org list dozens of people who are offering to take in furry Katrina refugees. The ASPCA has received at least $5 million in donations to its disaster relief fund.

And corporate America is caring, too. San Diego-based Petco has raised more than $600,000 for relief. Huntington Beach-based PetProTech said it would divert money targeted for a pet oxygen mask project to relief projects for the rest of the year. Glendale-based D.E.L.T.A. Rescue shipped several truckloads of dog and cat food to the region.

"Time is of the essence," Cardo said. "If they don't start moving these animals out, they're going to have a killing field down there."

___

On The Net:

ASPCA: http://www.aspca.com

Humane Society United States: http://www.marinhumanesociety.org

Marin Humane Society: http://www.hsus.org

Helen Woodward Animal Center: http://www.animalcenter.org

HURRICANE KATRINA: Bay Area Response
Airlift brings stranded animals to Bay Area
Pooches and cats orphaned by storm get temporary shelter
- Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, September 12, 2005


About 50 furry evacuees from Louisiana arrived in the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon. And, 1,000 more are on the way.

While human survivors of Hurricane Katrina have trickled into the Bay Area on their own, animal lovers have organized a major airlift of cats and dogs orphaned by the storm.

The first group of nervous and weary travelers left Baton Rouge on Sunday on a chartered Continental Airlines plane. The plane flew first to San Diego, where it dropped off 50 dogs, and then to San Francisco International Airport, where it delivered approximately 30 pooches and 20 kittens, said officials from the Marin Humane Society, which is helping shelter the animals.

"Their future will definitely be brighter than their past,'' said Diane Allevato, executive director of the Marin Humane Society. A dozen other Bay Area shelters have also agreed to assist in the relief effort.

Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, paid the estimated $50,000 fee to charter the jet on Sunday, and donors are being sought to fund the transportation later this week for another 3,000 animals, with 1,000 each going to the Bay Area, San Diego and Houston.

Madeleine Pickens' sister, Christine Penrod, of San Diego, was on Sunday's furry flight and said the Pickenses got involved after hearing that Louisiana animal shelters were overflowing with abandoned animals. Some existing shelters had to be shut down due to floods, and the remaining ones were jammed with animals orphaned by the storm. The situation is expected to grow worse as relief workers gradually pick up more animals wandering the streets of New Orleans or find them trapped in homes, she said.

"They really need to be rescued,'' said Penrod, one of the airlift organizers. She stepped off the plane carrying a brown cocker spaniel. Some of the dogs traveled in the cargo section, while others traveled in plastic carriers in the plane's passenger compartment.

The plane was greeted by camera crews, several dozen animal shelter workers and a dozen trucks labeled with signs marked "Operation Orphans of the Storm" on the tarmac near the south gate of the airport.

Volunteers and staff of the Marin Humane Society and the Sacramento SPCA photographed and tagged the animals and took them back to their local shelters. Agency representatives said they hope to place the animals in foster families, and put them up for adoption if the pets' owners cannot be found.

There were originally supposed to be as many as 200 dogs on the plane, including 150 earmarked for San Francisco. But Penrod said Louisiana state officials blocked most of the animals rescued from the hurricane from being taken out of state, citing the need to quarantine the animals for 30 days, in case they are ill.

Despite the quarantine order, T. Boone Pickens personally drove a flatbed truck to the makeshift shelter in Gonzales, La., where he helped load the truck with several dozen animals and took them to the airport, Penrod said.

The quarantine order was canceled later that day, said Marin Humane Society spokeswoman Sheri Cardo.

Some of the animals on the flight also came from a regular shelter that was overloaded. But those animals had all been orphaned before the hurricane struck, Penrod said.

Still, the flight was mostly empty.

"There are 120 more animals that should be here," Penrod said.

Andrew Rowan, executive vice president of operations for the Humane Society of the United States, estimated there may be 50,000 or more additional dogs or cats in New Orleans that must be rescued and brought to the Gonzales shelter.

"It's a tremendous logistical operation to provide the care that these animals need," he told the Associated Press.

Another Humane Society official, Dave Pauli, told the news service that the makeshift shelter in Gonzales is "bursting at the seams."

Penrod said some of the animals brought to the Bay Area may be sick, because they have been crammed into overloaded or temporary shelters. At least one animal on Sunday's plane was rushed immediately to an animal hospital.

The flight otherwise went smoothly, flight attendants said.

"The ride was great,'' said Kathryn Glab, a Continental flight attendant who was walking an excited beagle after exiting the aircraft.

Asked if she'd ever been on a plane full of animals before, Glab said she'd once been on a flight full of football players. "These were better."

The Marin Humane Society said people who want to help with the rescue efforts should contact their local shelters, many of which have agreed to take in some of the 1,000 animals expected this week. The shelters will probably need money, foster homes and volunteers to care for the animals, said Allevato of the Marin Humane Society.

"There'll be plenty of work to go around,'' she said.

Although national animal rescue organizations have raised millions of dollars for Katrina, none of that money will go to Bay Area animal shelters caring for the animals brought here, said John Reese, chief operating officer of the Marin Humane Society.

The shelters plan to hold on to the dogs for at least 30 days before offering them up for adoption, to give the owners a chance to claim them. Pictures and information about the pets will be posted at http://www.petfinder.com.

In addition to funding the airlift, the Pickenses have also given money to help human relief efforts. Pickens and employees at his oil company, BP Capital, recently pledged $5 million to the American Red Cross.


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Animal Rescue
Bay Area takes in canine survivors
152 more pets flown into San Francisco

- Diana Walsh, Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 14, 2005


More than 150 dogs displaced by Hurricane Katrina landed Wednesday night at San Francisco International Airport, while hundreds more are expected this week.

The well-publicized arrival of animal survivors has brought an outpouring of calls from volunteers who want to care for them, help with laundry or make a donation on their behalf. Many of the rescued animals have been injured and will require some long-term health care.

"The community has been really great in responding,'' said Diane Allevato, executive director of the Marin Humane Society.

The Marin Humane Society is coordinating the Bay Area's effort to find foster families for dogs and cats displaced by Katrina or abandoned by their owners. The first 50 arrived at SFO on Sunday, and an additional 152 were flown in Tuesday after being held in a makeshift shelter in Gonzales, La.

The agency is looking for cash donations and foster families who will care for the pets while efforts are made to reunite them with their original families.

The shelter is dispersing the animals to other shelters throughout the Bay Area, including the Peninsula Humane Society, which will house 65 of the newly arrived dogs in a makeshift shelter in its parking lot.

Other shelters include the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, San Jose Animal Control and Care and the San Francisco SPCA. The agencies will give the animals medical examinations before placing them in foster homes.

Hundreds more animals are expected to arrive in the Bay Area later this week and will be housed at shelters throughout the region and as far away as Sacramento and Monterey.


Page B - 4

Here's where to help:

-- Marin Humane Society: (415) 883-4621 or http://www.marinhumanesociety.com.

-- San Francisco SPCA: (415) 522-3500 or http://www.sfspca.org.

-- Humane Society of Silicon Valley: (408) 727-3383 or http://www.hssv.org.

-- Peninsula Humane Society: contact PHS/SPCA Customer Service Director Kathy Freis, at (650) 340-7022, Ext. 330 or kfreis [at] PeninsulaHumaneSociety.org.

-- San Jose Animal Care Center: (408) 578-7297 or http://www.sanjoseanimals.com.

Other Bay Area shelters will begin receiving animals later this week.

I just received a call from Marin Humane Society asking for our help in their rescue coordination for rabbits coming in from Hurricane Katrina. In case you are not aware, Marin Humane Society is spearheading the Bay area rescue efforts for animals left homeless from the disaster. In the next few days hundreds, if not thousands, of animals are expected to arrive in California. No one is sure if there are rabbits, and if so, how many.

The rescue efforts for these rabbits is complicated. We would need to sign a special contract and agree to take the rabbits "as is." They must be held for 30 days. Spays and neuters will be done by Marin Humane Society on an "as needed" basis and it is expected that the rabbits would be intact. If we suspect that a female is pregnant we can either try to have her spayed ASAP at Marin Humane Society or we may need to seek outside options and possibly fund these on our own.

What is also complicating matters a bit is overcrowding at several Bay area shelters. Help is needed in the South Bay for the San Jose shelter. This is a large shelter with many animals. They are taking in an estimated 100 animals from Hurricane Katrina. They currently have 17 existing Bay area rabbits and have asked for our help in finding adopters and homes for them. You can help a local animal , which will also help the Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts.

Monterey Animal Services is also expecting a large "dump-off" 40 rabbits from a local breeder, and already has 15 in urgent need of placement. These 15 rabbits are already spayed and neutered. Most are purebred (if that is important) and under a year old.

This is a tough time for rabbits in the Bay area, as well as for the Hurricane affected area.
Reliable fosters and adopters are VERY URGENTLY needed to save lives. We are grateful to Marin Humane Society for their efforts to help and for their trust in us to be their partner for the rabbits.

Please contact me ASAP if you can help.

On behalf of the rabbits,
Thank you

Marcy Schaaf
Chapter Manager
SaveABunny
San Francisco/ Marin House Rabbit Society
http://www.saveabunny.com
415-388-2790