Katrina-Hit Animal Shelters Slowly Rebuilding

Maryann Mott
for National Geographic News

June 1, 2007

More than 17 months after Hurricane Katrina forced their animal shelter into a makeshift warehouse, the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LA/SPCA) recently opened a new, multimillion-dollar facility in New Orleans.

The August 2005 hurricane flooded and destroyed the original shelter, which was located in the city's Ninth Ward.

"We experienced devastating losses," said Laura Maloney, CEO of the LA/SPCA.

"But we never lost sight of our vision to create a better place for our animals."

The nonprofit was one of about 12 private and municipal animal shelters in the Gulf Coast region that sustained damage.

It's also one of many shelters still struggling to get back on its feet after the disaster.

(See related: Katrina's Pet Legacy: Better Evacuation Plans, Bitter Custody Lawsuits [August 21, 2006].)

A Long Road Ahead

Only a handful of organizations have rebuilt their facilities, including the Mississippi Animal Rescue League in Jackson and the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport.

"The shelters still need help," said Pam Burney, vice president of national outreach for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is headquartered in New York City.

"But the ones that are still there [are] coming back better and stronger than before," Burney said.

Progress has been made, thanks in part to national animal welfare groups, which contributed funds to the rebuilding effort.

The LA/SPCA received three million U.S. dollars for construction costs.

The new 21,600-square-foot (about 2,006-square-meter) facility was built under the highest standards for animal health and safety, experts say.

It's also a soothing place for homeless animals, shelter officials say. Large windows and skylights fill the facility with natural light. Piped-in classical music helps ease anxious animals, and seven exercise yards allow dogs to romp and socialize.

Not So Lucky

But in St. Bernard parish, just five miles from downtown New Orleans, more than a hundred dogs and cats housed at the government-run animal control shelter aren't so lucky.

(See a map of Louisiana.)

St. Bernard was one of the hardest hit areas. All of the community's 27,000 homes were deemed uninhabitable after the storm, and only a fraction of the 65,000 residents have returned.

The flooded animal control facility was scrubbed clean and reopened, and even though it lacks space and staff, the shelter continues to take in five or more new pets daily.

"We have no place for these animals," said one frustrated volunteer, Deborah Cantrell, adding that 15 kittens are living in one plastic travel kennel.

"People come to this place to adopt animals and leave crying because the conditions are so bad," she said.

The St. Bernard shelter reopening came much to the dismay of volunteers and animal welfare groups.

"They are using the property and the building in a substandard way," said Laura Lanza, ASPCA's southern regional manager.

Burney of the national ASPCA said her organization has given St. Bernard parish $150,000 to buy a prefabricated shelter that could be constructed and delivered in a matter of months.

The parish has yet to spend the money, though.

A call to the St. Bernard parish's administrative office seeking comment was not returned.

Still Short-Staffed

Tara High, executive director of the Humane Society of Southern Mississippi, was relieved to move into her shelter's new facility in Gulfport in March.

The society's 41,000-square-foot (3,809-square-meter) shelter was already under construction when the hurricane hit, and only sustained minor damage.

(See how a hurricane works.)

Still, the opening was delayed for several months, forcing the group to operate out of its old, flooded facility—an already crumbling World War II Army bunker located next to a sewage plant.

Today the organization faces new challenges, she said, including staffing shortages and an increasing stray population.

"It's kind of depressing to see," High said.

The shelter's intake numbers for this past May are higher than for May 2006, prompting High to initiate an aggressive spay-and-neuter campaign.

That doesn't surprise Francis Battista of Best Friends Animals Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah.

The group is part of a regional program to control feral cat populations.

He said short staffing has hampered the ability of Gulf Coast shelters to control strays and implement effective spay-neuter programs.

"If you went back and looked at the mess that was done [after the hurricane] and the status of things now—my God, it's just a world of difference," he said.

"There's just still a lot to be done."

The Bright Side

High of Southern Mississippi focuses on the bright side.

She said financial support from national organizations allowed the humane society to finish construction of its new shelter and establish programs.

One 2006 program, Love Train, transported 2,000 adoptable animals to other states where new homes were found.

(See related: "Katrina Pets" Deadline Passes and Adoptions Begin [December 16, 2005].)

"There have been a lot of positive things that have come from Hurricane Katrina," High said.

"And as bad as the bad was, I would probably go through it again knowing the good that we would get from it."

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