The meowing cats and barking dogs temporarily housed among John Parker Coliseum’s stacks of Friskies cat food and Purina One dog food are enduring a process similar to that of evacuees at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Each animal is registered, grouped according to needs, examined by a veterinarian and assigned a name tag and cage.
The LSU AgCenter’s exhibition site is one of several emergency shelters throughout the state for animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. These pets have been rescued from the New Orleans area or brought in by owners forced to stay in hotels or buildings that do not allow pets.
The shelter opened Wednesday. As of Sunday, there were approximately 600 cats and dogs in the coliseum, said Terry Conger, state epidemiologist officer for U.S. Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services.
“But they’re coming and going all the time,” Conger said.
The animal health division of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry is overseeing the relief effort with the help of individual donors, volunteers, the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams, a national association that responds to natural disasters.
Emergency animal shelters state wide registered 1,500 animals by Sunday. These include the site on campus, the Lamar Dixon Exposition Center in Gonzales and shelters in Shreveport, West Monroe, Alexandria and Lafayette.
Patrick Thistlewaite, a Plaquemine town veterinarian and member of the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association, said the shelter was needed “because of the monstrosity of this disaster.”
“We get some animals that are healthy, some that are dying,” Thistlewaite said. “Some may never be matched with their owners.”
Thistlewaite said animals left behind in New Orleans will succumb to the same dangerous elements as humans.
“Unless they can swim to high ground, I don’t know what their chances of survival are,” he said. “They don’t have food, and they’ll drown if the water level is high enough.”
He expects animals in the New Orleans area with access to water to survive about a week.
The animals that need immediate medical attention — such as those with a body temperature above 103 degrees — are placed in temporary hospital quarters within the coliseum.
Also in the arena is an isolated area of animals with special conditions that could be contagious, such as scabies or worms.
“Vet students touch them and then have to completely scrub down,” said Lindsay Agnettant, animal science junior and volunteer. “No animals have died yet, that I know of.”
Linda Bui, AgCenter professor and supervisor of volunteers at the coliseum, said the mission of the long-term project is to house people’s companion animals while they are in shelters or other places unsuitable for pets.
“But we are encouraging these owners to come visit and care for their animals,” Bui said.
Don Horodecky, along with his wife Cherril and daughter Katie of Chalmette, brought Chance — their 9-year-old Chihuahua-Jack Russell Terrier mix — to the shelter Friday after hearing about it while staying at a local Best Western hotel.
Chance was staying in a storage shed behind Best Western.
“I know he’s going to feel deserted, but we’re just thrilled to find people to take care of him,” Horodecky’s wife said. “We don’t want to be separated from him, but at least we’ll know he’s safe.”
Contact Chris Day at [email protected]