Plight of Stranded Animals Worsening Daily

[leftchick]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702267.html

Animal lovers here and across the country are mobilizing in an urgent effort to help thousands of pets and farm animals still stranded or left homeless by Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed.

Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, appealed yesterday for immediate federal, state and local assistance in the Gulf Coast area to save animals he said will die in the next few days if they aren't found, fed and sheltered.

"Animals are trapped by the thousands in their homes, and the clock is ticking," he said. "We need the government to help us, not with money but with rescuers. We need the Coast Guard, firemen and the National Guard. . . . We'll take care of the animals after they are pulled out."

Pacelle, noting that about 60 percent of households have pets, estimated that more than 50,000 animals might be in peril. His organization has received more than 2,000 calls from people who fled Katrina. Other organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, also have been getting pleas for help. Many people left behind pets, especially cats, because they thought they would be gone only a couple of days.


.... If you would like to help here is a one stop website with links to all of the animal rescue groups working in the area. I donated as much as I could to three of the groups this morning.

http://www.petfinder.com/disaster/