Needed: No-Kill Rescues for New Orleans Homeless Animals

[Guest guest]

I’m looking for no-kill groups who would be interested in participating in a multi-organisation, one day, media-attended adoption fair for cats ( & , maybe later, for dogs) rescued from the streets of New Orleans. I realize that people often have misgivings about rescuing animals from outside their area when our own animals still need so much help. But I think that, in this case, the circumstances are bad enough to warrant an open mind & heart. In New Orleans alone, there are estimated to be at least 40,000-80,000 animals living on the street right now. The only food available to them is what is left out by volunteers & poorly funded rescue groups; they don't have access to the garbage (people don't live in the neighbourhoods where the animals are hiding) & small-prey species (so many died last year) that our strays here have. Also, I'm hoping that the arrangement I'm proposing here is beneficial enough to participating groups (via money & media attention) that you'll be willing to overlook your usual misgivings...

 

I'm working with a group called Southern Animal Foundation (www.southernanimalfoundation.com <http://www.southernanimalfoundation.com/>) a wonderful and well-respected rescue & vet organization in New Orleans who have been one of the cornerstones of the grassroots animal rescue & treatment effort in that area since Katrina hit. They've now received a large HSUS grant to tnr, treat & feed the growing population of strays that are still living in New Orleans (they're currently spaying/neutering 30-40 animals A DAY, six days a week!!).

 

But the problem is massive: New Orleans had one of the largest stray animal populations pre-Katrina, add to that the 10,000+ animals who were estimated to have been left by evacuees, and the fact less than 5% of ALL the animals were neutered, and you've got a HUGE and FAST growing population - despite the 30,000 animals who were rescued over the winter and the tens of thousands more who have died since the storm (many due to starvation in the last 4-6mo).

 

Also, only a fraction of the original human population has returned and the local options for adoption & fostering are few, at best. Moreover, all state-run shelters have an 80-95% kill rate for animals brought in (often with only a 1-5 day hold), and many of those still use gas to euthanise.

 

So for most groups, including SAF, the only viable options are to transport animals out of state or to release them back on to the street (including house cats & kittens). And sadly, the vast majority of that area is still just a pile of rubble, black mold, and toxic mud. It's no place for an animal, any animal, to live.

 

What I'm hoping to organize is a one-day adoption fair in which multiple no-kill groups 'sponsor' cats/kittens & dogs for adoption. The animals will have all received a full medical check up, ALL their vaccines, microchips, and will be spayed or neutered by SAF before leaving New Orleans. They will be transported in a temperature controlled truck driven by a reputable driver with experience doing animal transports. Transport costs will be fully covered by SAF's grant.

 

So what that means is that there will NO COST to any organization who gets involved. Any adoption fees that you choose to charge new owners will be yours free and clear (essentially becoming a 100% donation, without the usual secondary costs associated with taking in a rescued animal). So for each animal that you 'sponsor', you could be earning $50-200 depending on your group's adoption policy. You will also be in full control of the adoption process - you will decide whether families meet your criteria and will conduct your own home-checks (if you want) etc. I think it would work best if each group holds their own adoption event at their own shelter or, for foster-only groups (without a physical shelter), in a church basement or school gym etc in your area. This will not only minimize the stress on the animals, but it will maximize your control over your own animals & adoption process (e.g. people won't go 'shopping' between groups). It will also spread out the animals across the area, so people living downtown don't have to drive 40km to adopt from a single mega-location etc. And it will get your group's name ( & , if you choose, your shelter location) recognized in your own area by the very people who will be most likely to donate to & adopt from you in the future.

 

Moreover, by holding all the mini-fairs on a single day, we can maximize media coverage (e.g. " ...adoption events are happening at 10 locations across the city... ooh look at all the cute little kittens " etc). And because these are officially Katrina survivors (or their offspring), and since we've just had the 1yr anniversary, I think we'll be able to attract far more media attention than an event of this sort would usually get!

 

What I would ask of you in return is that you agree to 'sponsor' a specific number of animals and then, if they aren't all adopted out during the organised event, that you promise to house & find homes for them afterward. I strongly believe that the vast majority of the animals will be adopted during the fair, but I need assurances that you will care for any that remain. You can choose the number of animals to sponsor (it doesn't matter if it's 5 or 500, it just needs to be what your organization can reasonably place & /or shelter), their individual health status (re: FIV & FeLV) & socialization (feral vs non-feral), and even the approximate age range if that's important to you. There are SO many animals needing to be rescued from New Orleans that (sadly) you can be fairly specific about which ones you choose to sponsor.

 

I don't have a set timeline for this transport yet - I'm hoping to decide on one based on the scheduling preferences of any local groups I work with. It may be that we need to have more than one (smaller) fair to make this work & /or to wait until the local ‘kitten season’ ends. But that's something that I'll work out in conjunction with participating organizations.

 

Ideally, I’d like also to organize an event for New Orleanian dogs, but feel that it would be too stressful on the animals to transport both cats and dogs in the same truck. So that will have to wait to happen until later in the Fall.

 

And, in case you're wondering who I am and why I'm trying to organize all this, here’s a little background info on me: I volunteered in New Orleans for more than four months this winter. I rescued, trapped, & fed animals like crazy, and eventually ran the food & water program for ‘Animal Rescue New Orleans’ from Dec-March (we left 30,000lb of food per week at feeding stations across southern Louisiana). I worked closely with SAF throughout my stay in New Orleans and I know just how dedicated they are to the animals there. I'm hoping that, by transporting a large number of animals out of state, I can relieve some of the pressure on Louisiana foster families and save as many animals as possible from having to be returned to the disaster zone of New Orleans’ streets. I'm also hoping that our local groups here can benefit by raising a significant amount of money & public awareness for themselves in the process.

 

If you are at all interested in participating & /or would like more information about this, please contact Cody Riess (an SAF volunteer who is organizing these transports) at cody.

 

Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

Cadi Schiffer (cadi)