Are People Still Looking for Their Lost ‘Katrina’ Pets?

(5/26/06) True or False: It is not possible that anyone could be still looking for a pet at this point in New Orleans, eight months after Hurricane Katrina. "Bigtime FALSE!", says Pee Wee, who was recently reunited with the Pelas family.

Pee Wee and I first became acquainted when he accompanied his foster person, Robin Beaulieu of Animal Rescue New Orleans for an interview on New Orleans community radio station WWOZ. All during the "Street Talk" segment, as we discussed the importance of SB-607 [Pet Evacuation Bill], well-behaved Pee Wee didn't make a sound. We wondered, as Robin had for the months she'd fostered Pee Wee, how could he and his family bear the uncertainty of not knowing where each other was? Meanwhile his pictures and description were posted in many places on the Internet, his family was searching for him and animal rescue volunteers were scouring the "cyber-classifieds" to match up the lost and found. Anita at No Animals Left Behind was able to locate the Pelas family who had relocated to Mississippi after losing their home and all their belongings, including their pets, in St. Bernard Parish. Besides their other losses, this family has had to deal with a pet Chihuahua’s death, and they are still searching for their pet Dachshund.

Pee Wee was actually found 30 miles south of his original home in St. Bernard. It is assumed that the water brought him that far south, and very close to being washed out into the Gulf of Mexico. Finally eight months after the storm including the time he was fostered at Robin's house for three months, Pee Wee and his family were reunited. How is this possible? Because of a group of devoted people on the streets of New Orleans and surrounding parishes, family pets survive despite the odds and live to be reunited with their families. Animal Rescue New Orleans volunteers have been working tirelessly to ensure the survival of these abandoned companion animals. Their people are still looking for them. They still need your help to survive on the streets or better yet to be placed in a loving foster home. Pee Wee was lucky. There are still thousands of animals on their own, looking for their family, scrounging for food to survive. If you would like to volunteer or make a donation, you can do so conveniently right here on our website. Working together we can make a difference.

— by Laura Dedelow