August 19, 2016

As the death toll and number of people and animals displaced by the catastrophic flooding in Louisiana grows, Alley Cat Allies continues to offer our support to rescue efforts on the ground. Alley Cat Allies is deploying a team that will work with the Humane Society of Louisianawho has received emergency funding from Alley Cat Allies to support direct rescue and care.

The team will be deployed at the Livingston Parish Animal Shelter, where the Humane Society of Louisiana has set up field operations and helped to evacuate, rescue, and transport hundreds of animals already. This area is one of the hardest hit, with an estimated 75 percent of the homes described as a “total loss.”

Alley Cat Allies’ team consists of three experts:

  • Clay Myers, photographer and special projects manager with Alley Cat Allies, has numerous rescue certificationsincluding Swift Water Rescue-Unit 1, Technical Animal Rescue, Large Animal Rescue, Rope Rescue-Operations Level, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Incident Command System (ICS) 100, 200, 700, and 800and assisted with rescue efforts during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
  • Diane Blankenburg, CEO and principal consultant with the Humane Network, led the Katrina Rescue and Recovery Team at Alley Cat Allies for two years.
  • Wendy Guidry, president of Feral Cat Consortium, assisted with rescue efforts in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Gustav in 2008.

“There is still search and rescue going on,” said Sarah Rose, a volunteer rescuer with the Humane Society of Louisiana. “But people were really very good about taking their animals with them when they evacuated or when they were rescued.” According to Rose, this was an improvement over the Hurricane Katrina aftermathwith more people bringing cats with them in this instance than in the past.

In addition to the on-the-ground rescue efforts, the Humane Society of Louisiana volunteers are delivering dog and cat food for people to pick up at the shelter hub.

For additional updates regarding the on-the-ground response to the flooding, we recommend following the Humane Society of Louisiana at https://www.facebook.com/HumaneLA/.