Katrina was here

90 second TV piece celebrating the real hero's of Katrina, the VOLUNTEER

Quick Links:


Hurricane Tails
As printed in the
Dallas Morning News

Katrina Rescues
as published in the
GSD Review

The Kindness of Strangers
as published in the
AKC Gazette




Thank you, Westminster Kennel Club
for giving our tribute such a special part in your
130th Annual Dog Show.

CNN.COM says~ The Katrina tribute, featuring dogs and those that saved them, brought a standing ovation. A video montage on the scoreboard showed images of injured and abandoned dogs, accompanied by a song from Jackson Browne.

There is no way to prepare you for the stories that will come from Katrina.



         Catastrophic disaster brings out the best in the good people and the worst in the bad. We've seen both ends of the spectrum in New Orleans. The sheer scope, the number of pets stranded was of a scale American eyes have never before witnessed. The hurricane slammed into Louisiana early on a Monday morning. Ravaging the gulf coast, Katrina was a vicious storm, mowing down every obstacle in her path. Cell towers, cable, telephone lines and satellite dishes were ripped out of service. Many homes and neighborhoods were completely destroyed and yet, there were blocks of houses throughout the city of New Orleans miraculously un-touched.

         Imagine sitting on the front porch with your dogs, taking in the fresh air after the storm when suddenly the dogs hair rises on their necks and they get up to bark at the sound of water rushing down your street. What is going on?" you might wonder, but without any form of communication, how would you know that there are two big breaks in the levee and water is rushing to fill the large "bowl" that is the city of New Orleans? Fifteen minutes later, panic sets in when to your horror the water is now up to your waist and rising fast. There is no time to pack or drive. What should you do? Maybe choking down the urge to scream you grab a hammer and smash through the ceiling to get to the roof. With barely enough time to save your own family you can't consider the pets your neighbor left behind. You might not even be able to save your own. If you've been lucky, you are now sitting In the hot, baking sun on top of your home. There are pets and people swimming past you in the polluted brown water that has engulfed the neighborhood. You feel helpless, terrified and lucky to be alive. But what about your dogs? Will the rescue boats be those few that will allow pets aboard or will you be forced to leave them by threat of guns and handcuffs?

         Beginning in the very first hours, there were people quick to point fingers of blame, and no doubt for years to come, there will be some who will, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, use events as a way to admonish, embarrass, defeat those who were in the unenviable position of having to "Do something, and now". That same pressure has been felt by millions across our country, and the world over.


Tens of Thousands of individuals could see one truth clearly:
                                                     I need to do something... Now!


Some came down personally, others sent money or supplies... for many, it was the first time to ever give to a cause larger than themselves....It is to these people, we dedicate this pages.

There is no way any single agency could have been prepared for a disaster of such magnitude. Indeed, even a highly organized group of groups would not be able to prepare properly, as such a multitude of problems affecting so many thousands of people and animals all at the same time - has never before happened in our country. For our nation, for our humane centers, for our individual good hearted souls - here was the ultimate challenge - something completely new - a national disaster without predecessor or peer -

         Yes, there are lessons to be learned. Every mistake should be looked on as an opportunity to save some poor pet in a future disaster. Sure, when we find criminal wrong-doing, we should prosecute, but lets not use our 20/20 hindsight to persecute those well meaning people that honestly, earnestly did and continue to do their best. Instead lets ask "How can we all be better prepared the next time?" - "How can I personally help my community, and by extension, my country, to prepare for the next great calamity"

Mother nature's favorite saying is "Ready or not, here I come"