From The Suffolk Times 10/25/07

Great Dane Nanny Beau cares for some of the Katrina puppies brought north by North Fork Animal Welfare League staff and volunteers after Hurricane Katrina left them homeless on the Gulf Coast. Suffolk Times file photo courtesy of Gillian Wood Pultz

Dog party and reunion
Katrina dogs to get together
by Julie Lane

Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and Mississippi, pets rescued from the area and brought back to Southold for adoption will reunite at the Peconic Lane dog run behind the recreation center at 1 p.m. Sat, Nov. 3.

Staff and volunteers from the North Fork Animal Welfare League shelter spent time on the Gulf Coast caring for and rescuing abandoned pets, and 37 animals were brought back to the North Fork after searches for their owners proved futile.

Shelter director Gillian Wood Pultz and volunteer Maril Sawastynowicz traveled to Mississippi under the auspices of the Humane Society of the United States to assist with feeding and caring for the animals. Ms. Sawastynowicz later made three trips to New Orleans, and Leslie Esposito, Al LaFrance and Bethany Clark each made a trip there to assist HSUS workers.

In the wake of the storm, HSUS reached out to trained animal control workers throughout the country to help with the effort to save these pets. Those who responded raised money specifically earmarked for those trips and funded much of the travel out of their own pockets to augment money HSUS dedicated to the project.

All 37 dogs and puppies have found permanent homes, thanks to aggressive efforts by shelter staff to identify appropriate families to adopt them.

Now, for the first time, the shelter staff and volunteers want to gather as many of these dogs as possible for a reunion to kick off National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week. Katrina rescues who may not have been placed by this shelter as well as other adoptees placed by the shelter are invited to join in the celebration, Ms. Wood Pultz said.

There will be a blessing of the animals by the Rev. Joseph Mirro of Church of the Immaculate Conception in Westhampton Beach. Ms. Wood Pultz notes that the reunion falls on the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, appropriate scheduling since he is celebrated for creating an early shelter where he nursed animals back to health.

The program will include contests, games, prizes and refreshments for both pets and their owners. Among the contests will be ones to identify the dog with the best smile, the dog with the best manners, and the dog that looks most like his or her master.

Looking back on the rescue efforts in 2006, Ms. Sawastynowicz said it was "the hardest I ever worked and the least amount of sleep I ever got," but she admits the effort was satisfying.

In the past year, the NFAWL staff has succeeded in placing 157 pets with new owners. It also found homes for 750 birds who were left after their owner died. According to Ms. Wood Pultz, 103 pets were returned to owners and NFAWL arranged for the spaying or neutering of 203 feral cats and more than 500 pets.

For information, call the shelter at 765-1811, visit its Web site at www.nfawl.org, or e-mail adopt1@softhome.net

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