| Southold Animal Shelter News |
From The Traveler Watchman 9/29/05 Saving Four-Legged Friends Within a half hour of arriving in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, North Fork Animal Welfare League (NFAWL) Director Gillian Wood-Pultz was asked to approach Nellie, a pit bull that was charging at any volunteer attempting to bring her food or water. “She was just really frightened,” said Wood-Pultz. “But once I got in there, she was just a big baby, rolling on her back. She was so happy someone was in there with her.” Nellie was one of 1,200 dogs and cats in the temporary shelter for displaced animals and pets set up in Hattiesburg after Hurricane Katrina. Wood-Pultz was contacted by the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City’s Animals, which had, in turn, been contacted by the Humane Society of the United States after it became evident there was a desperate need for animal control officers. Once she received the call for deployment on September 16, Wood-Pultz and volunteer Marilyn Sawastynowicz headed out and spent a week lending their hearts and hands to Hurricane Katrina’s helpless four-legged victims. Unsure of what their living conditions would be, Wood-Pultz and Sawastynowicz brought sleeping bags and tents. Once they arrived, however, they learned the National Guard had set up huge commercial tents, mess tents, and temporary showers. “It wasn’t as rustic as we thought,” said Wood-Pultz. The need, however, was evident. The animals, she explained, were housed in four 100-stall horse barns outside a multipurpose arena where human evacuees were sheltered. “It was mind-boggling when we walked in,” she said. Wood-Pultz and Sawastynowicz immediately sprang into action. “They needed people with leadership skills in the temporary shelter,” said Wood-Pultz, who was promoted to director of operations of the entire facility after two days. Sawastynowicz was in charge of a row of 70 dogs in a barn. “The biggest issue with the health of the animals was the heat,” which topped 100 degrees daily. Because of the stifling temperatures, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent in truckloads of ice. Volunteers took the animals under misting tents and rubbed down the dogs with ice; hundreds of Ziploc bags, filled with ice and covered with towels, were placed in the cats’ cages. “The fire department hosed down the metal roofs to cool down the interior of the barns,” she added. Overheated animals were brought to medical tents for fluids, and one kindhearted vet offered the back of his air conditioned mobile home as a “kitty cooler” for cats in dire need. Volunteer veterinarians, said Wood-Pultz, worked alongside, rising at 5:30 a.m. and working until midnight. Wood-Pultz worked to microchip every animal and have them photographed and listed on Petfinder.com. “Even if the animals are sent out to be fostered in other facilities, the owner has a single database to search,” she said. The animals, explained Wood-Pultz, are being released to organizations that have the resources to send them to their owners, should they be located.
|