NEW ORLEANS -- For more than 20 years, the Humane Society of Louisiana has worked to improved the lives of tens of thousands of animals.
But because of the effort in moving hundreds of animals to safety during a hurricane, they now operate the Dixieland Animal Care and Evacuation Center, two hours north of the city.
And at the sanctuary, hundreds of animals are still looking for a home since Hurricane Katrina.
A large piece of land in Tylertown, Mississippi is home to hundreds of homeless animals after Hurricane Katrina. The Humane Society of Louisiana has used this land for four and a half years now for creatures of all kinds: dogs, birds, horses, prairie dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets and even pet rats that have been abandoned by their human counterparts.
"Ruby came all in tied up to the fence, and her 10 puppies and her eye all hanging out, so her 10 puppies got transported up to Maine and she got eye surgery," said Animal Services Director Johnna Harris.
The animals are made up of Hurricane Katrina victims, street animals, ones thrown out on highways and interstates, ones dropped off at their front gate or dumpsters, and those taken in cruelty cases. None, not even the ones who have behavior issues from abuse and are unadoptable, are ever euthanized.
"That is the choice we made as a group, that once we took them in, we would commit to them. And how do you decide the value of an individual animal?" Harris asks.
And they commit to these lives no matter what. Harris personally drives animals throughout the U.S. to potential homes or adoption shelters that she wants to see with her own eyes before leaving one of her animals.
"In New England, we have shelters that we developed relationships with," Harris explained. "They spay and neuter up there. They don't have puppies. They, I can bring them puppies and they can be adopted in two weeks, so I shuffle my puppies up there. They too, now are having a glut of animals being returned with of the recession. Everywhere is having that."
All the animals are micro-chipped to the Humane Society of Louisiana. She has gone back to reclaim her animals in cases where they ended up with a breeder, or shelter that did not spay or neuter, or was not a no-kill shelter. One time she drove to Arkansas to get animals back that ended up in a hoarding situation.
And then there is one named Miracle.
"She was rescued off of a roof (during Hurricane Katrina) and then she went home with a group and got placed and somehow she ended back up in a shelter in Indiana," Harris remembers.
There are volunteers who help but Johnna lives on the premises.
"The evening is just me and so that means if there is a storm, someone has to be here to put up the storm phobic dogs, somebody has to be here if somebody gets out, somebody has to be here if somebody gets sick," she said, describing her routine throughout the night.
But it is still very easy to look around and find a lot of wagging tails and purring sounds.
Expenses run $30,000 a month. The group is always looking for volunteers and homes for the animals. For more call 1-888-6-humane or go to the following links and e-mail for information about adoptions, donations or "Chew Dat Nation."
(For additional information: www.humanela.org or e-mail info@humanela.org. See some animals for adoption, www.petfinder.com. )
