Date: September 16, 2005
Time: 7:27 am EST
Re: Hurricane Katrina Rescue Efforts
From: Debbie

Sorry we have not written in two days but we have been busy helping set up a new facility in a small town in Mississippi called Tylertown and unfortunately we had no cell phone transmission. 

We are helping to build a new staging area for the Humane Society of Louisiana.  They decided to leave that area and moved up to Mississippi to rebuild their shelter and lives.

We have been setting up dog runs with shading to protect them from the intense Mississippi sun - at one point our thermometer registered 118 degrees.  There are about 5O dogs that were transported from a looted Winn Dixie supermarket in New Orleans.  Truck loads of donations have arrived and we have been unloading and sorting through the supplies. 

In addition to the heat and other conditions we've encountered, another problem we've encountered is "love bugs". They are swarming everywhere and you can't even open your mouth without getting them in it.  The swarming in so intense that while driving you are forced to pull over several times because they impair your vision through the windshield.

Out team will be heading home tomorrow but with a feeling of satisfaction that we have been able to help so many animals and that we have met so many wonderful people from other animal organizations to the evacuees and how everyone was so happy to see us.  We were happy to share our experiences with everyone.

A new team was sent down yesterday and will be continuing our rescue mission.

Debbie, Christina, and Tom