You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

http://blogthings.com/birthorderpredictorquiz/

I LEFT MY HEART IN NEW ORLEANS

On August 29th, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, LA with massive destruction. This Category 4 hurricane left parts of New Orleans under 20 feet of water. Many people evacuated or were forced to evacuate the area and were displaced across the entire United States. Unforteneately, owners of pets who were evacuated or forced to evacuate were not allowed to take their pets.  Those who evacuated early thought the hurricane would last only a few days and left enough food and water for the animal for one week. Well, one week turned into a month. Now, it's been about six weeks and animals are still trapped in their homes without any food or water to survive.

Since the hurricane I have felt compelled to go help, either with the people or the animals. I hesitated at helping out at the Astrodome in Houston because crime and rapes were occuring and I didn't want to compromise my own safety. Instead, I was given the opportunity to help my other passion, animals. The animals of New Orleans are victims of Katrina as well. The people of New Orleans are being cared for but the animals still trapped in their home cannot help themselves.

Thanks to Austin, Grace and Kansinee I was able to make a trip down to Louisiana (LA). Grace was able to forward me an email from Kansinee who was going to LA in a few days. Kansinee sent me all the information I needed to join her. On Friday night Austin booked my flight, made a list of things I should bring and shopped all day Saturday for them since I had to work. What a sweetheart! *MUAH!* =)

WHERE WE STAYED

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Tent holds about 300 volunteers and is air conditioned (Thank God!). There are decent showers and toilet areas. This is pretty good compared to other shelter housing areas...and it's SAFE. Kansinee and I were affiliated under HSUS (Humane Society of the United States).

THE DEVASTATION

Bridges were flooded underneath. Kansinee and I were going to attempt to cross but decided against it and found another route around.

Almost every home we entered looked like this or worse. We armed ourselves with gloves, rubber boots, masks, flashlights and durable clothing. You can see the water line on the walls where the water had risen to. In some homes the water line was all the way to the ceiling. There was muck, mud and mold covering everything. It smelled of mildew, rotten food, decayed animals and feces. I had to step out of some homes several times because I was gagging. Great idea from Austin to rub menthol inside the mask!

Neighborhoods were turned upside-down and covered with dried mud. There was no one in sight. Seemed like a ghost town when we were there.

AMAZINGLY, THERE STILL IS LIFE!

Every day began at 5:30am and by the time we went to sleep it was midnight. Teams of 2 were assigned to different zones all acrosss New Orleans and given 40 to 50 addresses to pet owners homes who requested us to enter their property and retreive their pet. Because FEMA and the national guard had already broken into many of the homes looking for people (alive or deceased) or the hurricane broke down the walls, we were able to enter pretty easily. We did have to break into a handful of homes and got pretty good at it...haha...I love crowbars! =)

GPS was the "Best decision [Kansinee] had ever made" as she put it...haha. It saved US since we're both terrible at directions and orienting ourselves around foreign areas. The hurricane had wiped out a lot of the street signs where we were. Now I'm telling Austin I want a portable GPS system for Christmas...heehee...any recommendations?

DAY 1

Our first save! We went to this address and started knocking on the outside of the house to see if we could hear anything inside. When we neared the back we heard barking, what music to our ears! After entering through the side door a tiny dog barked and ran into another room. We knelt down and called out to the dog. Sure enough she came boucing out, jumped up on my lap and gave me kisses on the cheek. She was brought outside where she was given food and water. The funny thing was that she looked really healthy for a dog that was stuck inside since the hurricane. We heard some running water so we think she had access to it (didn't see it since we couldn't walk through the debris). Her tags showed her name was Tyra. We called the number on the tag and contacted her owner. They will be reunited shortly. =) Here's a pic of Tyra, Kansinee and I:

DAY 2

This is Kansinee and her beloved cat she fell in love with. We stopped to feed a cat outside a house and 5 or so cats also came out. Among them was this unique creature with an extra digit in each of his paws...really, count them! He is the most playful and friendliest cat and may become an addition to her other 4 cats!

We went to an address where we found Britt. He was so infested with fleas you could feel the bites all across his body. The fleas were literally swarming his body and eating him alive. He scratched himself so much he would start bleeding. We found him with another cute lab and a terrior. Another team had to pick those two up since we had no more room in our compact car.

We were about to leave and area where we already picked up 2 more cats when we found this dog running down the street toward us. He ran right up to me and immediately wanted some good ol' lovin' and some food. I love this dog so much I want to foster him...and keep him...haha...he's so friendly and loveable. =) I've already named him...Bandit!

The total saves for Kansinee and I today: 4 cats and 2 dogs. =D

DAY 3

We made our way to an apartment complex with reservation for what we might find. The door was unlocked so we went inside. Standing in the hallway was a scared and skinny dog. Our first reaction was, "OH MY GOD!". She jumped into the bathtub and curled up. Her face expressed sadness, depression and looked ready to die. Kansinee started calling dispatch with the emergency but had to leave the apt because of reception. The hardest thing for me is to see suffering. Through my tears I stroked her fur and reassured her everything was going to be okay, we're here. She let me pick her up and I cuddled her in my arms and carried her out. Once she was outside she started shaking. I knelt down with her on my lap to calm her and she wanted to get down. Then she came to life! I could barely hold onto the leash! We then met up with Kansinee and she could hardly believe it was the same dog. Thanks to Kansinee's sleuthing we were able to get in contact with the owner's mother through a phone number in an address book found in the apt. The dogs name is MAMA and will be reunited with her owners. They couldn't believe she was still alive...and neither could we. there was no food or water, even the toilet bowl was licked dry. Meet Mama:

This next save is an amazing story as well. We searched all over the home and found no cat. The first floor of the home was destroyed but the second floor was untouched. There were large boot prints and tiny paw prints around the house which made us wonder if the owner had returned and taken the cat. We didn't want to make this assumption so we took some business cards and a phone number off the owners checkbook and left. On our way to the next address we called the owner and found out he hadn't returned and didn't know if his cat was okay. The boot prints were from a guy he asked to get his hardware. We decided to return to the home and look for the cat again. Nothing in the house. We went outside and looked under the cars...there she was! Kansinee coaxed Autumn out from under the car and notified the owner. The next day the owner's wife called and said, "I don't care what happened to the house. All I care about is my cat. Thank you for saving her".

Total saves for today: 2 dogs, 2 cats and 3 fish.

Day 4

Our last day out. Someone told us earlier that everyday we go out we'll think we've seen the worst...until the next day...

We found these two dogs DOA (Dead On Arrival) in their yard, lying next to each other...at least they didn't die alone.

In another yard we find the skull of a smaller dog.

Our first rescue for today was from a tip from a neighbor. He stopped us and said he's been hearing a dog barking and wining for the past 3 days around 5pm. Kansinee and I notice dog bowls on the outside of the house. Even though we knocked on the doors and windows we didn't hear any barking. There was no way to get in, except to break in. Once we were inside we noticed paw prints and old feces so we knew the dog was here. The dog started barking and we followed the sound into the bedroom where it was hiding. She kept barking and wouldn't come out from under the bed so we took off the matress and boxspring and was able to reach her. Once she was fed some food she began to calm down and let us leash her and take her outside. She became the sweetest thing. She looked okay since her fur is fluffy but once we petted her all we felt were ribs and spine. When the vet checked her out she had to be pricked several times before they could find a vein to place the IV in her because she was so dehydrated.

Another neighbor stopped us and asked us to take their dog since they couldn't take him back with them. Mister was left in their den during the hurricane and eventually broke out and has been in the backyard since with no food or water. The owners couldn't even coax him out of his dogloo. We took a can of dog food and was able to coax him out. He was very shy, timid and scared but allowed us to put him in a crate.

Total saves for today: 2 dogs

One of the best things is knowing we are giving the owners something back even though they've lost everything else.

OTHER RESCUES

Below is a dog our other team found in one of the hardest hit areas where no animal rescuers have been until now. Chris and Jean waded through waist high water to get to the addresses and found this dog. Amazingly he is still alive. He was locked up in his house with no food or water. Chris and Jean carried him in a crate over the water and brought him out. You can make out his hip and leg bones in the picture. He kept licking their hands in a way of saying thank you for saving me...

This dog was found locked up with 3 other dogs in a shed. As you can see she is extremely emaciated. When she was first found she could barely take a few steps before collapsing. Now she is able to walk and go to the bathroom on her own.

Other animals have also been rescued. Among them cats, birds, horses, pigs, goats, fish, reptiles, etc...

WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS WE WORKED WITH

Left to right: Alese/Alfredo/Kenya/Kansinee/Jess/Jean/Chris

Left to right: Felice/Alison/Jess/Kansinee

Every day we packed this little compact Hyundai Sonata with crates, supplies, water, dog food and cat food. This rented car was BRAND NEW. Kansinee had to take the plastic off the sides when she got it. I think we broke it in really well....hahaha...it smelled hella bad after we were done with it!

Mississippi River

For more pics please go to: http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=403414068205

PLEASE HELP (An email from Jane Garrison, a Humane Society Staffer)

Please pray for me as I'll be going to New Orleans on October 2-8 to help out with the Humane Society of the United States. Yep. I finally get to go down there and help save the animals. I'll be going with a friend so I feel a little safer about it.

Thanks honey for being a great support for me and helping me prepare for this. A lot of Jade's buddies will be saved because you helped make this happen. You're the BEST! I love you! =)

For Labor Day Austin and I went to Vancouver and Seattle.

Totem poles are seen all over Vancouver:

I don't understand why the beaver is so important in Canada...shouldn't it be Canadian geese??

Me, walking across the Suspension Bridge:

Austin in the bamboo:

On a ferry to Victoria Island:

Buchart Gardens on Victoria Island:

Austin's skid mark on his shirt:

Close-up of skid mark:

More stuff on his shirt:

In Seattle:

Pikes Place...at first glance I thought a sign read "Dikes Place"

We stumbled upon the FIRST Starbucks that was opened: