Dogs and Cats from Louisiana and Los Angeles for Adoption
Pet Related Vendor Booths

DECEMBER 11, 2005
Barker Hangar, Santa Monica Airport
11:00am - 4:00pm
Click here for directions

Please do not bring your own pets!

If you are interested in having a vendor booth at this event, visit www.newleash.org.

Fantastic Slide Show
Title: Hurricane Katrina Rescue Ruffugees
By: Second Chance at Love Humane Society
Date: Oct 11, 2005
http://www.photoshow.net/_72c068db7fd473b/favorites
Watch show: http://www.photoshow.net/watch/bR9ia9Xx

MORE ANIMALS COMING TONIGHT! NEED RESCUE GROUPS AND VOLUNTEERS AT LAX!!

Today was scheduled D day for the remaining Gonzales animals. Bobby has worked all night to get a plane off the ground today. There are 86 dogs and 20 cats at the airport boarding a plane as I write this email. They are anticipated to arrive at LAX today sometime between 3 and 5p.m.

This is not ideal but we are doing everything we can to save these animals. We have 44 dogs and 20 cats unaccounted for at this time.

We need 2 things - volunteers to come and help process these animals, transport them to boarding facilities and rescue groups to take on a dog or cat or two.

I know many of you are at maximum capacity but if you can share this information with other well respected groups that you have relationships with, it would be appreciated.

If you are able to volunteer later today to help or take an animal, please let me know. You can get up to date arrival time status at 888-4-LA-Pets.

The animals will be coming into 5701 West Imperial Highway, Air Services International Group - the sign will say ASIG.

Thanks!

Kim
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees

Round 3 Arrivals - What a great day!

A huge round of applause for everyone involved in Friday's arrivals! It was a wonderful day. For those of you who weren't able to be with us, here is a brief rundown of the day.

We arrived in the a.m. at the hangar at Van Nuys Airport to set up. Due to thunderstorms, we were anticipating a 1:00 arrival of Bobby and the caravan. We had tents set up in the parking lot for each rescue group, medical stations set up inside the hangar. As 1:00 approached, the media arrived ready to get great shots of the caravan's arrival. Things got a bit delayed due to an accident on the 15 but everyone held tight and waited patiently. At about 3:15, the caravan rolled in and off came the weary rescuers and 30 beautiful pups and 5 great kitties.

A shitzu, chi's, hounds, german sheps, a sharpei - you name the breed and they were there. Each as sweet as the next!

All are now safely with rescue groups getting the TLC they need!

Thank you all for your help and support - with these latest arrivals, we are now up to 155 Katrina animals being fostered by L.A rescue groups.

Please continue to read the blog - there will be more to come. I will be sure to keep you updated on reuniting animals with their owners, our plans for a super adoption once the hold is up and the animals are available for adoption.

Next steps - anyone interested in helping to prepare a grant to receive funds to supply the owners with heartworm prevention meds please contact me. We are also discussing putting a Katrina calendar and holiday cards together - if you would like to be part of these teams please contact me as well. I'm also looking for folks to help organize flights back to LA as we reunite owners with their animals. So, if you are interested in continuing to volunteer please let me know, our work is far from done!!

It was my greatest pleasure meeting all of you who have worked with Rescue for Ruffugees over the last month. I look forward to continuing to work with each of you in the future.

Warmest regards,

Kim Finger
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees
www.rescueforruffugees.org

Hello Everyone!

We are just about ready to welcome our newest Katrina Ruffugees. We are all very excited for tomorrow’s arrival.

We are very excited about the arrival of this latest group of pups and kitties. Unfortunately due to unexpected problems with the LA shelters, Bobby from New Leash on Life was only able to rescue about 27 dogs and 5 cats. Sadly, he was not given animals at 2 shelter locations that they visited. No explanation that makes sense but on the upside, they rescued 32 animals!

Given that we have fewer animals than originally anticipated, we have many more volunteers who have expressed interest than we need. If you received the volunteer email, you have been randomly selected to participate tomorrow. If you have not, we will keep you on our list as a backup should folks be now unavailable. I wish so much that everyone could be there but need to manage the number of volunteers to make it as stress free for the animals as possible.

Please do keep checking the blog!

Thanks!

Kim Finger
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees
www.rescueforruffugees.org
www.muchlove.org

October 4 Update - Prepping for our New Arrivals

Hello All,

Have lots of news to share. First, we have found the owners of 4 cats and 3 dogs that arrived on the 20th. All are still here in Los Angeles but we are making arrangements to return them to their owners once they are back in their homes. Each person I have spoken to has been sooo happy to know that their animals are safe with us! Good job everyone!

We are busily preparing for our Friday arrivals. Bobby of New Leash on Life is planning to arrive back here around 10 a.m. on Friday. Thanks to Bobby's wife Kelly, we have secured a hangar at the Van Nuys airport for conducting the intake/outake.

More details will come in terms of what time volunteers should arrive etc. But, for all of those who emailed to say they are available on Friday, you are in my Friday Volunteer folder and we will be in touch with more info. soon.

As we approach the day, we will send regular email updates in the case that Bobby's return runs late and we will set up a info line in case you are not by a computer you will be able to call in and get the latest updates.

I believe this will be our last group of animals so thank you to all of you for being a part of the ruffugee effort - 3rd time is bound to be a charm!

More to come!

Kim Finger
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees
www.rescueforruffugees.org
www.muchlove.org

This e-mail is From Jeanine Curcione with Bichons and Buddies, one of the rescue groups that participated in the first rescue at Centinela Feed. In a few paragraphs, it reinforces the mission of RFR in reuniting the animals with their owners and not just in finding them new homes in Los Angeles.

I received the most heartbreaking call anyone can imagine. Diane Brown, a Louisiana resident, called me after seeing our group listed as one who received a Katrina poodle in the hopes that it was her dog. She told me the horror story of how she, her husband and their young daughter we stuck on the freeway and the buses were sent in to rescue people. The national guard and police were just shoving people on the bus with no concern for families beings separated and of course were not allowing pets. They passed up the first couple of buses not wishing to risk being separated from each other and desparately wanting to take their 8 year old poodle. Max was a rescue from a shelter a couple of years earlier when they lived in Michagan. They sold everything they had and moved to Louisiana in May!

They spent the night on the wet grass on the side of the freeway (along with many other stranded people) and she told of how Max protected them all night and would bark anytime someone came near them. That morning another bus came and she pleaded with the driver to let them take their small poodle on. He consented and she got on the bus with her daughter and her husband who was holding the poodle was behind her. She walked past a national guardsman down the aisle and as her husband got on the bus, he said "I'm not giving up my seat for that dog!" He refused to let the husband on with the dog. When Diane tried to get off the bus with her daughter they refused to let her off and while standing in the doorway of the bus with other people crowded behind him, the husband had to make the onerous choice between his wife and child and his beloved Max. A man standing behind him said, "hand him to me." Feeling he had no choice, he handed over Max and got on the bus. That was the last they saw of him.

He was wearing Michigan tags still and is an apricot neutered poodle about 8 years old with cloudy eyes. He was shaved pretty short unlike this picture when they first got him. She has been searching through thousands of pics in an attempt to find him and they are now back in MI staying temporarily until allowed back to their home which is most likely completely destroyed.

Hearing her story and the anguish in her voice AND the recounting of the callous treatment they received ripped my heart out. I still can't stop crying every time I think about. It's one thing to read all the stories and to know hers is but one of a thousand similar tragedies....it's another to talk to a person and feel that kinship.

When I told her with tears in my voice that I was SO VERY SORRY for all she lost, she said quite simply that all they wanted was their dog back - that everything else can be replaced, but not Max. She told me her husband feels horrible and is terribly depressed because he let Max down. He had promised him that night on the wet grass that they would get through this.

Please, help her find out if Max is alive somewhere. She knows about Petfinder database and mentioned another. What are all the sources that she can look to? Attached is a flyer she made with the picture. Can this be posted ...... where?? Please tell me how to get the word out EVERYWHERE and I'll help this person in any way I can.

Jeanine Curcione
Bichons and Buddies
(www.bichonsandbuddies.com)

September 30th a.m. Update - They're Here and Safe!

Hello Everyone!

Last night, we had the pleasure of welcoming 21 darling Katrina dogs to Los Angeles.

We also had the pleasure of meeting their rescuers - Michelle, Michelle and Kim. These women are incredible! They pulled in with an enormous truck towing a 38 foot camper/trailer that they purchased just for this rescue effort. They loved and cared for these pups while driving 2 1/2 days nonstop back from New Orleans. By the time they arrived, dogs that were previously listed as "severely dehydrated and underweight" were plumping up and looking great.

We had poodles, american eskimos, an akita, a beagle, several lab mixes and chows.

Thanks to Dr. Wendy Brooks, we were able to do all of the medical processing in her animal hospital. The process was smooth, quick and the animals and people all had a great time!

A sincere thanks to Dr. Erin Wilson, Dr. Habib and Dr. Downing for donating their time last night! To the volunteers, thank you! All of you hung in there through the unexpected delays and I thank you so much. Your help is critical to making this process work.

I'll post pics from the night on the blog as soon as I get them so keep checking for updates.

Now, round 2 down - round 3 to go!

We are expecting Bobby from New Leash on Life to arrive next Friday - Oct. 7th with as many as 100 dogs.

In anticipation of his arrival, we need to secure rescue groups who are willing to take on dogs from this load. If you can commit to taking on some of these animals, please email me.

We also need a large warehouse, horse corral, field, airport hangar or something along these lines to do the intake /outake process. We are ideally looking for a spot on the westside or in the valley. So, if you have a connection, please let me know.

Lastly, Georja from Unleash the Beach held a fantastic fundraiser on Wed. night for the Katrina Animals. Based on her recommendation, some of the proceeds will be donated to the RFR effort specifically for building photo/description books of the animals. These books will be sent to libraries in New Orleans and other public areas as well as hotels where displaced owners are living. Many folks still do not have internet access and our hope is that sending these books will increase the likelihood that we will be able to reunite the animals with their owners. So, if you would like to volunteer to help build these booklets, please let me know.

More to come!

Warm regards,

Kim Finger
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees
www.rescueforruffugees.blogspot.com
www.muchlove.org

September 28 p.m. Update

Hello Everyone,

We're expecting our latest round of Louisiana pups tomorrow evening. Once again, thank you to everyone who offered to volunteer tomorrow night. Because we only have 21 dogs coming, I randomly chose 23 volunteers from the large # of folks in the data base. If you received an email letting you know that you have been selected as a volunteer then we'll see you tomorrow. If you did not receive an email to that effect, we have you on the back up list. And thank you again for your support!

I haven't spoken to Michelle today but last I heard from her, she was expecting to arrive tomorrow late afternoon/early evening.

We have quite a range of pups coming - chi's, labs, poms, poodles, puppies - you name it, they are on the van!

Please keep visiting the blog for updates and we'll be sure to post some pics of our newest arrivals asap.

If anyone has experience building websites and would like to take on the task of designing the new www.rescueforruffugees.org site please let me know!

Warm regards to you all!

Kim Finger
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees
www.rescueforruffugees.blogspot.com
www.muchlove.org

Sept. 28 a.m. Update - Looks Like Thurs. p.m. is Arrival Day!

Hello Everyone,

I received an email from Michelle late last night and based on how quickly they are driving and pee pit stops for the animals, she is anticipating arriving late Thursday afternoon. As long as nothing changes, let's plan for Thursday around 5 p.m. on or so.

Let me know if you are available - I need to check today for location but will let you know asap. It will either be Mar Vista (near Venice) or North Hollywood.

More to come soon!


Kim
Coordinator, Rescue for Ruffugees
www.rescueforruffugees.blogspot.com

September 27 Update - Preparing for the Arrival of our Round 2 Pups!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you soo much to the rescue groups that have emailed me with interest in rescuing the animals coming this week and next. We are almost covered for this weeks arrivals and then we can start planning for Bobby's dogs. So, please let me know if you have not already if you might be able to help. Also, if you have other rescue groups that you could send this info. to that would be great.

To those of you who have emailed me to volunteer - fantastic! It's heartwarming for me when I receive all of your emails. Thank you!

I spoke with Michelle this evening and she was just outside of Dallas. She said they are driving through the night but stopping every 4 hours or so for at least an hour to walk all the dogs. At this point, it is highly doubtful that she will be here on Wed. She is now thinking Thursday or perhaps Thursday evening. So, can you let me know your availability on Thursday and Friday for volunteering.

Rescuers, please alert your folks for Thurs. and Friday.

Some additional good news - I spoke to Carol again this morning - she is the woman that called me yesterday and together we found that we have 2 of her cats. Animal Avengers has 1 of them and so does Modjeska Ranch. So, she is ready and eager to get them back and we are going to begin the process of getting them flown back to LA. Great news!!

Thanks so much everyone!!

More to come tomorrow.

Kim
www.rescueforruffugees.blogspot.com