One of the highest points in my animal journey. I recruited 3 other girls to rent a big van and drive all the way down to Mississippi with me to help with the animal rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We arrived in early October 2005, about 6 weeks after the hurricane had struck. We were at the Humane Society of New Orleans' temporary shelter, a 1200-ft little brick home on 4 acres, 2 hours north of New Orleans.
Some of the other volunteers that were there (from Canada, Maryland, California...all over!) would go into New Orleans and rescue animals off the street during the day - yes, there were still animals starving in the homes that had been abandoned - and would grab them during the day, then drive back at night to our shelter. The vet who was volunteering would then assess them upon intake and we'd put them in cages and care for them until rescues from across the U.S. and Canada would come in and take them out to their shelters.
We brought back 14 cats and kittens who had been surrendered by their owners because the owners had nothing left - they had lost everything in the hurricane and could no longer care for their cats. We nursed them back to health - they were all sick and traumatized - and adopted them out through Fox Valley Humane Association. It was a long, hard process to get them healthy, but very rewarding when we found the last of the 14 new homes.
No shower for 4 days, a porta-potty and sleeping in a van. But I didn't care. It was 100% worth it and we were going on pure adrenaline.
It was a life-changing experience and I wouldn't change it for the world.
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