Product Description

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many animals had to fend for themselves because their owners lost them or were unable to care for them. In Pawprints of Katrina: Pets Saved and Lessons Learned, Cathy Scott documents her experience working with the Best Friends Animal Society triage center to rescue lost animals and reunite them with their owners. Over two hundred stories with accompanying photos describe dramatic and challenging rescue cases with details about the rescues, the examinations, treatment, and follow-up care by the selfless volunteers who worked to save beloved best friends.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33568 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470228517
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Inside Flap
After Hurricane Katrina hit, animal rescuers found this handwritten note taped to an apartment door in a building from which residents had been forced to evacuate without their pets:

Our names are Fifi and Cici. We are both cats, one boy, one girl.

Please take us to a shelter. Our doctors are located at the Cat Practice.

If you find us, we are in the restroom. We have enough food to last us 5 days.

Please contact our parents, Daryl and Tasha, who love and adore us very much, at [and the phone numbers were given].

Please, we need your help!

Volunteer rescuers found the note and the cats a week later. Even though it was 11:00 at night, they called the number. Through her sobs, a grateful Tasha said, "It's my birthday. It couldn't be a more perfect gift."

As this book details, most people did everything they could to give their beloved pets a chance to survive in the chaos after Katrina. Thanks to the efforts of organizations and volunteers from all over the country, it's estimated that approximately 15,000 animals were rescued.

The staff and volunteers at the animal refuge facilities set up by Best Friends Animal Societyhelped to rescue between 5,000 and 7,000 terrified, abandoned animals and reunited some 1,500 pets with their people, most of whom had lost everything. This book details the rescues, the nonstop care given at the shelters, the reunions, the adoptions, the triumphs, and the tragedies. It celebrates the powerful bonds between pets and their people and those that develop between strangers who despite all kinds of obstacles, share an unwavering commitment to a common cause.

In addition to Fifi and Cici, you'll read about:

Himie, a Rottweiler found with a plastic bottle attached to his collar holding a note and his eye medicine; Himie was reunited with his owner

Tenderfoot, a Black Labrador puppy whose foot pads were burned off by the toxic sludge; he was treated for weeks and adopted

Bubba, a longhaired gray cat whose displaced owner drove for ten hours in a rented car to retrieve his cat—all he had left after Katrina

Red, a partially paralyzed Staffordshire Terrier who was hospitalized for about three months, fitted with a "wheelchair," and eventually adopted

And many more ...

The lessons learned resulted in a Law Protecting our beloved pets.

Just weeks before the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in August 2006, the plight of thousands of New Orleans residents and their pets led to a new federal law—the Pets Evacuation and Transporta-tion Standards (Pets) Act—that requires local and state governments to include household pets in their evacuation plans. It also provides federal funding for pet-friendly refugee shelters. Because of the dire experiences of Hurricane Katrina, animal owners will not have to choose between saving their own lives or remaining in a disaster-ravaged area with their pets, only to have to abandon the pets later.
—From Pawprints of Katrina

From the Back Cover
"This is an unforgettable account of the courage and boundless energy of people who realize that we human beings have an absolute obligation to help the other creatures of this planet.... I love this book!"
—Ali MacGraw, Actress and Animal Activist

"Hopefully, lots of lessons were learned as a result of Katrina, and reminding us of these lessons is good. Warning: Tissue is required for this reading, though the book abounds in happy endings."
—Steve Dale, Tribune Media Services; (From Steve Dale's syndicated column My Pet World)

"Americans were outraged to see people being forced to abandon their family pets. As Congress rushed to pass new laws, and volunteers raced to New Orleans to help, Hurricane Katrina changed the face of animal welfare forever. This is a story of pure, unconditional love in the face of unimagined suffering."
—Michael Mountain, President and Cofounder; Best Friends Animal Society

Pawprints of Katrina Will Leave Pawprints on Your Heart

You probably vividly remember the animal rescues you saw on television in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Veteran reporter and lifelong animal lover Cathy Scott covered the stories straight from the muck, the rubble, and a makeshift shelter. She witnessed dramatic rescues and joyful reunions firsthand. This book shares Cathy's stories and insight, poignantphotographs from Clay Myers, and follow-up information about the animals today. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, it conveys the depth of the tragedy; more importantly, it celebrates the indomitable spirit of the volunteers who refused to give up, the determined pets who survived, and the owners (original and adoptive) who love these animals today.

About the Author
Cathy Scott traveled to New Orleans at the request of Best Friends Animal Society to document the plight of pets displaced by Hurricane Katrina. She quickly became a rescuer as well as a reporter. Scott's work has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Las Vegas Sun, George magazine, and Reuters News Service.

Customer Reviews

A Winning Book
Scott's book is completely absorbing. She reveals the astounding dedication to animals by humans who dedicate themselves to finding the separated and abandoned animals of the Katrina disaster and reuniting them with their bereft owners. This is an important social document. Above all, the book celebrates the human/animal bond. It's a must-read.

loved this book
This book is amazing.....I was overwhelmed by the stories of the rescues ,some with happy endings some not....I cried at the end of almost every chapter...a lot of happy tears. Cathy Scott told of the devastation in New Orleans and about the volunteers who gave up part of their lives, time and sometimes jobs to care for these poor animals and owners. Then, she told about the changes in law and mindset since then .........very well written

Testament to life, hope, and love
This book probes the depths of misery and rises to the heights of joy. I often felt myself in the boats cruising the murky floodwaters looking for signs of life in New Orleans' deserted neighborhoods. The bugs and humidity were real. So was the satisfaction of spotting a desperate animal and the joy of pulling it to safety. And the bone-weariness of the long days and uncomfortable nights.

"Pawprints of Katrina" is a testament to the survival instincts of our animal companions and the compassion of countless humans who value them enough to risk themselves to help the helpless.