Not all of Hurricane Katrina’s victims are people. Some are furry, four-legged and can’t ask for help.
That’s where Catherine Theisen comes in.
A doctor at the Oxford Veterinary Hospital on Lincoln Street ? and the clinic’s former owner of 14 years ? Theisen recently spent two weeks in Louisiana with a Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT) helping animals left homeless, hungry, lost and injured by the hurricane.
Established by the American Veterinary Medical Association and sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, VMATs are teams of veterinarians, technicians and support personnel that are ready at a moment’s notice to provide aid to animals in disaster situations.
There are four VMAT teams nationwide and all are currently deployed in hurricane-affected areas. Theisen joined VMAT-1 ? a New England-based team consisting of 60 highly trained members ? four years ago following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
‘VMAT only goes in if the local resources are overwhelmed (and they’re invited),? said Theisen, of Brandon Township. ‘We do what the locals can’t do and then get out. The locals then take over.?
Theisen arrived in Louisiana Sept. 1 and began her work by spending a day in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana State University animal shelter called the ‘Cow Palace,? where evacuees are allowed to lodge and visit their pets.
She also spent a day at the Lamar-Dixon animal shelter in Gonzales, LA. An estimated 1,300 or more unclaimed animals left behind in the storm are housed here.
After visiting the shelters, Theisen spent two days examining and treating evacuees? pets at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.
The evacuees, many of whom had spent an entire week on a roof due to massive flooding, were being flown to the airport by helicopter and evacuated via buses and military and commercial planes.
The evacuees? animals were classified as ‘family members? and given the same consideration as people leaving the city. Theisen noted, ‘All the airliners were allowing pets on (the planes) with the people.?
But first both man and beast had to receive medical treatment.
‘Our little clinic was right on the field,? Theisen said. ‘Basically, the chopper are would land, the medics would run out, grab the human victims for triage, then drop the animal victims with us.?
‘We’d have people coming in on stretchers clutching their little dogs,? she said. ‘It’s all they had left. Think of it ? you lost your home, you don’t know where you’re spouse is, you don’t even know if the rest of the world exists because there’s no communication. All you’ve got is this little animal. Gosh, I’d be clutching it too.?
Fortunately, most of the animals at the airport were in ‘surprisingly good shape.?
‘You’d think after seven days on a roof there would be a lot of heat stroke and dehydration, but it was mild compared to what I would have expected,? Theisen explained. ‘I think the animals were drinking the flood water.?
However, the news was not as positive for the human victims. Theisen described the scene at the airport as ‘a human tragedy that I’ve never experienced before.?
‘People were dying in the airport. People were coming off the choppers in body bags.?
‘The luggage area was filled with stretchers and people in wheelchairs that were unable to walk or move any longer.?
‘You’re seeing these vacant-eyed people with legs that big around that look like they’ve come out of a famine in Africa. They had been without food and water for a week in that heat. I don’t know how they lived.?
Add to these images the sheer volume of evacuees. ‘The entire airport was filled with lines of people. The lines were snaking outside in the hot sun.?
Although she felt ‘pretty prepared for the animal devastation,? Theisen said, ‘I was not prepared for the human side of it.?
‘I’ve just never seen anything like that in the United States. . .Things you don’t expect to see in a civilized country.?
‘Believe it or not, we actually had people come through the airport that didn’t even know a hurricane was coming because they don’t have access to televisions or cell phones. That’s how poor they are.?
‘That’s the lesson I got from this ? my God, there is an incredibly impoverished population here in the U.S. and we just saw the consequences of that.?
Despite being surrounded by death and human tragedy, Theisen witnessed some positive things at the airport that stuck with her.
‘I remember an older woman in a wheelchair being lifted off the chopper. She was wrapped in the American flag,? she said. ‘I thought it was so poignant because here we are seven or eight days later and she was still giving a thumbs up (sign) and wearing the flag.?
The animals at the airport were especially important to the Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, charged with taking care of the people, ‘many of which were dying.?
‘That was so hard on them that when they got a break, they’d come over and play with our kittens or hold the puppies just to have something alive,? Theisen said.
‘The animals played a huge role in maintaining emotional health and giving hope ? they were the symbol of hope, of life going on.?
After spending two ‘overwhelming? days at the airport, Theisen was reassigned to Plaquemines Parish, where she spent her entire second week.
Plaquemines Parish is a peninsula that extends into the Gulf of Mexico and is the state’s southernmost parish. Louisiana is divided into parishes in the same way other states are divided into counties.
A majority of the parish peninsula to the south is devastated and covered by ‘black, dead (flood) water filled with oil.?
Plaquemines Parish is the operational center for the offshore oil and gas industry.
‘It was an ecological nightmare,? Theisen said. ‘It’s just sickening ? all the oil everywhere.?
Coupled with the ‘pervasive odor of death,? the oil odor was so strong ‘you’d get a headache just breathing.?
‘You look at it and you think (the area) is irretrievable. There’s no way life will ever exist in this place again. But it will. Somehow they’re going to clean that mess up.?
Theisen and four other VMAT-1 members were stationed in Belle Chasse, a community in the northernmost portion of Plaquemines Parish. She was the ‘incident commander? for the mission.
Belle Chasse didn’t suffer quite as much damage as the rest of the parish. Working generators and martial law (no one allowed on the streets after 7 p.m.) enforced by the National Guard, made it the perfect location for Theisen and her VMAT team to set up an animal shelter, stage rescue/reconnaissance missions into the southern areas of the parish, and examine/treat the recovered animals.
‘We were asked to come there because they had so many dogs and cats running loose,? she said. These animals are in need of food, water and medical attention.
‘They’re saying it may be four to six months before they let anyone back in (to the Plaquemines Parish area). Now, it’s crucial we get any surviving animals out because nobody’s coming home.?
VMAT-1’s presence was also motivated by fears over disease outbreaks and reports of aggressive pit bulls bred for fighting and other dogs ‘roaming in packs,? all pose a ‘significant human health risk,? Theisen explained.
With the help of the National Guard and donated materials, Theisen said a senior citizens community center was converted into an animal shelter complete with kennels.
Not only was it place for VMAT members to deposit rescued animals from their missions, it was also a place for members of the public to drop off loose animals they found. ‘People just started grabbing them off the road and bringing them in.?
But Theisen and her team members didn’t fill their 12-to-18-hour work days by waiting for the animals to come to them.
Many rescue/reconnaissance missions were made to areas south of Belle Chasse to locate and collect animals or leave food and water on the side of the road for them until more help arrived. Besides dogs and cats, VMAT-1 also took care of horses, cows and exotic animals, like emus, that were all running loose.
In was during one of the first missions to the town of Port Sulphur that Theisen found Katrina Lousie, a seven-or-eight-month-old female lab mix named for the hurricane and her home state.
Theisen described Port Sulphur as a ‘totally devastated, blackened environment.?
‘Everything is flattened. The houses are in the middle of the road in jumbles. Cars are upside down. And it’s all covered with oiled water.?
‘You can’t imagine anything being alive,? she said.
‘We got out of the car and out of nowhere comes this dog (Katrina Louise) and a little Dachshund. She just launches herself at us. They’re both grabbing onto to us like ‘Oh my God, humans!??
‘I would never have thought that anything could have survived.?
‘We took them and I made a commitment right there that they were getting out,? Theisen said.
Someone adopted the Dachshund, while Katrina came home to Michigan with Theisen. Photos of both dogs were posted on petfinders.com in case their owners wish to claim them.
Originally, the highly energetic and friendly Katrina was supposed to stay with Theisen, but she decided to give her to a friend’s relative in Pontiac who had recently lost his dog. The two immediately bonded.
It was from a man from Port Sulphur that Theisen heard one of the most ‘chilling? stories of how the hurricane affected local animals. Spending the night on his roof with his girlfriend and two dogs, the man told Theisen that ‘All night long all he heard was the screaming of animals drowning.?
‘He said he heard cattle bellowing, rabbits screaming, the gurgling as they went under. The whole night was just filled with the sounds of things dying,? she said.
While in Belle Chasse, Theisen and her team also did recon missions into nearby St. Bernard Parish (northeast of Plaquemines) to assess the situation there.
‘That was probably the nastiest in terms of the number of dogs,? she said, noting her team saw 35 dogs in 45 minutes on their first trip. ‘We saw dogs still sitting on the porches of their destroyed houses. They’re waiting for someone to come back. They don’t know what’s happened.?
Rather than station a VMAT team in St. Bernard Parish, the conditions warranted using the Belle Chase camp to coordinate the animal rescues from there.
Although the water’s gone, ‘everything is covered by dried oil-mud.?
‘The odor is incredible. The odor of death is everywhere. There are dead animals everywhere.?
‘They wanted to send a VMAT team to St. Bernard, but it is not liveable. There is no way you could put humans in there and ask them to stay there,? Theisen said.
While she was there, more than 200 dogs were removed from St. Bernard Parish.
Perhaps the most amazing and happiest animal story Theisen shared involved a rescued Great Dane.
When the dog was reunited with its owner at the Belle Chasse shelter, Theisen said they learned the canine was originally from the community of Buras. The Great Dane was found in Port Sulphur ? 30 miles north of Buras.
‘That dog probably rode the storm surge 30 miles keeping its head above water.?
Besides coping with the overwhelming odor of death and oil, Theisen said heat and communication were the two biggest obstacles she faced down there.
One hundred-degree temperatures coupled with 90 percent humidity made for a ‘heat so oppressive that within 15 minutes you were drenched in sweat.?
Wearing military-style uniforms and boots didn’t help the comfort level any.
‘It was so frustrating because you really want to be productive, but the heat knocks you down,? Theisen said.
As for the severely limited communication, Theisen said, ‘You don’t realize how much you rely on being able to pick up a phone up here.?
‘Down there, you’ve got to drive 60 miles to tell someone something and drive 60 miles back. And you might not get fuel again so you don’t want to waste gas doing that if you don’t have to.?
The one thing that was never a problem was safety, according to Theisen.
‘We were almost exclusively in areas closed to civilians. We were always with the military. I was surrounded by weapons anywhere I was.?
When she requested assistance to go out after dark and rescue three cats reportedly trapped in a house, Theisen was given her own ‘seven-person, special forces, military ops team.?
‘These guys all in riot gear and helmets busted into the house,? she said. ‘I’m like, ‘Take it easy, you’re going to scare the cats.??
When asked how her two weeks in Louisiana has affected her, Theisen replied, ‘If it’s changed me at all, I think it’s redoubled my efforts to learn how to help.?
Since Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, ‘I’ve spent the last four years preparing. I see the value of that and would continue training and continue trying to be available if help is needed.?
‘I would do this again, as many times as I was asked.?
For the average person who wants to help the animals, Theisen said cash donations are best right now.
To learn more on how to help Hurricane Katrina’s animal victims contact the Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org), Louisiana SPCA (www.la-spca.org) or the American Veterinary Medical Association (www.avma.org).