Dog Busters - Disaster Animal Rescue: January 2006

What are the odds? 78 to 1?

What are the odds of capturing a second mother with a choke chain slipped under one of her legs and embedded into her chest right after the one last night? Maybe it is time to play the lottery. The infection smelled! She is off to SAF. The six very newborn pups are here being hand fed while she is off being taken care of.

The mother from yesterday got an evening visit last night from an SAF vet, and is off having surgery today.

Lisa has informed me that the puppy count is up to a new record of 78 with these five that just came in. The previous record was 73. Below is a picture of Brenda who joined me for two days doing rescue. Bill and Kris are working with me through til midweek. An Barb is back from Nebraska! Yeah! I just picked her up a the airport at 3:30 - we will be going out in the field again in about half an hour (4:30). Barb is to valuable to let rest for the evening, of course I know I will have to Ketch pole her into the car to get her to go out! If you belive that I will tell you another one.

Providence and her pups

After no sighting all day, except for the pregnant chow, who eluded us again, we finally got a good tip on a ma and pups. We located the house just after dusk, and luckily she was there with her pups. She was very sweet and calm when we approached her. She only put up a fuss when we began removing her puppies. Still she seems to know that she was in safe hands. When we first approached her I check out the choke chain that had been caught around her front leg. I had seen senerio before. I called Ethan our Best Friends trapping coordinator to see what to do about the situation. Should I bring her right to the emergency vet. He asked if it was embedded. From my cursory look, it did not seem embedded, but I didn't poke around much, not knowing how she would react, escpecially since we just removed her and her pups from her den. So the decision was to bring her in and we could cut off the chain.

When she arrived at the station the intake people found that yes, it was embedded. They cut the chain off of her, and I believe she will visit a vet tomorrow to have the rest removed. Thank heavens we got to her before it got any worse! She is a wonderful mother with five beautiful pups.

No Swan, sighted four dogs - caught none!

We spotted three new dogs, and one pregnant black chow that we have been trying for, but is quite savy.

The Swan still hasn't returned. But the ducks were still there. Apparently they didn't clean their canal.

The Net Gun .. I am very close to completely giving up on it.

Updates - Swan - Intake - Transport

If anyone is a non-profit no-kill shelter and can take animals, especially Heartworm Postive dogs, email hurricanefoster@bestfriends.org

The Swan is not there anymore, we couldn't find him/her anywhere. I left the local guard at the Sewer plant my phone number. The LASPCA says they tried, but didn't succeed.

We are taking in animals again, due to a few transport out!

Little Black Bassett

Here is a little girl we caught today! Here friend escaped us three times. The final time was by jumping a 6-7 foot high fence!

Ugly Duckling Update

We checked on the Swan at sunrise this morning. He or She is still out there. We resorted to calling the LASPCA today, to see if they could help. Cadi who knows birds maybe able to help tomorrow!

Mangy Mut - Can't Take In

Luckily for this dog his face was bitten up some and he has lots of hair loss. Otherwise trappers have been told to take them back, and let them loose. David capture him in his trap yesterday, brought him here, but then took him to the emergency vet when he found that there really was no room. A transport went out today, and I believe another one is going tomorrow, so we have some room, but NOT ENOUGH! Help, if you can. Adopt a dog from your local no-kill shelter. Talk to your local shelter and see if they can take dogs and contact Best Friends. Please. We are running out of time to take in animals.

Ugly Duckling's (The Swan's) Current Home

We had been in this area tracking a pack of four dogs. They live just on the other side of the railroad tracks, under the underpass, only a few hundred yards away. We spent hours trying to catch her. Hours of waiting for various means of help to wrangle this swan out of a oily canal, Jaime just sits and contemplates with her.

Did I say oily water? The swan really didn't like jumping in when whe was trying to escape us. She spent all of her time cleaning herself the moment she got out.

No Ugly Duckling deserves a home like this.

Well she foiled us again. Hopefully she will still be there tomorrow, and Cadi, who is more familar with Swans can help us out.

Puppy Explosion

Lately we are averaging 70 puppies! Don't belive me? Take a look at the photos, and a few are out being spayed or neutered, and as I write this, two more just arrived at 11:05 pm. I personally know where there are four more mothers, I just don't know where their dens are. I mentioned this to Sarah in passing. She said, "Yeah, I know where there are a few." So if each trapper knows and average of four mothers, and there are seven or more trappers, that makes 28 mothers.... average 5 pups, 140 puppies out there, that we know of... Hum and there are a few we know of that are pregnant. Best Friends is only taking in animals until mid-February, and shutting down Celebration Station at the end of February. I believe that is when the lease is up, and someone else has purchased the building. Can we do it all by then? Well no, but we are very short on volunteers as it is, so you can't keep running on empty forever. If anyone can fill us up with volunteers, COME.

One Golden Pup and Ma...

Mom barked at us and tried to lead us away, but we knew the pup had to be around somewhere. We had been there the night before and did not find any puppies anywhere under the house. Today we had better luck. This little pup was between the remains of the spring wires of a mattess. The mattress was in a debris pile of wood and miscellaneous trash. Luckily for her, she barked when I began walking over a board touching the mattress. We left her in a crate under the house, blocked off the majority of the house and returned an hour or so later, to find as we had hoped, Mom, protecting her last pup. We then herded her to the front, and David was able to snage her with a catch pole on the porch, while Jamie guarded the back, just in case whe tried to push through our defenses.

PHOTOS BY CAROL GUZY

HELP! We can't shelter any more dogs!

Ok, so once in a while Best Friends says, "Stop Trapping", for there is no room. We already have some dogs doubled up. I just heard from one of our well seasoned trappers, who usually just ignores the rule and follows his heart, that he actually let a dog out of his trap tonight. His conversation convinced another trapper, who was also ignoring the rule, to also stop trapping. Why? If we bring in a dog off the street, we can't take dogs from Jefferson Parrish and the LASPCA, and they will put them down. So for every dog we bring in, one dies because we don't have space. This is the only thing that has convinced some to stop... until there is room.

So HELP?! If you know of a no-kill shelter that can take dogs, Best Friends will supply the transport. Email transport@bestfriends.org with the details.

One eyed Car

So there we were in the area of Robert E. Lee and Arts trying to locate a black female dog that we had previously seen and appeared as if she might be nursing pups. She eluded us that night and she is still out there today. As we were cruising around looking for her we came across this very erie car. One tree branch brushed its roof. It looked like many of the hurricane cars still parked in the driveway, dead. The only thing that made us question if it had been moved since Katrina was that one headlight and one taillight were on, faintly casting a strange orange glow. When I ventured outside of our car to take some photos, I heard a strange pumping sound coming from across the street. I thought about all the old movies I had seen talking about voodoo in the Mississippi Valley. I also have to say I believe in spirits, and I am sure New Orleans has many of these days. Eva did not dare get out, and we left quickly talking about how weird the car and night was.

The next night we were in the same area looking for the nursing dog. I was on the phone with Chuck telling him about the one eyed car not noticing where we were, when Barb, who was driving came upon the one eyed car. It was very odd because I couldn't recall from the previous night where we were when we saw it, and odd because I just spoke about it, and there it was.

The third night we had a better idea of it's location. This night Barb and I had Alex with us. We stopped the car and parked. I felt a little braver because there were now three of us, and I had become familiar with the scene. I hopped out of the car, walked closer with my heart beating faster and faster. I took out my digital camera and proceeded to take photos. The pump across the street was silent tonight. I can't imagine who would have turned it off. During all of this, Alex had moved in to take a closer look. Alex and I chatted about the car, then I heard a faint radio sound. There was no one for blocks around, so it had to be the car. I hadn't heard it the other evening. I approached closer and peered in from a distance. Movement! I gasped in surprise. There was someone in the car! I took a few steps back. Alex the brave, went up to the car, and talked to the person. "We were just checking to see if you were alright." Quick thinking Alex! I had no idea what to say. The gentleman made no reference that he was observing us as we were traveling through the area other nights. The gentleman explained he lived there and offered to show us his ID as if we were police officers. We said no, that it was OK. We asked if he needed anything. No, he was fine. The house was too moldy to stay in and he wanted to listen to some music, so he stayed in his car. I think that he suprised us, more than we suprised him with our constant traveling across his territory.

White City Park Dog AT LARGE

Many people have spotted this dog in the middle and northern section of City Park. Cadi took these photos on Friday. We threw him/her a can of cat food, where he/she then prompty picked it up and carried it off. As you see the food fell out! We threw the dog another can, dumped out this time. He/she ate it, and I am sure he/she will go back for the other blob of food. We now have a sponsor for a net gun! This dog is a perfect canidate for it, for he/she has a large territory, and an open territory. Putting a trap here is very exposed, and we haven't seen where this dogs den might be, if he/she has one.

LASPCA visit

I visited the LASPCA yesterday. We received a tour from Laura Maloney. The new facility seems like it will be nice once it is finished.

It seems they are upset about ARNO's Food and Water program. They state that rats are a concern. Do you starve the dogs and cats, so you don't have rats? Would the rats really suffer if there was no dog and cat food placed out, or would they just feed like they did pre-Katrina? Apparently the HSUS trapping crew that came in for 10 days, only trapped around 20 animals the whole time they were here. We noticed that the reports they were working off were rather vague, often just cross streets. No wonder their intake was low. You really need to study the pack to trap them. I was disappointed to hear HSUS check their traps at least two times a day. Our crew checks at least every 3-4 hours. Our ARNO trappers brings in an average of seven to fifteen a day. The main trappers are Craig, Corolla, Al, Don, Sarah, David, Nancy, Joe, and then there is my team who is more of an extraction team when we can get them under houses. Puppies and moms in very tight dens seems to be our speciality lately. The dogs also seem to prefer cats and garbage to the dry food our Food and Water teams are leaving out. All our trappers agree though if you have the right bait, it doesn't matter how much food is in the environment.

Now that HSUS is pulling out, LASPCA only have four staff members that are their animal control officers. I don't see that trapping will be their priority with all the work at the new facility. They are understaffed. Of course money is always a problem for everyone.

My top wish right now for the ARNO trappers would be a net gun! If anyone has one to loan or wants to buy us one, please email me. griffinsgallery@mac.com

More Mom and Pups, Pregnant MIA & Around Celebration Station

Two nights ago Alex, Chuck and I went out to help Trixy & Isabell. They had a mother and her pups under a house. We slithered under into the sandy mud and there was mom. We cornered her, but she really didn't want to be taken. She darted past us. We slithered through the puddles and mud to the other corner of the house, and tried again. This time she ended up charging Alex and biting his gloved hand. So we went to the first end of the house again, where the pups were, and she was there. This time she ran through the pups to get away from us. We decided at this point to removed the puppies first. With the puppies removed we slithered to the other side of the building, and couldn't find her. We searched even the impossible spots. Still nothing. She must have gotten out while we were handling the pups.
At this point when Alex and I came out from underneath the house covered in mud. My hair had sandy dreadlocks, and the three on the outside just exclaimed, "Oh my God." They stripped Alex and I and threw blankets over us. The wind on the wet clothing was biting cold. Alex and I jumped into Chuck heated Jeep and let the others arrange the rest that needed to be done. The pups we determined were too young to take. They were walking but still had their rolly polly legs and did not have fully developed teeth. Trixy and Isabell had a dog trap, so we put the pups in a crate at the end of the trap and covered it all up. The pups were on a nice soft blanket now, in a much better situation that the muddy den. Trixy and Isabel stayed the night with the trap. Checking it now and then. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Then in the morning when Isabel went out to check it, there she came. She ran right up behind Isabel and plopped down. "I give up!" Isabel had been the one feeding her for weeks. She must have known she would be in safe hands. Mom and pups are now safe at Celebration Station.

Last night I spent the evening looking for the dog that escaped from Celebration Station. Apparently she slipped through the window of the intake / shot room. She is pregnant. Her mate is here at Celebration Station. She has been spotted and seems to be hanging around. Don has made it his mission to get her. I hope he does before she tries to cross the highway again and get hit.

Tonight I will be in Miami, visiting my husband. It will be good to get a break for the weekend from the whole scene. There is always odd tensions about something. People who think they need or deserve some certain right over another, and don't want to compromise. Everyone there has some sort of stress they are dealing with. The trappers work around the clock, are always tired, and finally are getting food held for them. Due to our strange hours we rarely got any dinner. The Puppy people don't have enough people to care and feed all the puppies. The Intake people are upset about people walking through the only lower back door. (All the campers and trappers are out back.) Food and Water only has about 5 -7 people out feeding each day. There is no cat trapper coordinator on site. Jane is doing that from afar. Jessica the dog trapper coordinator wants to move over to food and water, for food and water will be moving to a warehouse eventually. But then there is the problem that LASPCA may want to shut that down. Volunteers are always on short supply. We could use a cook and grounds person. People cleaned up yesterday because Extreme Home Makeover came in to do a reunion story. I have to say it was soooo staged I was disappointed. All bodies were requested to be there at 4 pm to be a crowd cheering and nothing happened until the late evening (8-9). Prime dog spotting time. So a break is in order for me before I get really grumpy.

Barb left on the 17th. Alex left this morning. Barb will be back on the 31st! YEAH! Lindsey has to organize her life a little, and then hopes to come back. Alex may have to quit his job to come back. Chuck and Lindsey are doing a transport up to Pittsburgh. Lindsey lives in Harrisburg, so that works well for her, and since I am not here, Chuck has no one to go out with to do doggie extractions. So that is things in a nutshell! -Rachel

January 16th Rescues

How to catch a running pit bull... Have Alex chase him in a canal. Then have Alex jump in after him, forgetting his pole and forgetting that his cell phone was in his pocket. Then have Rachel jump in with a pole. Alex slips the noose over his neck, and extract the pit bull, who is actually calmer and happier about being rescued at this point.