*Update* Due to Hurricane Rita, Flights were not allowed out of Baton Rouge. We will update you when we know we can get them out. Thank you for all of your support!

 

More pets coming. Relief help going.

Helen Woodward Animal Center “lends a helping paw” to hurricane victims.

Rancho Santa Fe, CA – About 60 more orphaned dogs and cats from Louisiana are expected to arrive at Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe this Friday 9/23/05 …just two days after three Center staff members fly to Mississippi to provide aid and support to St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Mississippi.

“We’re continuing to work with animal shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi to ease their burden and provide the funding they need right now,” says HWAC President Mike Arms. “And while they appreciate it, we need to do more to carry some of their load.”

Two HWAC staff members who left San Diego on Monday will meet up with three others this Wednesday in Tylertown, Mississippi , north of New Orleans . “These members of our staff will provide hands-on help, giving the staff of St. Francis a break.”

The rest of Helen Woodward Animal Center ’s staff is preparing for about 60 more orphaned dogs and cats scheduled to arrive this Thursday. “Most of the first 50 pets shipped from Louisiana to California after Hurricane Katrina have been adopted,” says HWAC spokesman John Van Zante. “Now have space for more available.”

Van Zante points out, These pets were available for adoption before Katrina struck. They won’t have families looking for them later.” He says Helen Woodward Animal Center does not label the Katrina victims in their kennels. “We want families to adopt the pets they love, not the pets they feel sorry for.”

As with the first planeload of pets flown from Louisiana to San Diego, these pets will be aboard a chartered flight paid for by Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine. Van Zante says, “These are true animal lovers who flew to Louisiana to make sure the first planeload of pets was flown to safety. Boone Pickens rolled up his sleeves and loaded animals onto the plane. They are literally saving the lives of these orphaned dogs and cats.”

For more information about the Hurricane Katrina pet relief effort call 858-756-4117.

Anyone who wants to help, but is not ready or able for a lifetime commitment to love and care for their pet can still help by making a donation or becoming a foster care volunteer.