26 / Chapter 1
a massacre at the school. “It’s the worst memory I’ll ever have,” she
said. “The bodies were being removed. It was horrible. I was cry-
ing over strangers’ dogs. Only three of our dogs were in the room.
We saw a golden retriever, two Yorkshire terriers, all breeds, and a
lot of pits and rotties [pit bull terriers and Rottweilers]. Some were
shot running, one up the stairs. Bullet, our husky mix, was shot in
the head.”^16 Physical and forensic evidence reveals that the ani-
mals were not killed humanely, with a shot to the head, but were
shot in body cavities and left to bleed to death. The case remains
unprosecuted.
Evacuees all over the city report being told that their animals
would be rescued later. Some thought they could soon return for
their animals themselves. Many residents have never returned. Not
all the stories, however, are grim. On Wednesday, August 30, res-
cuers began evacuating patients and staff stranded in New Orleans
hospitals. Several staff members at the Lindy Boggs Medical Cen-
ter went to the facility to ride out the storm. They had been given
permission to bring their companion animals with them. When
the center fl ooded on September 2, the staff was evacuated, leaving
the animals behind. Media accounts are unclear about the source
of the orders to leave the animals but they agree that James Rio-
pelle, an anesthesiologist, remained at the hospital with nearly sev-
enty animals under orders to euthanize them. Ignoring the orders,
he remained without power or water, amid the stench of waste and
decomposing human bodies, to care for the animals until rescuers
arrived fi ve days later.^17
The Rescue Operation
As Katrina approached the Gulf Coast, animal response teams from
all over the country were staging near Baton Rouge and Jackson,
Mississippi. But in the wake of violence, federal and state authori-
ties prohibited rescuers from entering New Orleans. Finally, on Sep-
tember 4, the fi rst teams were allowed into the city. Rescuers caught
stray animals and broke into homes to capture others. They estab-
lished feeding stations for the dogs and cats roaming the streets. In