28 / Chapter 1
sent there and needed help with the challenge of housing the over-
whelming number of animals. The group would fl y to Jackson, Mis-
sissippi, where they would meet an animal control offi cer driving
an RV down from Cincinnati. Could I be ready to join them in two
hours?
My fi rst telephone call was to my husband, for whom this trip
meant caring for our own house full of animals. Always supportive,
he sent me on my way not knowing how or when I would be in con-
tact. Thanks to two graduate students, I managed to get my classes
covered. To say that I packed in a hurry is an understatement. I con-
centrated on the essentials and left the rest behind. Clearly, the oth-
ers had done the same, because our group of four left on time. We
met our new friend in Jackson and drove to Gonzales. Our role was
to help care for the animals housed there.^19
Lamar-Dixon is much like a small town. We entered through
gates monitored by the National Guard. At the mention of the word
animals, the guardsmen pointed us in a direction and, as we drove,
we began to see the large rescue vehicles from the Humane Society
of the United States, the American Humane Association, and other
animal welfare organizations. As we approached, the noise told us
we knew we were in the right place. None of us had ever heard so
many dogs barking. I will never forget the noise. That night, I wrote
this in my fi eld notes:
Who can imagine the sound of a thousand dogs barking?
Until today, the question would have seemed like a perverse
koan. But now that I know what a thousand dogs sound like,
I wish everyone could hear. It sounds like futility, helpless-
ness, and the desperation of this undertaking. The sound is
how we knew we were near Lamar-Dixon. The grounds are
vast. There are many buildings, and the military helicop-
ters regularly drown out all else, but we eventually found
the dogs by listening. The sound is simultaneously noise
and music. I am sure that it will haunt me for a very long
time. (9/13/05)