32 / Chapter 1
“The Magnitude and Complexity”
The LA/SPCA estimates that about twenty-three hundred of the
fi fteen thousand lost animals were reunited with their guardians.
These numbers suggest the challenge guardians faced in trying to
locate missing animals. Many of those I spoke with as they searched
the aisles of Lamar-Dixon said they did not know whether their ani-
mals had been rescued or where they had been taken. Some learned
about the facility only by accident.
The out-of-region and out-of-state shelters to which animals
were transferred after September 13 were instructed initially to
hold the animals until October 15, at which time the animals could
become available for adoption to new homes. However, the major
animal welfare organizations requested that the date be extended
until December 15. An October 12 press release points out that the
earlier date had been established “before there was a clear under-
standing of the magnitude and complexity of the rescue, relief and
reunion operation.”^21 The later deadline would give guardians
more time to locate their lost animals. In the best cases, records
about where an animal had been rescued traveled with the animal.
But often this information was sketchy and sometimes inaccurate.
A dog described as a black Lab mix who had been rescued at the
intersection of two streets may have simply wandered there and
not lived in the immediate vicinity at all.
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, the online service known
as Petfi nder became a resource for guardians and organizations
providing foster care. Petfi nder provides a searchable database of
adoptable animals at participating shelters. When interested adopt-
ers locate a suitable canine or feline companion online, they can
access that local shelter’s Web site for details about adoptions and
then follow through with a visit. When Katrina struck, Petfi nder’s
database became the platform for the Animal Emergency Response
Network. With support from Maddie’s Fund, a foundation dedi-
cated to helping abandoned animals, Petfi nder collaborated with
animal welfare organizations involved in the rescue to post data
on nearly twenty-three thousand animals from the disaster areas.^22