An Alberta woman brought back more than memories of her search and rescue efforts during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A sickly dog accompanied her home.
“He’s just got an unbeatable spirit and I just couldn’t bear to leave him there,” said Jackie Lozinski, a special constable with the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The dog is a black Sharpei-cross that Lozinski rescued while volunteering in Louisiana. The dog is riddled with eye infections and skin problems that she attributes to long periods of time spent swimming in bacteria-infested water.
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Seven animal care professionals from the Edmonton and Calgary Humane Societies joined Lozinski on the trip. The group volunteered with the Humane Society of the United States for 12 days helping animals in flood-affected areas.
“We went down there and basically you volunteered in the position you had qualifications, where you could put your expertise to use,” Lozinski said.
Special constable Morris Airey, executive director of the Alberta SPCA, said Lozinski was well suited for the job.
“We felt she was well qualified in her past experience in handling both companion animals, livestock and some experience in wildlife as well,” Airey said.
Lozinski said high temperatures combined with 80-90 percent humidity created a difficult environment.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you,” she said. “The damage that the flood did to the houses and it’s just nothing that you’ve ever seen before.”
The Canadian crew was initially stationed at a makeshift animal shelter created by the navy in Saint Bernard Parish, La. It was an area hit hard by Katrina.
“They called it Camp Lucky, because they thought the animals were pretty lucky to have survived,” Lozinski said.
Approximately 50 volunteers cared for animals in a warehouse at Camp Lucky.
“There was no walls, no electricity,” Lozinski said. “We had a generator going during the day and the animals were just in crates and cages underneath the roof.”
Lozinski said rescued kittens and animals would arrive at the shelter with significant injuries. Volunteers cleaned, caged, and fed them as they arrived.
The crew was transferred to the city of Gonzales to work at a larger temporary shelter set up in the Lamar-Dixon Expo Centre.
Concerned pet owners or random citizens could report abandoned animals and request rescue teams. Lozinski said the field missions are among her most lasting memories.
“Some of them (pets) had been left food and so some were just really happy to see human contact, and they were pretty thin and pretty thirsty,” Lozinski recalled. “Others were just completely terrified.”
Lozinski said there were many times she coaxed animals from beneath beds or hard-to-reach places. She said many became fear-biters.
“Although they were very, very emaciated and dehydrated, they still had quite a bit of fight in them just because they were so terrified by the whole ordeal.”
Search and rescue crews could enter houses by whatever means necessary, Lozinski said. Many times, that meant smashing windows or knocking down doors.
“You knew (at times), if you hadn’t have been there that day, they probably wouldn’t have survived another day.”
She added the opportunity to volunteer was incredible. “You see it happening on the TV and it feels like it’s just so far away that you couldn’t possibly make a difference.”
According to the American SPCA website, 6,500 animals had been rescued in Louisiana and Mississippi as of Sept. 29.
