Many of us are familiar with the parable of the footprints in the sand. Able to review the moments in his life, a man sees the best and the worst and he notices two sets of footprints except at the lowest periods. He questions this and ultimately learns that he was never alone. He was being carried.

For six months now the footprints that trace the Louisiana SPCA’s path to recovery bear a special mark, that of the “A,” the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). During these past months they have literally carried us.

On the afternoon of Monday, August 29, hours after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast Laura Maloney, Executive Director of the Louisiana SPCA, was in Houston, monitoring television reports and watching the worst case scenario unfold for New Orleans. A couple of days earlier she and her staff had evacuated with 263 animals from their New Orleans shelter. Even before the reality could sink in, Maloney’s cell phone rang. On the other end of the line was Laura Lanza, Southern Regional Manager for the ASPCA. “How can the ‘A’ help?” she asked.

For a pitbull that was being cared for in our shelter for almost three months, her brief exposure on a local news segment led to more than just 15 minutes of fame. After being rescued by the Louisiana SPCA on November 9, 2005, she finally found her way home.

On January 11, in the course of shooting footage for a news story, a WVUE Fox 8 cameraman focused his lens on a 4-year pitbull with a brindle coat. The pitbull had been at our shelter since November 9, after being rescued in the New Orleans East area. Later that evening, Joyce Harrison sat down to watch the news and during the LA/SPCA segment the fleeting image of a pitbull grabbed her attention. The pitbull bore a strong resemblance to Sheba, her daughter’s pet, which was lost when her daughter and son-in-law evacuated for Katrina.

As the Louisiana SPCA rebuilds, we’re blending the new with the old to help find permanent lifelong homes for the many animals that enter our shelter. It’s a new equation in our program to solve an age old problem.

Everything at the LA/SPCA is new, even our adoption program. The idea of starting over is without a doubt overwhelming, but oftentimes with that comes a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to take some of what worked in the past, define what didn’t, and mix it up with new ideas and fresh concepts. The idea of course is not to change for the sake of change, but rather to look at new concepts that enhance existing ways of doing things toward a greater good.

Though it’s been 5 ˝ months since Katrina devastated New Orleans, our lives are still dominated by a constant sense of urgency. Each day staff struggles with reestablishing normal operations as we face the challenges of converting a huge warehouse into a functioning animal shelter. The trials of the day also bring forth great reward. Below is an update on where we are in major program areas of the LA/SPCA.