A Timeline of the Louisiana SPCA in the Year of Katrina

August 27 - August 28, 2005

 263 Animals Safely Evacuated

It was nothing short of the calm before the storm. Early Saturday morning, August 27, we put into place our “trigger point” plan. The plan outlined steps taken in the event of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico that included New Orleans in its possible strike zone. Specific steps were outlined based on the level. Categories 1 and 2 would trigger actions to protect the shelter and its animals, and issue advisories to the public on how to protect their animals. In the case of a major threat, Category 3 or above, we would evacuate our shelter animals 72 hours before an expected landfall. We had done so many times in the past starting with Hurricane Georges in 1998. In all previous evacuations New Orleans dodged the bullet, but it would prove to be excellent drills for the LA/SPCA. With each drill execution and timing improved. Only a month prior we had executed the plan for Hurricane Dennis. On July 14, 2005 Laura Maloney, the LA/SPCA’s Executive Director, used the occasion in her weekly pet column to urge residents to prepare themselves and their pets for a future hurricane. “It's over for now,” she wrote. “Thanks to Hurricane Dennis, we enjoyed (or suffered) a nice evacuation practice session.”

So on Saturday afternoon, August 27, with 263 shelter animals safely loaded into climate-controlled vehicles, LA/SPCA’s executive director, humane officers and animal care attendants, under the direction of Animal Services Director Kathryn Destreza, made the arduous contra flow trek from New Orleans to the Houston SPCA. The staff and animals arrived in Houston late into the night. Once the animals were unloaded and sheltered, the staff waited – fully expecting to return to New Orleans in a few days. That initial wait would prove to be the last calm before the storm.