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 On August 31, 2006 a crowd of a hundred or so people
gathered on nearly 11 acres to break ground on an uneven
plot of land shadowed by the Crescent City Connection Bridge
that spans the Mississippi River and links the two
geographical banks of New Orleans – East and West. It was
only two days after the one year anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina and the bulldozer, hard hats and lone trailer bore
the trademarks of New Orleans’ poignant and daily life. A
life underscored by an urgent need to rebuild and recover.
 But this was not a typical day of recovery and this was not
a typical groundbreaking ceremony. There was a feeling of
celebration in the air and unlike any other rebuilding
project in New Orleans – there were the dogs. On this hot,
windy day there was Café’ Au Lait, a shy pit bull mix
sporting a hard hat; there was the fluffy Shepherd mix who
relieved himself on the New Orleans brass band musician’s
tuba; there was Delilah, the Schnauzer mix; and there was
the Golden Retriever, Lexie – the digging dog. Unrehearsed
and as if magically inspired by everyone’s emotional cue,
Lexie broke ground with gusto, digging happily into the
sandy dirt and triumphantly signaling the rebuilding of the
Louisiana SPCA.
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Groundbreaking Ceremonies
