Hurricane Katrina has left tens of thousands homeless along the Gulf Coast, but human tragedy is not the only story of suffering to be told. Thousands of animals were also left homeless and abandoned as people frantically fled to higher ground.
As one of the nation's leading teaching animal hospitals, Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine has stepped forward to help with this growing crisis.
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Vet School donated massive amounts of supplies and offered to take in displaced students from Louisiana State and Mississippi State universities' veterinary schools, although this turned out to be unnecessary because the schools' infrastructures were not heavily damaged.
In addition to the standing offer from the University of three weeks' paid leave to help in affected areas, Vet School Dean Alan Kelly supplemented this with a $1,500 stipend to pay for transportation into the affected area.
Cynthia Otto, a professor of Critical Care in the Vet School, took up this offer and by Aug. 31 was on her way to Biloxi, Miss.
Otto, a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agen-cy's Veterinary Medical Assistance Team, provided medical assistance to the search-and-rescue dogs working in hazardous conditions. She also staffed a field hospital for animals rescued by the Humane Society of the United States -- the only animal-protection group given access to the hardest-hit areas -- and was responsible for removing dead animals from the scene.
One of the "most horrific" scenes Otto witnessed was the drowning of 60 animals trapped in a Waveland, Miss., humane shelter. At the same time, however, Otto and her colleagues were able to save 14 other animals from the same fate.
The mixture of sorrow and hope was repeated several times as she treated dogs and cats with massive skin infections due to days in the toxic "muck," yet found an equal number of animals in attics, dry and well-fed.
Overall, she described the situation for Gulf-region animals as "bad, and it's going to be worse," noting the "tremendous loss" to veterinary services in the area, as many animal hospitals were severely damaged or wiped out completely.
Moreover, many of those stranded in New Orleans refused to evacuate because they could not bring their animals with them.
The situation is pressing, Otto said, because "animal issues become people issues" as disease spreads and loose animals begin to form violent roaming packs or simply excessively reproduce.
"They need help [especially] in the long term," said Gail Smith, a professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Vet School, adding that the Vet School has plans to set up regional mobile clinics in the Gulf region.
Smith also emphasized the need to become aware of the dangers pets face in a natural disaster.
"We're all vulnerable, [and] we should be ready," he said, citing the destruction Hurricane Floyd visited upon the Philadelphia area in 1999.
