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Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 20:54:12 EDT
From: beckron @ aol.com
Subject: Re: Horses

As southern Louisiana reaches the one week anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,
rescue efforts continue on a large scale for horses affected by the storm
and subsequent flooding.

Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, the central staging area for horses recently
retrieved from the New Orleans area currently houses 90 horses and mules yet
to be claimed by their owners.

"Nineteen carriage horses and mules were reached last night from the
downtown area" said Bonnie Clark, President of the Louisiana Horse
Council. "We have
them here and the veterinarians and student veterinarians have been working to
stabilize these horses and prepare for the next to arrive as we
anticipate a good number of additional horses to be reached and
retrieved before the end of
the day."

Working tirelessly since the beginning of the catastrophe, LSU Field Service
Veterinarian Dr. Dennis French has been the primary veterinarian in charge of
efforts at Lamar-Dixon and has coordinated all health monitoring
duties with the assistance of a number of LSU veterinary students who
have worked diligently under his supervision for days.

"We've had a few health issues with horses that have come in that have been
drinking the saltwater from the flooding" said French, "the students and I have
administered fluids and are working to stabilize them right now." "I'm
not seeing any depression or any fevers, nothing that would indicate a
contagious condition so at this point I think that all of the symptoms
I'm seeing are purely the result of these horses being in a
traumatized state".

"I can't tell you how proud I am of these students" continued French.
"These kids have been with me day in and day out down here, they've
taken all of the animals in, they have an identification and medical
records system in place and have been with me step for step as we've
gone through triage and worked to stabilize the animals we've
received. "

Continuing to head up efforts at the LSU Horse Hurricane Helpline
center in Baton Rouge, Drs. Rebecca McConnico and Rustin Moore have
been heavily engaged
in identifying horses that still need to be rescued and working to
line up teams that can help when the time comes. "At this point, we've
been given the primary assignment by the State Veterinarian's Office
to assume the role of coordinating these rescue efforts as best we
can" said McConnico.

"It's a matter of locating them (the horses) and finding out how to
get them since many roads are not accessible because of flood waters,
downed trees and power lines. Helicopter surveillance would provide a
time-efficient way to assess the big picture, but this will likely
have to wait until the stranded people are successfully evacuated. In
the mean time, we need to get people on the ground who are in the area
to go in and assess the situation at individual stables and then get
rescue teams safely in and out, which to this point has been the
challenge. We really need more people that can be available at a
moments notice since this is such a dynamic process".

"Currently more than 300 horses remain to be reached in the New Orleans area
that we know of" continued McConnico, "Teams continue to be dispatched with
law enforcement accompaniment as logistics fall into place for each
rescue effort. We've basically been prioritizing them by where we can
go physically, and by which horse's we know are in the most immediate
need of rescue based on their circumstances. We still have horses that
are up to their necks in water.It's a challenge, because the logistics
of each circumstance vary according to their location and condition."

Those interested in providing financial assistance to the effort are
encouraged to make their contributions to the Louisiana Veterinary
Medical Association's Dr. Walter J. Ernst, Jr. Memorial Foundation.
This fund is established specifically for emergency efforts to help
animals. By simply visiting www.lvma.org, potential contributors can
click on "Hurricane Relief Fund" on the home page to download the
form. Simply designating "Horse Rescue" on your check will ensure its
use for the equine rescue effort.

For more information or to make donations, please call the LSU School of
Veterinary Medicine at 225-578-9900 (www.vetmed.lsu.edu) or the LVMA at
1-800-524-2996

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